Korean Job Discussion Forums

[OBwannabe]

Hoping I can find someone who knows if this can be done.

My hakwon has just asked me to stay on for another year. Great news since I love my job. Bad news, I've only got 6 weeks left on my contract and need to get my CRC.

I'm Canadian, and to have a CRC done from Korea through the RCMP takes 120 days on average. My family's residence back home is outside the city limits (as is the address on my ID), so the local police will not issue a CRC. Which completelly sucks because they would do it immediately.

Is there any way to get this done in just 6 weeks? What are my options? I'd really like to stay at my job.
Anyone currently/ or have already gone through a similar situation?

[dimnd]

Call the Canadian embassy in SK, and ask if they will notarize an online CRC...does Canada have online CRC's? If so, your embassy should do this for a fee. Immi is accepting it.

call this man and ask him. I spoke with him about mine and my son's E-2's

"According to Mr. Lee at Immigration, Mr. Choi's opinion is the final word on E-2 visa matters�he trumps the officers in the branch offices. His office number is (02) 500-9068."

hope this helps.

[cruisemonkey]

[Seoul_Star]

Your situation is the same as many around Seoul. Though my school is horrible, we actually had one woman who was a certified teacher from the USA with 12 years of experience, and she wanted to re-new her contract at our school. Due to the new regulations and the fact that her state doesn't offer online checks, she's out and now we have a new guy with ZERO experience replacing her.

[OBwannabe]

Thanks for the help guys.
It's so ridiculous that immigration doesn't offer a temporary visa extention pending the criminal record check.

There must be so many people who are happy with their jobs and don't want to leave, yet must because the criminal record check process takes too long. If my school would have asked me to re-new 3 months ago all would be well. But can't really blame them for waiting so late to ask. The regulations are so sketchy and always changing. Plus I'm the first teacher since the visa changes to have his contract expire.

This sucks

[Ut videam]

The bind in which the OP finds himself is quite unfortunate.

First, to the OP: I recall from some earlier threads that people had obtained Canadian criminal checks through an organization called the Commissionaires. Perhaps they might be able to provide a check faster. http://www.commissionaires.ca/services/police-clearances.html

Second, hopefully this will serve as a cautionary tale to others who may find themselves in a similar situation.

If you're going to be renewing�if you think you might be renewing�and you haven't ordered a criminal check yet, do it.

They're good for six months now, a big improvement over the original three-month validity.

Immi's attitude is going to be the same as that of countless administrators back in the West, whose policy is often summarized on the sign on their desks: "Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

Finally, to the OP, good luck.

[OBwannabe]

Ut videam, thanks for the link and advice. I appreciate it.

I was planning to take 2 months off to travel, then my hakwon offered me a sweet deal I couldn't turn down. So you're right, I could have been better prepared, but expected to have more time. Also, it's not like we teachers are kept well informed about what's going on. If we were, so many of us wouldn't be on this forum looking for help.

Anyway...I'll exhaust every avenue and hope for the best. I suppose I could take that 2 month vacation after all.