Korean Job Discussion Forums

mithridates · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2003 4:07 pm Post subject: Working Holiday Visa

Who's got one of those? I had one for a year in Japan and taught English there, but Korea's a little bit different. I couldn't find a post on the Working Holiday in the whole forum. Neither have I met anybody with a Working Holiday visa in Korea, and the lack of people getting one is probably why it only took me 24 hours to get mine.

mithridates · Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2003 12:58 pm Post subject:

All right, the sheer lack of replies speaks volumes on how few people have a Working Holiday visa...now for another question. Is teaching privates illegal because teaching by oneself without paying tax is illegal from the start, or is it because teachers with an E-2 visa are not allowed to teach outside of the school they have been hired by? This point is a bit unclear, and I'm wondering if it's possible to teach only privates with a non E-2 visa that allows one to work, like Working Holiday.

Captain Obvious 2.0 · Joined: 09 Jan 2003

With a working holiday Korea, you are prohibited from teaching a foreign language unless you have a degree. But if you have a degree, you don't need a working holiday visa which limits the number of hours you can work in a week.

Hence the lack of anyone having one.

Privates are illegal under a working holiday visa because self-employment by a foreigner in Korea is illegal. You need to be working for someone. You can get around that if you register a corporation with $250,000 US worth of assets and hire yourself as the sole employee, but that's not really an option for most people.

All that without going into the tax issues.

Zyzyfer · Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2003 3:30 am Post subject:

Well, if you can't teach privates on a Working Holiday visa, what the hell can you do with it? Flip burgers?

thinker · Joined: 10 Feb 2003

http://www.emb-korea.ottawa.on.ca/html/html1/e_menu.htm

according to this as long as you have the requirements for an E-2 visa you can be granted premission by the chief of IMM. to teach on an H-1 visa> > >don't know if it's the same for other countries though> > >

mithridates · Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2003 11:55 am Post subject:

Just checked that site...Working Holiday seems to be a bit of a useless visa unless one can get a job in a hotel or translation company or something, but I also noticed the following:

Bachelor's degree from a recognized university ; or
�
* �Two-year College Diploma whose major is the language he/she will teach; or
�
* �Two-year College Diploma, including pertinent language instructor courses or in possession of a pertinent certificate ; or
�
* �Anyone who has a pertinent Minister' recommendation.

A pertinent minister's recommendation, hmm? I'm going to have to have a talk with one of them I suppose. I arrive in Seoul in three days...

Captain Obvious 2.0 · Joined: 09 Jan 2003

The two-year options were removed in the autumn of 2001. That particular website hadn't been updated for years.

mithridates · Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2003 8:29 am Post subject:

Short update for the curious:

Just thought I'd let everybody know that I did get a job with this visa but since it's illegal to be a full-time teacher I was employed as an office worker at my school. But since that was due to the Korean language skills I wouldn't really recommend coming over here on the visa if you're not fluent in the language or don't have some other marketable ability.