Korean Job Discussion Forums

[savage]

I have recently finished a year teaching in Korea and am returning for a second year. The school needs me to start right away (I'm supposed to leave in less than a week) and are having me come in on a tourist visa, and then do a visa-run to Japan. The travel agent called to confirm my flight and informed me that they have booked me a round-trip flight... which doesn't work for me because I do not plan on returning home when I finish my contract. There is no way to extend the ticket past a year, the only option is to cancel the return and take the money... around $600... clearly not enough to cover the cost of a 1-way flight from Korea to Canada.
The travel agent said to enter Korea on a tourist visa you have to have a round-trip ticket... is this true?
I still want to take this job... but I don;t want to go into it knowing that I'll lose money if I take this round-trip flight.
I've asked them to either let me wait in Canada until my visa is ready, or to cancel the return themselves and then give me the money for the full cost of a one-way flight when I finish my contract... any other ideas would be much appreciated.
What I'm also very concerned about is whether or not I can take another contract if we can't come to an agreement about how to solve this problem.
The school has all of my documentation to begin the visa process...EXCEPT for the copy of my passport as I was waiting for my new one... so they have't been able to get my visa yet. Will I have a problem getting another job?
I really appreciate any help anyone can give me! Thanks!!!

[icicle]

My understanding is that to usually (at least legally, even if not practically) what you would need to have is not necessarily a return ticket but at least some proof of how you are going to leave the country (Korea) at the end of the tourist visa ... So the options which would be open to cover that would include literally any trip out of the country not necessarily back home. So it could include the ticket which is going to take you to Japan for the visa run (I am assuming that this is not your first E2 visa and that you don't have any black marks on your immigration record so this is an avaiable option for you) ...

I do know that some people have been able to enter the country on a tourist visa without the ticket out of the country ... But it is also not uncommon for an airline not to let someone board the plane (who is getting a tourist visa) without the proof of how they will leave because if they are rejected at the other end for a tourist visa they are responsible for getting them back to the point of departure.

I would consider 2 approaches to meeting this requirement ...
1. Tell the school/recruiter that you have checked and that you do not have to have a return ticket but can have any ticket out of Korea ... and why don't they buy/book the visa run ticket now so that you will meet this requirement ...
2. Tell them to buy the one way ticket to get you to the country ... and you will take care of the ticket to cover the "out of the country" ... one of your options then would be to buy the cheapest "refundable" ticket that you can out of Korea and then get it refunded after you arrive ...

If the school won't do either of those things then I would personally not be coming to Korea to work with them ...
It would then sound like either no one has worked with them long enough to get to the end of the contract (because a return ticket with 12 month validilty is not going to be any good to you if you get to the end of your contract ... because to use the ticket you would have to leave at least a day or so before you have actually worked 12 months ... ) OR they are going to see how long they can get you to work illegally ...

Just remember that you cannot work for them legally until after the visa run ... so unless you are going to be going on the visa run as soon as you arrive ... there is no point in rushing you to the country UNLESS they want you to work illegally until they have the visa issuance number (which you need before you can get the visa either at home or on the visa run).

Which actually thinking about it gives another option .. If they wait until they have the visa issuance number .. you can get the actual visa in your passport within a day or so in your home country ... If you tell the embassy/consulate that your flight is within a day or so .... Employers do not usually book the airline ticket until after they have the visa issuance number ... (because that is what confirms that you are actually going to be granted the visa) ...

I know it takes around 14 days or so for the visa issuance number to be issued ... so on the face of it it looks like they are going to try and get you to work for at least a couple of weeks illegally ...

What I would do in your position is to tell them that you are not prepared to leave your country until you have the visa issuance number and that you then either want to wait until you have the visa in your passport at home or to go on the visa run as soon as you arrive (assuming you are eligible for that option) and that you are not prepared to teach until the visa is in your passport ...

Will this slow things down for you if they reject this .. Yes it will but even if they refuse to send your documents back to you . or try to blackmail you with that .... Even a delay of a month or so while you replace the documents to try again is better than working for an employer who is prepared to not do the right thing from the beginning. (It would probably only get worse)

[Sector7G]

Hey I don't know if this will be in time but just go to the Fukuoka Ferry website and make a reservation for a ticket from Busan. You can then print it out and show it as proof that you are continuing on from Korea. In my case I didn't even need to show it - they took my word for it. Also I ended up canceling that reservation after I arrived in Korea at no penalty as my school was already in the process of making travel arrangements for me. Hope this helps.