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nonethewiser
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
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 Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:48 am Post subject: Just quit my job. How long can I legally stay in Korea? |
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Hi,
I'm on an E2 visa working an 'After School' job. I just resigned giving them 5 days notice instead of the 30 days stipulated in my contract because I thought I wouldn't get paid if I let them know in advance. My boss is hopping mad but I felt I had no choice. Was this the right thing to do? I don't know.
My question is how long can I legally stay in Korea after I have had my last day at work?
Cheers!! |
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martinpil
Joined: 03 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:54 am Post subject: |
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| well then your boss prob won't pay your flight home then if you do him over |
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Carla
Joined: 21 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:57 am Post subject: |
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| I THINK it was like 2 weeks from when they cancel your visa, but I have no clue. If someone doesn't answer for sure, just call immigration. |
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yingwenlaoshi
Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Location: ... location, location!
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:03 am Post subject: |
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| You have to go to immigration with your boss and cancel your alien card. Then immigration give you a 30-day exit order where you'll have to leave 30 days after your last day of teaching. You may, however, not need your boss to go in with you. If he refuses to then you'll probably need some sort of letter proving that you no longer work for him. Some people have gone in and cancelled it themselves and some or most have been told that the boss has to go in with you. Sometimes a phone call from immi to your boss suffices to prove that you no longer work there. At any rate, it's 30 days. |
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thoreau
Joined: 21 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:38 am Post subject: |
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| yingwenlaoshi wrote: |
| You have to go to immigration with your boss and cancel your alien card. Then immigration give you a 30-day exit order where you'll have to leave 30 days after your last day of teaching. You may, however, not need your boss to go in with you. If he refuses to then you'll probably need some sort of letter proving that you no longer work for him. Some people have gone in and cancelled it themselves and some or most have been told that the boss has to go in with you. Sometimes a phone call from immi to your boss suffices to prove that you no longer work there. At any rate, it's 30 days. |
Lets say that one day I say to myself, 'I've had enough.'
I walk out of my classroom with my backpack that contains my passport and other documents. I get into a taxi and go to the airport. I buy a ticket at the counter and I board the plane to return home. I don't tell my boss and I don't go to immigration.
Is the above situation not possible? Are you saying that I can't just 'go home' one day? There is a bureaucratic procedure? |
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Carla
Joined: 21 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 3:42 am Post subject: |
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| thoreau wrote: |
| yingwenlaoshi wrote: |
| You have to go to immigration with your boss and cancel your alien card. Then immigration give you a 30-day exit order where you'll have to leave 30 days after your last day of teaching. You may, however, not need your boss to go in with you. If he refuses to then you'll probably need some sort of letter proving that you no longer work for him. Some people have gone in and cancelled it themselves and some or most have been told that the boss has to go in with you. Sometimes a phone call from immi to your boss suffices to prove that you no longer work there. At any rate, it's 30 days. |
Lets say that one day I say to myself, 'I've had enough.'
I walk out of my classroom with my backpack that contains my passport and other documents. I get into a taxi and go to the airport. I buy a ticket at the counter and I board the plane to return home. I don't tell my boss and I don't go to immigration.
Is the above situation not possible? Are you saying that I can't just 'go home' one day? There is a bureaucratic procedure? |
Ya, it's called the midnight run. But if you ever plan on coming back, you have to follow procedures. |
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iggyb
Joined: 29 Oct 2003
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 4:42 am Post subject: |
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The midnight run is always possible.
On having to follow procedures, I think here comes into play who your boss is and to what extent might he want to get you: For example, I never went to immigration (alone or with the boss) to cancel a prior visa, and I left two contracts before they were finished.
One was after giving notice and waiting until they had another teacher when I went home for about 4 months after my grandfather died. The other is when I quit working for a school that was going bankrupt because I did not get paid and was given only 50,000 Won a week to live on.
In both cases, the recruiter and new boss worked it out with the old boss to get a release letter and whatever else was needed to process the new visa, and in both cases, I flew to Osaka and got the new visa.
So, it seems to me, if you break your contract, the only likely way you'll get in trouble with immigration is if your boss goes through the trouble to alert them - and at least back in the day when I was in Korea, most bosses couldn't care --- once you were out of sight, you were largely out of mind because they were focused on getting somebody new and keeping them and others under their thumb...
---- I have no idea what it is like in public schools and with the public school boards. That is all new territory for me... |
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yingwenlaoshi
Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Location: ... location, location!
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 5:19 am Post subject: |
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| thoreau wrote: |
| yingwenlaoshi wrote: |
| You have to go to immigration with your boss and cancel your alien card. Then immigration give you a 30-day exit order where you'll have to leave 30 days after your last day of teaching. You may, however, not need your boss to go in with you. If he refuses to then you'll probably need some sort of letter proving that you no longer work for him. Some people have gone in and cancelled it themselves and some or most have been told that the boss has to go in with you. Sometimes a phone call from immi to your boss suffices to prove that you no longer work there. At any rate, it's 30 days. |
Lets say that one day I say to myself, 'I've had enough.'
