Korean Job Discussion Forums

lastat06513 · Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:06 pm Post subject:

As far as student visas are concerned- you are able to teach privately on it.

There are several reasons why Kwa-wae is illegal in Korea;

1. Taxation- private classes are not taxed. There was a big write-up about Korean teachers back in 2002 or 2003 because alot of Korean teachers were teaching part-time classes and not paying taxes on them.

2. Monopoly- The hogwons want to create a monopoly on English education. This was the condition that was in place when private education was permitted in the early 90's (keep in mind, all forms of private education was banned until that time)

I don't condone teaching privately, but with the conditions of the schools and the hurdles immigrations put in place to getting a work visa (it is NOT only the transcript policy that gets me- it is how inconsistant they are at enforcing the policies that bother me too)
Sometimes, the rewards are worth the risks....

Milwaukiedave · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Location: Goseong

dogshed · Joined: 28 Apr 2006

Reading all the stuff about immigration in Korea reminds me of the stuff people go through with immigration in the United States.

I'm a member of the local filmmaker coalition (www.ifckc.org) and one of our members is making a film about Myrna Dick.

She came here from Mexico as a child has been a legal resident. I think when she was younger she was under a student Visa. She was married with kids in Johnson County Kansas and at some point ICE says she once told a border guard that she was a citizen. Recently she was deported to Mexico and banned from the US for life. Fortunately Sprint allowed her husband to work in San Diego while she stays in Tijuana.

From my experience with border patrol I would say it is not inconceivable that the border patrol officer just misunderstood her or marked his form wrong.

Until the recent protests most Americans didn't pay attention to immigration nor had to deal with them. I would guess that is true for most countries including Korea.

-Jeff

dogshed · Joined: 28 Apr 2006

Gee her last name got filtered out. Gotta love censorship. -Jeff

Pak Yu Man · Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Location: The Ida galaxy

Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee · Joined: 25 May 2003

From what I see here Korea has really, really lightened up on the penalties for doing privates.

Maybe cause of the strong won.

rvintage · Joined: 05 Jul 2005

since i don't think the OP's question has truly been answered:

my friend got caught teaching illegally waiting for his visa run about 2 weeks ago. The origianl fine was 1.5mill for him, 4 mill for the school.

That was reduced to 500k for him and 2 for the school. The school paid both fines

He had 2 weeks to leave the country. He was then blacklisted and had to pay for his own ticket home.

Read my post for the full story, just above this post:

STAY AWAY FROM GNB PUSAN!!!!

rvintage · Joined: 05 Jul 2005

SORRY, MY POST IS BELOW THIS ONE

Homer · Guest

In my time here I have seen a few teachers get busted for doing pvts.

The fine ranged from 500 000 Won to 3 million Won.

A few occasions the school ate both fines but most of the time the teacher had to pay the entire fine and leave the country within 10 days.

Failure to pay the fine resulted (in a few cases) in detention (not jail per se) until said fine was paid and plane ticket was arranged.

I know of 4 cases where local bank account was also seized.

It will depend on the severity of the offense.

If you are talking about a teacher here on illegal papers then the penalty is heavier.

If it is a teacher working a many schools illegally then the penalty can also be steep.

As for pvts, you can register to do them legally under most visas. This means paperwork and paying tax on your income (which is the crux of the legal issue).

Many do not get busted but more than we think do get busted. We just don't hear about it as it does not make the news.

EFLtrainer · Joined: 04 May 2005

Milwaukiedave · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Location: Goseong

My problem is that one poster in general has been posting his opinion that doing privates on an F-2 or F-5 is legal. To my knowledge this is NOT true.

Yes, maybe they've backed off a bit on cracking down on privates, but that doesn't mean you won't get in trouble.

It's amazing how even some of the long time posters spread misinformation.

Southern Drawl · Joined: 13 Mar 2005

Milwaukiedave,

I'm on an F2 visa. Yes, it is true that doing privates on an F2 visa or F5 is illegal. Just having one of these visas doesn't give you the right to legally teach privates. But, it is also true that if someone who has one of these visas gets a license from the Ministry of Education then they can teach privates legally. I have this license and so do a growing number of others. I teach privates openly with no fear and I also pay taxes on my income.

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

noguri · Joined: 28 Nov 2005 Location: korea

Hanson · Joined: 20 Oct 2004

At my previous gig, a teacher was found to have fake degrees after requesting a higher pay for a (fake) Masters. When caught, he had to pay a 500,000won fine and had to leave the country within 14-15 days (can't remember exactly). He returned in a matter of weeks to become a recruiter. As far as I know, the school paid no fine because it was the school (uni) who discovered the fake and turned him in.

Seems like a slap on the wrist to me and doesn't really discourage the practice, unfortunately.