Korean Job Discussion Forums

antoniothegreat · Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Location: Yangpyeong

Just to start, I am completely legal, but i am just curiuos...
you always hear about someone's cousin's friend's drinking buddy getting nabbed by immi, but you never hear people on this board saying "i got kicked out."
so how often do you think it really happens?

and i am curious, what are the penalties? does anyone really know?

i have heard for privates it is about 2,000,000 won.

i have heard for having a fake degree it is 2,000,000-10,000,000 won and deportation. are these numbers right?

honestly, i am just curious.

Captain Corea · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: Seoul

From the people I talk to that have been busted, thsoe numbers seem pretty close.

Note, you will also be held until you can pay the fine. Once paid though you are often encouraged to leave the country within a certain time frame. Different cases have been reported about how long an entry ban may take effect though.

Also, be aware, they have been known to seize bank accounts of thsoe known to work illegally.

If you were here last summer, you would have read a dozen posts on the subject.

crazykiwi · Joined: 07 Jun 2003 Location: new zealand via daejeon

Usually, up to 10 years in isolation followed by a long hard road on death row, usually up to 5 years, depending on how much u can bribe the government to speed the process up. I hear the food is really bad. ie. plain white rice, rotten cabbage with side dishes of soiled sea weed or off cuts of the more objectionable parts of swine. good luck

antoniothegreat · Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Location: Yangpyeong

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

antoniothegreat · Joined: 28 Aug 2005 Location: Yangpyeong

like i said, i am legal, just curious, i have no fear at all.

I am just one of those people that like to know the numbers behind everything. like if i work a camp, i am curious how much the students are paying just so i can run the numbers in my head to see how all the money is being allocated. maybe "anal" is the word. i prefer detail orientated.

that being said, a good massage costs a lot these days...

Peter Jackson · Joined: 23 Apr 2006

As one immigration officer said again and again: it's case by case.

For privates, there is a fine based on the number of months the person was doing them. The maximum is 2, 000, 000.

If one is unable to pay the fine, the immigration department can deport him or her which carries a 5 year re-entry ban. If the fine is paid, the person will most likely receive a "departure order" giving him or her 15 days to exit the country. A departure order carries a ban of a year or so, but again is case by case.

At least this is what I have learned from immigration.

Other interpretations are surely possible.

livinginkorea · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Location: Korea, South of the border

How about if the person is married to a Korean? What happens then?

jinju · Joined: 22 Jan 2006

TheUrbanMyth · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired

jinju · Joined: 22 Jan 2006

simone · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Location: Now Mostly @ Home

Back when I used to teach, I got busted once.

My first year, at a hagwon, I used an agent to line up some extra work.

Then the "IMF Crisis" hit, and the agent couldn't pay, so some disgruntled teacher dropped off all her info re the agent at Immigration on her way out of the country.

The whole agency was shut down, and they got a lot of information on over 120 teachers.... anyone who was in the country was busted. The ones who were totally illegal (on tourist visas) actually ended up better off, (in the short term) because they couldn't be found. I was found through my new work visa at a uni.

Meanwhile, at my new uni job (6 months after the original bust), I got a message saying that immi wanted to see me.... and bring my passport.

They did good cop/bad cop, wanted me to write and sign a confession, and kept my passport until I could pay a fine equal to the amount of money I'd earned. They actually knew how much I'd made, because of the records they found, which wasn't that much. (500$)

I was fully legal as far as my visas the whole time. If you're on a tourist visa, you're toast.

Paid my fine, got my passport back, and had a black mark on my record. It never interfered with getting approval for anything, including tv or other work. (As long as my uni approved.)

It happens. My advice is if you're going to do privates, don't leave a paper trail. Use a pseudonym, too. Simple one on ones are probably safest.

xtchr · Joined: 23 Nov 2004

Jamin · Joined: 21 Jun 2005 Location: Daejon

I was caught teaching privates about 6 years ago. They took me to the immigration office and I had to write a confession.

I was not kicked out of the country. I simply paid my fine. In fact, after I paid my fine they did not even put a note in my file.

What they do is contact your employer. If your employer chooses to "fire you' you are forced to leave the country.

It is not that big of a deal.

To be clear if you are a working visa (E2, etc) they teaching privates is not an act that leads to deportation. However, teaching on a tourist visa does lead to deportation.

Just as a side note. I used to teach immigration workers. They said that there favorite people to catch were those teachers having affairs with married Korean women. This and not teaching privates while on a work visa leads to deportation.

By the way, the fine was about 2 000 000 won

Big Mac · Joined: 17 Sep 2005

I'll never understand why making some extra cash on the side by teaching privates is such an illegal thing in Korea.

Is it because the hogwan owners want all the money for themselves? Have they lobbied the government to put this law in place?

Or is it because Koreans don't like to see foreigners earning good money?

It's not like we're corrupting the kids by teaching them English one-on-one. We're helping them. So it's not about that.

I wonder if anyone has ever dug into the real reasons behind this law.