I walk out of my classroom with my backpack that contains my passport and other documents. I get into a taxi and go to the airport. I buy a ticket at the counter and I board the plane to return home. I don't tell my boss and I don't go to immigration.
Is the above situation not possible? Are you saying that I can't just 'go home' one day? There is a bureaucratic procedure? |
Sure you can just go home. Why not? Didn't say you couldn't. |
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thoreau
Joined: 21 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 5:25 am Post subject: |
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| yingwenlaoshi wrote: |
| thoreau wrote: |
| yingwenlaoshi wrote: |
| You have to go to immigration ... |
Lets say that one day I say to myself, 'I've had enough.'
I walk out of my classroom with my backpack that contains my passport and other documents. I get into a taxi and go to the airport. I buy a ticket at the counter and I board the plane to return home. I don't tell my boss and I don't go to immigration.
Is the above situation not possible? Are you saying that I can't just 'go home' one day? There is a bureaucratic procedure? |
Sure you can just go home. Why not? Didn't say you couldn't. |
Sorry but I just wanted to be clear. When you started your reply with "You have to go' to me it sounded like there was no other alternative. I read it like if you don't go through these steps you can't leave the country.
Again, sorry for the misunderstanding. Just wanted to be clear that leaving at any time is always an option. |
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Chambertin
Joined: 07 Jun 2009
Location: Gunsan
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 5:51 am Post subject: |
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As you are leaving out of contract it is foreseeable that the school will cancel the visa on the day you stop working.
As they are not happy then it is feasible that they will cancel the visa tomorrow.
You might or might not pass customs if you leave on day 5.
If they canceled the visa yesterday, then it may have been updated by the time you leave. Therefore they could fine you, or just let you go.
I think the best bet is to check the status of your visa at the nearest immigration office the day you stop working.
If it is still valid then plan on about 5-10 days for the paperwork to catch up to you if they cancel your visa.
However if you dont plan on coming back then just go now. The damage is done and there's nothing to save by sticking to your word, as it is already shaky and you gain nothing working the few extra days.
If you want to stay then it is time for a good talk with the director and working out a LOR (letter of release) in exchange for you working more, or some other condition.
Personally though I would worry about being locked out of my apartment. The school has the rights to the place, not you.
Thats my little bit of advice. |
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nonethewiser
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 6:50 am Post subject: Thanks for the replies |
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Thanks for the replies. It's been helpful. I'll go to immigration tomorrow and see what they say.
A few more details to my case: I'm leaving to start a master's degree so I've been planning this for a while. I've just been so busy I hadn't time to think about visa status until now. Also, I hate my job, so I'm relieved it's finally coming to an end.
I gave my notice on Monday this week, and said my last day would be Friday. I rented my own apartment which I moved out last week and got my key money back. So I'm pretty much ready to go but my church has a retreat planned for next week which I'm keen to attend, so I won't be flying out until Aug. 15th.
I don't plan to return to Korea to teach, but possibly in another capacity so I don't want to do the wrong thing in regards to immigration.
Once again, thank you for all the helpful info you've given me |
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weebil
Joined: 24 May 2009
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Carla wrote: |
| thoreau wrote: |
| yingwenlaoshi wrote: |
| You have to go to immigration with your boss and cancel your alien card. Then immigration give you a 30-day exit order where you'll have to leave 30 days after your last day of teaching. You may, however, not need your boss to go in with you. If he refuses to then you'll probably need some sort of letter proving that you no longer work for him. Some people have gone in and cancelled it themselves and some or most have been told that the boss has to go in with you. Sometimes a phone call from immi to your boss suffices to prove that you no longer work there. At any rate, it's 30 days. |
Lets say that one day I say to myself, 'I've had enough.'
I walk out of my classroom with my backpack that contains my passport and other documents. I get into a taxi and go to the airport. I buy a ticket at the counter and I board the plane to return home. I don't tell my boss and I don't go to immigration.
Is the above situation not possible? Are you saying that I can't just 'go home' one day? There is a bureaucratic procedure? |
Ya, it's called the midnight run. But if you ever plan on coming back, you have to follow procedures. |
so wait. just to clarify, what youre saying is that unless the school provides a letter of release, you can never get another work visa or work for another school in korea? |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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| martinpil wrote: |
| well then your boss prob won't pay your flight home then if you do him over |
He didn't finish the contract, so he's not entitled to the flight in any case. |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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| yingwenlaoshi wrote: |
| You have to go to immigration with your boss and cancel your alien card. Then immigration give you a 30-day exit order where you'll have to leave 30 days after your last day of teaching. [...] At any rate, it's 30 days. |
When did Immigration change it from 14 days to 30 days? |
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Carla
Joined: 21 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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| weebil wrote: |
| Carla wrote: |
Ya, it's called the midnight run. But if you ever plan on coming back, you have to follow procedures. |
so wait. just to clarify, what youre saying is that unless the school provides a letter of release, you can never get another work visa or work for another school in korea? |
I've heard of people being denied for it, don't know if it's a hard core immigration rule, but consider that the schools have their own "teacher blacklist" you probably couldn't find a school to begin with. I'm sure I've heard of people asking that specific question before, but I can't remember what the experts said. |
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