Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Weigookin74]

Is living in Korea with an F Visa worth it nowadays? I use to hear it was the path to cash. But, can you actually make money here anymore? Is it even worth it? Just curious how times have changed. Obviously, the market has flipped for those on E Visas. But, are there better job offers for those on F Visas or chances to start your own schools, etc? How is this market for married foriegners as we approach 2015? (This is assuming your wife works too and maybe you have a couple of kids.)

[World Traveler]

I'm curious about this as well.

I was surprised to see this:

[alongway]

F visas are all about putting together multiple part time jobs, often involving privates or other things like that which E2s can't do.

You put together 2-3 decent part time gigs with a handful of privates and you can pull 5-6 million a month if you aren't some lazy loser.

[FDNY]

This year has been difficult. I have seen many of the families I teach
struggle to pay. However, being white, still gives us a huge competitive
over the locals in terms of employment. The poster above is correct.
It is better to put together a group of jobs. In my case:

Study Room: 4M
Privates: 2M
Corporate: 0.4M
Kindy P/T 0.8M

[tob55]

Since the rules for receiving the F-visa have changed, providing most anyone the opportunity to gain this status, the businesses have caught onto the fact that they can drive down prices by changing their requirements to F-visa only positions. Of course the playing field was once upon a time much better, but now having an F-visa is not all that it used to be. However, it should not be assumed that the F-visa has no greater benefit than the E-2, because it does.

The F-visa gives the individual control over their employment rather than being at the mercy of the employer. This simply means that if you don't like a job or they are ripping you off, you just give the proper amount of notice and leave to find other employment. In essence, each person gains more control over their living situation in Korea with the knowledge that as long as you are doing your job, the employer can't come up with some lame excuse for terminating a contract.

It has been several years since I was on the F-2-1 marriage visa, which is now the F-2 single resident visa. The F-5 was a good visa to have back when I had it because it was permanent, at least it was then (I heard rumor that Immigration was trying to make it a 7 year renewal visa, but now sure on the current status of that situation).

Once I moved to dual citizenship, things got much better for my situation, but in no stretch of the imagination did it stop businesses or employers from discriminating against me. However, at least with citizenship I have legal rights which can be held up in a court of law, so most if not all of the blatant discrimination has stopped.

To go back to the original question, I would have to say YES the F-visa has lost much of its luster and prestige.

[basic69isokay]

I'd say yes, just because of the control and freedom it gives you.
I just want to make as much for my family as possible, and many of my friends are the same. Nobody's trying to get rich. Just live a comfortable life.
It's true that earning potential is down these days, but I'd still say 4M won is a reasonable target if you get several PT jobs.
But really, it's just so nice to be free of the E2. The E2 is so exploitative, human trafficking-ish because you are at the mercy of your boss. If you get fired for any dumb reason, that's it. Leave the country or hope they give you a D10. So, in that way, an F visa is nice. Most people I know make about 4M now, less than before I've heard, but it's still nice. If your job goes south, just bail out, find a new one tomorrow. In that sense, its worth it.

[jazzmaster]

Nowadays China is the place to go to make money. While Korea might be a safer bet, in esl fortune favours the brave. I have a couple of friends in China saving a lot more than they were in Korea. I also have a friend who had an F visa who is in the Middle East with his family making serious coin.

[Roman Holiday]

Though I've found a uni job with reasonable pay and conditions just south of Seoul, I'm seriously thinking of doing a few years in Beijing for the following four/ five years or so until I give up for good the ESL life. I guess I'll use the semester breaks to explore the territory first.

[Lazio]

I have an infant son and a stay-home wife and we save roughly half of my income with a very comfortable workload. So yes, it is worth it. It would be very difficult to do the same elsewhere.

Good jobs are getting harder to come by though. You see ridiculously low paying job ads online. 20-25k/hour and they want only F visa holders.
If you have lived here for a while you will probably have some connections with either recruiters or directly with schools and those will pay better.

[Lucas]

[Weigookin74]

[GENO123]

[Coltronator]

I'll second Geno on that well thought out and extremely helpful post from

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=234625


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[nicwr2002]

[Troglodyte]