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sandcmoeller925
Joined: 11 Oct 2007
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 Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 9:45 am Post subject: Should I get an E-2 visa or an F-4 visa? |
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| I am so confused...should I get an E-2 or F-4 visa? I understand the basic differences but I'm receiving conflicting advice. Is it possible for me to get an E-2 visa while in the US (sponsored by the school I am hired by) and then apply for an F-4 visa once in Korea? If I choose to get an F-4 visa - will it be more difficult to acquire a teaching position? How will the job application process differ for someone with an F-4 visa? On a completely different topic - would it be safe to say I have a dual citizenship since I was born in Korea? Or did I give up my Korean citizenship when I became a US citizen? Please advice - thank you! |
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PRagic
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
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| Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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Uh, you're asking us about YOUR citizenship? LOL.
You need to contact your local Korean consulate, and perhaps even consult mommy and daddy about your situation.
In a nutshell, just get the F4 if you can. |
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PGF
Joined: 27 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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Do you have a Korean passport and a US passport? I think your passport is going to determine your initial allowed stay in Korea. 30 days or forever.
How long did you live in Korea? Can you speak Korean?
I don't know what advantages you will have by having a F4 visa here.....but, since you were born here, you might have to have an F4. Are you going to public school? |
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sandcmoeller925
Joined: 11 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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| PRagic wrote: |
Uh, you're asking us about YOUR citizenship? LOL.
You need to contact your local Korean consulate, and perhaps even consult mommy and daddy about your situation.
In a nutshell, just get the F4 if you can. |
I certainly appreciate the unnecessary sarcasm - I don't have a "mommy or daddy" to ask because they are both deceased and I was adopted by an American family. I plan to contact the Consulate but I was hoping to get a better grasp on what direction I should take from those who might have gone through this themselves. At this time I plan to take the next step in acquiring an F4. Thanks for your feedback. |
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sandcmoeller925
Joined: 11 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject: |
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| PGF wrote: |
Do you have a Korean passport and a US passport? I think your passport is going to determine your initial allowed stay in Korea. 30 days or forever.
How long did you live in Korea? Can you speak Korean?
I don't know what advantages you will have by having a F4 visa here.....but, since you were born here, you might have to have an F4. Are you going to public school? |
PGF - I have an US passport but not a Korean passport. I plan to teach English in Korea so I'm staying here for at least a year - whether it is with a work visa or an F4 visa.
I lived in Korea until I was 9 years old...unfortunately I can no longer speak Korean. I started taking Korean lessons a few months ago but none of it is coming back to me! I'm hoping once I am immersed in the language - I will start to recognize it.
Are you asking if I am planning to teach in a public school? |
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DallasTexas
Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul Korea
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| Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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There is a group, actually a non-government organization or NGO, designed especially to help adoptees come to Korea, work through the visa process, find jobs, find relatives, etc.
Check this link, the resources, expertise, and comraderie are wonderful
http://www.goal.or.kr/eng/
AND....they even have a villa near the Blue House where you can stay with other adoptees for a few bucks a day.
http://www.koroot.org/eng/guesthouse/eng_introduction_list.asp
DaeHwa Winger (from Sweden, I think, runs the place and is a wonderful guy)
Best Wishes |
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PGF
Joined: 27 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Fri Feb 29, 2008 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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| sandcmoeller925 wrote: |
| PGF wrote: |
Do you have a Korean passport and a US passport? I think your passport is going to determine your initial allowed stay in Korea. 30 days or forever.
How long did you live in Korea? Can you speak Korean?
I don't know what advantages you will have by having a F4 visa here.....but, since you were born here, you might have to have an F4. Are you going to public school? |
PGF - I have an US passport but not a Korean passport. I plan to teach English in Korea so I'm staying here for at least a year - whether it is with a work visa or an F4 visa.
I lived in Korea until I was 9 years old...unfortunately I can no longer speak Korean. I started taking Korean lessons a few months ago but none of it is coming back to me! I'm hoping once I am immersed in the language - I will start to recognize it.
Are you asking if I am planning to teach in a public school? |
I know a few gyopos who teach in public schools. I think that would be the best place for a gyopo because hagwon owners tend to treat koreans worse than FTs even if they are Korean americans or Korean canadians who've never lived here and do not speak the language.
This is because the private sector (hagwons) is looking for "white" native speakers and they sell that to the parents. It's hard to say that you have a foreign teacher at your school if they are asian.
Public schools, however, just want a native speaker-which you are.
And, you'll have plenty of free time- somethings that elusive at most first year hagwons.
There are exceptions, of course......
I wish you the best of luck here. I don't know if the language will come back to you or not. My korean friends say that my gyopo friends can't speak korean even though they sound like they're speaking korean to me.... |
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OneWayTraffic
Joined: 14 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:08 am Post subject: |
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| PGF wrote: |
I wish you the best of luck here. I don't know if the language will come back to you or not. My korean friends say that my gyopo friends can't speak korean even though they sound like they're speaking korean to me.... |
I've read in an article about brain science that the brain is ruthless about pruning old connections if they're no longer used. This mainly happens in the adolescent years. The brain loses its flexibility, trading it off for a substantial increase in power.
So if you learned a skill early on and never practiced it during adolescence, then it could be well and truly gone. At least that's the impression I got from the article. The OP may get some Korean skill back, and can always learn it again as a foreign language, but it may never be quite native...
I met a young Korean doctor who lived in America until she was about 9. She still spoke English, but not really any better than her other doctor classmates. She said that she was a lot better at it when she was 8. |
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victorology
Joined: 10 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:34 am Post subject: |
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Are you a male or female?
I have a friend who was adopted by an American family and he has dual citizenship. If you have the same and you are male, you might want to drop your Korean citizenship and just get the F-4 visa. That way, you won't have to serve military duty.
In regards to your original question, between an E-2 and an F-4, the F-4 is without a doubt better. Also, there are a lot of talk about how gyopo's have a difficult time finding teaching jobs in Korea but from personal experience and those around me, this hasn't been the case. |
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