Korean Job Discussion Forums

blunder1983 · Joined: 12 Apr 2005

Well I'm coming up for month 11 and I've still not gotten back my inital docs. I figured it was no biggie, i'd get them back eventually but apparently they arent returning them ever. No reason given, and this is both my original degree and TEFL cert.

(I know I shouldnt have sent my original but it was that or not get the job)

So i want them back. Failing that I want the 80,000won it's gonna cost me to get a replacement degree. Whats my legal standing on this issue? Any tips on how to cajole them into even looking for it.

As it stands I sent my coteacher a shirty email and have given her two weeks. If I aint heard anything by then I'll just set up camp at Incheon MOE offices instead of school...

ilovebdt · Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Location: Nr Seoul

VanIslander · Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:10 pm Post subject:

The cost of business and a relatively minor one.

Don't lose any sleep over it. Order a couple of more from your university.

(Of course try to get the public school bureaucracy to find and return them. But at some point you gotta weigh cost-benefit. Is it in your contract? Perhaps take it as a lesson learned: ensure that your next contract stipulates that it will be returned or else a replacement fee paid. Maybe they want a record in case of auditing since the englishspectrum fiasco and crackdown by immigration. Don't sweat it.)

imo

kprrok · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC

peppermint · Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:35 pm Post subject:

At least yours offers them. Mine won't without a note from God and his mother.

antoniothegreat · Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Location: Yangpyeong

if worse comes to worse, stop going to class. tell them your digree is impossible to replace and it is essential that you get it back asap. refuse to go to class until it is returned. ask on dave's, it is amazing how quickly the beauracracy gets jumped, or things get found once you refuse to go to class. if you make it seem like a small deal, so will they, and they will not care, if you express how important it is, they will get a move on.

your best leverage is the threat to not re-sign and the threat to strike/quit.

dont be afraid to use it, but just make sure they understand why. tell them again how many times you have asked for the document, and why it is important. telll them that they are giving you no choice. you need to protect yourself and they need to understand your situation.

i hope you get it back, and you said it is difficult to get from your school, but it is suggestible that you get a back up just in case.

Dan The Chainsawman · Joined: 05 May 2005

I am putting in an order for five new copies of my diploma. Crisp off the university press no less. That should compliment my 5 new transcripts quite nicely I think.

ontheway · Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 8:53 am Post subject:

You do NOT need to use your original degree to get an E2 visa in Korea. You can still use a certified PHOTOCOPY. That's right, a plain old black and white 3 cent (US) photocopy. Get it certified by a Korean consulate and take or send it with your employer to Immigration. Our newest teacher got his E2 approved at Immi last week with a certified B/W photocopy. The whole process of getting the visa issuance number took the wonjangnim 30 minutes at Immigration.

DO NOT GIVE OR SEND YOUR ORIGINAL DIPLOMA TO GET A JOB.

IT IS NOT NEEDED BY YOUR EMPLOYER.

fusionbarnone · Joined: 31 May 2004

Talking nicely after 11 mths is not gonna get you much before your contract concludes.

Make a big noise, as someone mentioned, your supervisor would have it(degree) because immi only need to see/cite your degree for E2 issuance purposes and they would have returned it once your visa was approved right there and then. Why allow your supervisor/whoever to hang your degree on their wall for free. Demand it back. It's a hard to get document and likely to have kudos to Koreans.

deessell · Joined: 08 Jun 2005

I personally went to the MOE in Incheon. I went to the office of my supervisors and made them find it.

ilovebdt · Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Location: Nr Seoul

Zark · Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2006 11:48 pm Post subject:

kprrok · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC

jinju · Joined: 22 Jan 2006

Zark · Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2006 5:55 pm Post subject:

It makes all the sense in the world.

Have you never applied for and seriously considered two jobs at the same time? And, at the same time had your documents scrutinized? Perhaps not.

I have. Thus, useful to have copies and spare originals of all important documents.

Not 100 - maybe more like two?

Off track from the original message though, as the issue was avoiding precisely the situation the OP has found himself in.