Korean Job Discussion Forums

[In the know]

I heard from the British press that new stringent rules are coming in in June - and that most teachers in Korea won't qualify for a new E2 - and anyone wanting to come to Korea will probably not get an E2 visa...
I have asked at EFL-Law too if any one knows what this about - seems more than a yearly rumor.. anyone else get any information - or heard any news on the grapevine?
Not in the know now!!

[Manner of Speaking]

Do you have a link to a related story, and/or more details about the new requirements? Thanks in advance.

MOS

[keithinkorea]

A bit late for an April fools isn't it?

Honestly. I think this is probably nonsense.

As MOS said, links please. I read the British press very often and have heard nothing of it. Though it is possible it is unlikely.

[HamuHamu]

Isn't that also kind of vague for the British press to report....like "most people won't be able to get an E-2 visa..." WHY? Is it because they are going to start requiring that all people have an MATESOL and a B.Ed/ PGCE or something?

It just seems strange that the British press would print such an article and not put any specific information about it...

[Gollum]

Good! My salary can only go UP, UP, UP!

And Koreans will FREAK!

This would be AWESOME, if it were true!

Imagine... TOEFL and TOEIC getting harder and requiring speaking... hmm... costs for teachers here will skyrocket, as most will go home!

Thank-you immigration!!

[funplanet]

that would put a lot of hogwons out of business, and a lot of the big name ones would have to close a lot of their branches....too much money to be lost in this business, it ain't gonna happen

they could not find enough teachers to fit any new stringent rules (MATESOL, etc)....demand is too high..

they need to start checking docs more thoroughly...have any new prospective instructors sign a release that the embassies could use to verify diplomas, et...a lot of work, yes but it could cut down on the number of fake credentials and such

[Captain Corea]

So what exactly could they do?

-check diplomas; sure but the man hours needed to PHONE all those oreign universities would not be cost effective. Not to mention the language ability of the average Immi officer.

-Do criminal checks; while advisable will walk head first into personal privacy laws of most western nations.

-require an Ed. degree. Well, that'll work except for the fact that they'll loose 80+% of the people currently teaching here AND they'd have to pay more to anyone coming over. Not many teachers i know back home (with established teaching records AND families) want to pack up and move over here.

-require a TOESL, CELTA, TEFAYANTO (Taught English For A Year And Now Teach Others) certificate. Well that might work but the range in these courses make them a B.S. solution. Ranging from a week to six, there is little standardization.


I will beleive this when I see it.


OH WAIT I have an F2 so .. bugger it.. no matter anyways.

[hellofaniceguy]

Post the article or the link so we can all see what is going on.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

[KorJen]

I don't think the country would be able to enforce such a rule, as there will be a huge exodus of waigookin out of the country... no teachers=no english.

I think immigration should hire native english teachers to help organize the office, cause lets face it, that place is a confusing mess. So the teachers, could do lessons for the employees, call and check degrees at universities, and help the poor teachers who walk into that place and look immediatly lost. I wouldnt mind a job with immigration like that.

[waterbaby]

I remember when the rule to disallow diplomas was brought in (2002?) and that was initially scoffed at for the same reasons mentioned above...

[schwa]

OP has not gotten back with anything substantive & googling the news brings up nothing. Pointless thread.

[Manner of Speaking]

I think it's only fair to give the OP the benefit of the doubt. It could very well be that the Ministry of Justice is considering/planning to implement much stricter E-2 visa requirements, but have made no public announcements yet. It's also entirely possible that they have consulted with the UK, US and Canadian embassies here on a confidential basis, advising them that these changes are coming. If it's an internal Korean matter, the said embassies are under no obligation to make (official) advance notice to native English teachers resident in Korea.

Korea IS capable of change, even radical change. The Korean government could very well decide that they're better off sending the majority of native English teachers home for good; certainly there is a "window" available now, in terms of all the negative publicity recently. They may very well have decided to take advantage of it.

If and when the OP does know of any published stories or internet links on the issue, I would much appreciate it if he posts them here.

[Gollum]

They're freaking out because of how many of "their" women are marrying foreigners.

Low birthrate. Women leaving with foreigners.

It all gets worse and worse.

Solution... get rid of as many waygooks as possible before the purity of the Korean race disappears in 100 years.

The future looks mighty bleak for the kAryan nation.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

I've done this before, and I'm gonna do it again cause I'm drunk and I can.