Korean Job Discussion Forums

[TheRealBear]

Hey

I have a pretty unique question for you guys...

I'm going to be moving to Korea, and teaching through EPIK in February and my Polish girlfriend is looking into options of how she can get over there too.

Although she has a CELTA certificate, the native language VISA restrictions prevent her getting an English teacher job over there (even though her English is good)...

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas of how she can get over there for more than the 90 days allowed by the tourist VISA?

We've had a couple of ideas of her studying over there or voluntary work but not sure how it all works...

Any insight from people already living over there and knowing the system would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[tokkibunni8]

She can do privates, which pays pretty darn well. She can always hop over to Japan when her tourist visa is over and enter again

[wings]

My Mexican boyfriend was here with me for a year and a half. He had to leave the country every 90 days. It was a bit annoying, but if trips to Gaesong start back up again it will be a cheap option.

[creeper1]

What a ridiculous question.

There is no way she will be able to work here legally! Even if you marry her the type of visa she would get would prohibit her working.

Leave her behind at home unless you have a massive bank account to fund trips to Japan and back every 3 months. And even at that I'm sure she'd get bored.

[nautilus]

[Rory_Calhoun27]

believe it or not, there ARE Americans with Polish last names..... ain't that right, Wally Szerbiak?

Tak

[broken76]

If they were to get married and she was able to get US citizenship right away (I've heard stories where it's taken over a year for new marriages) chances are she still wouldn't qualify for an E2 Visa unless she graduated from a University in an English speaking country. Even then immigration can ask for transcripts from high school and middle school to show that she's a "native" speaker.
Overall it's going to be nearly impossible for her to work legally here in Korea as a teacher. If she has special skills and can find a job other Visas are possible though but again I'd say it's difficult. Maybe there are universities looking for a Polish teacher.

[samcheokguy]

Haven't met too many slavic women in legetimate work in Korea...but she COULD go to school here....study korean or something. And that would take care of the visa issue.

[wings]

I looked into this extensivly as my boyfriend was here with me, and leaving the country every three months is MUCH cheaper than the tuition you would have to pay for a course that gives you a visa to stay here. You can't just take some random course and get a visa, it has to be a full time (read $$) programme and if you have poor attendance they cancel your visa!

The same with getting married, it is really expensive to get all the documents processed and it can take years to get a passport.

It is actually not very expensive to do a run to Fukuoka every now and then, you can get a package with ferry and a few nights of hotel for around 300,000 won. If you think about it it works out to 100,000 a month. MUCH cheaper than tuition.

However there are a lot of random scholorships for people who want to study korean, some of which pay for all of your expenses and even provide some spending money. If she could get one of those then she would be set.

[joltaxt]

lmao @ OP and this thread.

"I love her too much she's coming to Korea with me!!!"

Even if you do marry her and she tries to teach here, they will need transcipts and if she didn't attend university in an English speaking country good luck with that. OP I'll let you in on a little secret. It doesn't matter that "her English is good."

Koreans can't tell the difference in languages? How foolish the people on here can be. My boss speaks very good English, and has traveled extensively, and would pick up a Polish person trying to come off as a Brit real quick. Children don't want to learn English with a Polish accent, unless there is some specialty hagwon in Korean that boasts obscure accents I'm unaware of....

I'm curious though, even if the person does come with you on continuous tourist visas, how does the money situation work? Does she just sit at home all day while you bring in all of the money and share it with it? Wow, some of your boyfriends/girlfriends have it MADE.

Wanted: girlfriend. Travel to a different country all expenses paid. Trip to Japan every 90 days required (but don't worry that's all paid for too)

Wow, where do I sign up???

[OiGirl]

She could study in Korean. There are many scholarships for foreign students. A student can have a part-time job. That could possibly be teaching English, even if she is not a native speaker.

Good luck!

[tokkibunni8]

Bring her here on a tourist visa and get her some students for privates. yes, it's illegal, but pple do it and will easily cover the cost of running to Japan and back.

[Troglodyte]

I met a Polish woman a few years back. She was based in Busan. Her English was very good, but I could hear that she wasn't a native speaker. The way that she worked was like this. She'd go door to door and ask hogwan owners if they wanted to hire a native speaker from ______ (usually Canada or USA) for a couple months. She'd say that she was travelling Asia and just wanted to earn a bit of month for a few months before moving on somewhere else. She asked for cash in hand at the end of each week. If the schools asked to see her passport, she'd say "no" with the excuse that maybe the school owner might be investigated for something like not paying taxes or not having some other certificate (e.g. health and safety) etc. and that if the owner came into some kind of problems maybe he'd offer up her, an illegal worker, to avoid his own problem, so she would prefer not to put herself at that risk. It was a completely bollocks. She didn't show him her passport because she had a Polish passport. Some schools apparently weren't interested in her, but she seemed to find enough that were. She could also teach private classes, but again, she'll have to lie about her nationality. If you have accommodation provided by your employer, then your girlfriend could potentially earn a lot more money per month than you.

As has already been pointed out, trips to Fukuoka aren't expensive. And it's a nice city to visit. If you are based in Busan, it's even better because you can take the ferry over Friday night, stay for a weekend, check out the beaches, go clubbing, see some historic monuments and then come back Sunday night.

If you are married, and you have an E2 visa, then your spouse can get another visa (I can't recall the name of it) that will last as long as yours lasts. She can't legally teach on that visa, but she doesn't need to have American or British citizenship either, and you don't have to do visa runs every 3 months.

For the person who pointed out that SOME Koreans can hear the difference between a native and non-native English accent, I'd say you're correct. SOME of them can truly hear it, but those are few and far between. The language learning level here is terrible. I've seen English schools with teachers that graduated with a university degree in English language studies and they can't understand or reply to something as simple as "Do you have a pencil?" or "Where is the tape? Sticky tape? Scotch tape?" And they are teaching children English. Parents are paying the school so that their children can learn from these teachers. OK. That's extreme, but it's also not uncommon. Most of the Korean English teachers that I've met could have a conversation in English, but none of them had a native accent and most of them have broken English. For every 1 school that can hear that you're girlfriend isn't a native speaker, there will be 5 others that no clue about it. The truth is that most local English teachers in Europe and South America are fluent in English, most could even pass for a native speaker of a particular country/region. So if you're girlfriend is fluent in English, then she could probably provide better quality of lessons than the students would be getting from a local teacher.


If you want to go another route, your girlfriend could try to get a visa to work as an entertainer. I've met Russians in and around Seoul that work as musicians (and often also waitresses) at restaurants. There are also a lot of legally hired factory workers (usually men though) but maybe you could find someone to officially hire your girlfriend just so that she could get a long term visa. Ask your prospective employers about it. Say that she doesn't really need work, just a visa.

Alternatively, you could try Taiwan. They hire non-native foreign English teachers, especially if they have a qualification like CELTA or an English degree (even from a non-English country). Check out the other country forums on Dave's. Ask about. Some countries are not as strict about hiring non-native speakers, especially if it's a package deal (you will work for them in exchange for them also hiring your GF). You might not make as much money as in Korea but you'll find someone willing to hire both of you AND get you both visas.

[Troglodyte]

BTW, yes, it's a risk to teach illegally but if you think it's rare, go to any youth hostel, pension or yogwan in Seoul or Busan and you'll find plenty of NETs living there that are doing exactly that. Some of them are making a killing off of illegal privates and they are here on a tourist visa.

[air76]