Korean Job Discussion Forums

plus99 · Joined: 30 Dec 2007

Ive been thinking the last few days that it might be a better idea to just marry a korean girl and get an F2 visa so that I dont have to worry about the problems that are obviously a part of the E2 visa. As long as this country has some version of a prenuptial agreement I dont see any downside. Though Ive also only been here 3 months and I dont know what Im talking about. Im also not saying that I have any kind of delusion that this would be a permanent union but I think it would work out just as well for her, I guess she could get american citizenship out of it.

Zyzyfer · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 6:51 am Post subject:

Stop. Breathe. Do not marry someone for a visa. Period. End of story.

No, she will not get American citizenship without going through a lengthy application process. The era of the easy green card is a by-gone one.

plus99 · Joined: 30 Dec 2007

ZYZ, you must be a female.

Guys dont care about getting married for no reason. Cool

lastat06513 · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:01 am Post subject:

Out of my long list of people I know in Korea, I know an American guy with whom I had been friends with right before I left Korea who married a Korean girl just for that reason- although he doesn't have to step through all the hurdles and hoops as the conventional E2 applicant (as he would already have a visa to stay in the country), for employment purposes, he still had to submit a criminal background check and a medical check for an amendment stamp on his F2 visa.

Then, even if you agree to an arrangement where "if she scratched your back, you'll scratch hers" in regards to getting an American immigrant visa in exchange for a Korean visa, the process to get an immigrant visa in the US can take up to 2 years in addition to the 3 year requirement that you and her have to stay together in order for her to get citizenship (if you get divorced, the visa is automatically voided out). Also remember you have to be there for the immigration interview with CIS and part of the immigration process that I think is unfair is the affadavid of support- many people say that it is just to prove that you have enough money and a decent enough job to support your wife- but it also stipulates that if after she becomes a citizen and the both of you get a divorce, you will provide enough support to her so she wouldn't become a burden of the state.

Also, keep in mind that if you marry and divorce a foreign national after she gets her visa and you try to marry another person later out of love and then try to bring her to the US, CIS will further scrutinize any future application you sponsor or might downright deny it on the grounds that you are only marrying people to bring them ino the country.........

Also remember that you have to renew your F2 visa yearly or every 2 years (*I think) where you have to prove to immigrations that the both of you are still together unless you get a divorce on part of something she does (adultry, abuse, etc)

I am not saying it is not feasible to get married for visa purposes (alot of posters here have done it for that reason; to avoid the headaches and the instability that getting an E2 visa causes), I am just saying that it is not as easy as it used to be.....but good luck

plus99 · Joined: 30 Dec 2007

Seriously Id have no problem marrying a korean girl tomorrow as long as she was at least a 5. I care about being able to be seen in public with her more than anything else. Cool

plus99 · Joined: 30 Dec 2007

hey thanks lestat.

im from connecticut too, yo, reprazent!

lastat06513 · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:14 am Post subject:

ok, if she is one of those free-spirited types that only wants to help you stay in the country and allows you to see other people, more power to you.......

But remember that if you do see other people and you somehow piss her off, remember that adultry in Korea is a crime punishable by jail time of up to 2 years (and yes, foreigners are susceptible to this law as much as Koreans) or by paying a huge fine and having your F2 revoked (I knew a guy I worked with at a college who thought he dated his students without people knowing about it. But word got out that he did and he was lead off the campus in handcuffs because his wife pressed charges against him)

And in Korea, alot of times the family has a big say in the marriage (more so than in western countries....) and you might be hounded by them or your wife to provide some kind of support for them as they get older (this is not situation that happens only in korea, but throughout Asia, especially in SE asia)

There are many factors to think about other than it being just an easy way to stay in the country.

Zyzyfer · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:14 am Post subject:

plus99 · Joined: 30 Dec 2007

New Balance · Joined: 15 Jan 2007

plus99 · Joined: 30 Dec 2007

fairfield county connecticut. look it up.

lastat06513 · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:56 am Post subject:

Plus99 is correct in some aspects~~~

They do teach some of the most retarded things in middle/high schools in CT, which is suppose to make them more proper than people from other areas of NE, if not the US......but it only makes people feel like snobs.....

Personally, I hate CT alot. The people here are the rudest, most inconsiderate people a person will ever encounter if they came here from another country...

I don't know how many people I would encounter at a bus stop who are from other states and they always say that people in their state were more nicer than the people here in CT..........

But I found being raised here to be of some advantage to me. I found people in Seoul to be equally as rude or even ruder than the people I encounter on a daily basis here- Yet! I had a saying that helped me through the day when I was in Korea:

~~The rudest Korean in Seoul is equal to the nicest person in NYC

Oreovictim · Joined: 23 Aug 2006

I've never done any private lessons. So how much can you get an hour? 30,000 won? 40,000?

So about the foreigners who are married to Koreans: do they work in a hagwon or public school and do privates, or are some so successful/popular that they only do privates?

That would be a nice gig if you just went around and did private tutoring. You wouldn't have to bother with all the b.s. that some schools put you through.

lastat06513 · Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:48 pm Post subject:

The amount of money you can earn depends:

~ on the type of class you are to teach
~ on how long you are going to teach (60 minute, 90 minute, 100 minute classes are usually the norm
~ on the level of the students you are teaching (usually the lower the level, the more it will cost because you have to plan carefully for a good, understandable class)
~ on the age of the students.

Usually, the going rate can be anywhere between 40,000won to 80,000won an hour (though the latter rate is alittle hard to go by if the person is not qualified or experienced enough), I even know of people who earn 100,000won an hour just based on experience ALONE.....

I know/ knew people who work exclusively doing privates to make ends meet....

marlow · Joined: 06 Feb 2005