Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chachee99]

I need some help.

I am coming to Korea to teach English next month. Since Korea has several teaching positions available, I decided not to use a recruiter and find my own teaching job instead. My reason is want to see the school and accommodations beforehand as well as, talk to other at the school and ask their experience with the hope of reducing the possibility of signing myself to a one-year hell contract. From my knowledge, Canadians are granted a 6-month stay on a tourist visa, which gives me plenty of time to find a job.

My flight to Korea leaves on October 17th. However, I only purchased a one-way ticket and after reading some posts on this website I am skeptical if I will be able to cross the Korean border. I read a few posts and some say you need either a round trip ticket or an onward ticket in order to be admitted into the country, especially when traveling on a tourist visa.

I contacted 2 Korean Embassies in Canada, one in Vancouver the other in Toronto. The Embassy in Toronto stated that a return ticket is required. However, the Vancouver Embassy said I should be able to get in if I have an onward ticket, but could not guarantee anything because it is the Korean immigration officers�� decision to let me into the country.

Another post on this site stated the possibility of the airline refusing me to board the plane with a one-way ticket because it will be their responsibility to fly me back home if I am refused entry. I contacted Air Canada and the receptionist said I would be able to board the plane no questions asked.

So, I thought about keeping the one-way ticket and purchasing an onward flight to Japan from Seoul. I contacted Japan Air Lines and got a quote for an open-ended one-way ticket from Seoul to Osaka. My plan was to tell the immigration officer I would tour Korea then fly to Osaka 30 days later, but in actuality I was going to keep the ticket and use it for a visa run or cancel it and get my money back. But again the receptionist said I needed a return flight to my home country.

So now I am utterly confused and just wondering if I should invest the money for a return ticket or take the risk. If I buy a ticket, is it still possible to get my money back from the employer and not have to pay for a visa run? I guess that has to be negotiated. The reason why I ask these questions is because Air Canada will only honor the ticket 1 year from the time of purchase, meaning the ticket will expire before contract ends. The only possibility of me actually being able to cash it in is to purchase a business class return ticket from Korea with minimal restrictions. But then that costs about lots of $$$ through Air Canada, and will cut into my living expenses while finding a job in Korea.

Does anyone have any suggestions?


PS. sorry about if the grammar is not the greatest, but it is 2:00am right now.

[Wangja]

The odds are in your favour.

[cruisemonkey]

Before you come to Korea, buy a one-way, refundable ferry ticket from Busan to Fukuoka, Japan. I believe you can do it over the 'net' with a credit card... problem solved.

[poof]

If you're unable to book the ferry ticket, another similar idea could be to get a joint Korea-Japan railpass - they are quite easy to get from any travel agent overseas. It costs a bit, but would surely be cheaper than a new roundtrip flight ticket to Cana.

[harryh]

[peppermint]

Everyone else has the question covered, but I had a question for the OP- is your username a nickname of some sort? If so, don't use it among Koreans, because it's got some .. .interesting conotations here

[TheUrbanMyth]

I've entered Korea several times with no onwards ticket. Never had a problem. And yes I am Canadian. Given the visa treaty we have with Korea, (which no other country has, I doubt you'd have to worry about it. You get six months in here, during which time you can certainly buy an onwards ticket.

[lastat06513]

After reading Peppermint's post, I had to take a double take on your username~sure enough....slick!

I love it!

[RachaelRoo]

I entered a month ago on Air Canada - and I was asked for a return ticket upon boarding. Fortunately I had bought one ahead of time - they are refunable as long as they are purchased more than 22 days in advance.

[Ilsanman]

I was under the impression that if you don't have a visa or a forwarding ticket, Air Canada won't even let you onto the airplane.

When I went for a visa trip, I brought along my ticket back to Canada. They asked to see it, and pretty much told me that if I didn't have it, I wouldn't have been allowed to even board the plane.

[chachee99]

I found a cost effective solution to the problem. My sweet auntie said purchase me a return ticket with her Aero Plan points. All I have to pay is the fees, which should be under $70 CDN. So basically it will cost me $70 for piece of mind.




Thanks everyone for all your help.

Damn this board is fast!!!!!


BTW, what's wrong with my user name?

[RachaelRoo]

[Hobophobic]

aaRGH! Me thinks yer name isht jost darn purty! Ignore the quarrel and keeps ye head up high! Joannie loved Chachi too!

[peppermint]

Chachi is Korean slang for .. . phallus ( stupid swear filter on this site!)

EDIT :yay! that got through!