Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Xerapis]

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2007/12/137_14987.html

In Korean news recently, I see some rather shocking statements being made to the effect that current and prospective native English teachers must prepare to ``bear the burden'' of E-2 visa regulation changes.

The simple fact of the matter is that most E-2s holders will not do that. They will choose instead to leave Korea and never look back. The vast majority of teachers have no problems with the rules. The problem is in how the rules are being implemented.

The basic assumptions being made by the Ministry of Justice display a staggering lack of cultural sensitivity. It is apparent to any native English teacher that no attempt is being made by the ministry to understand our situation or that of our home country.

As an American English teacher in Seoul, I am using this letter in an attempt to explain our situation to the Korean people.

E-2 visa holders will now be required to receive and renew their E-2 visa in their home country. This is not so much of a problem for teachers coming to Korea for the first time. For those of us already in Korea, this is a roughly $2,000 airplane ticket that either we, or our academy will have to pay for.

A criminal records check in the United States of America is only effective if it is conducted at national level. The only way to be truly sure that the criminal check is conducted nationally is to have it done by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI requires a minimum of four months to conduct a criminal records check.

According to one teacher who called the FBI personally, they are currently backlogged with requests, and any new criminal records checks could take up to seven months to complete.

Any teacher having to return to America to be in compliance with the new visa regulations would have to wait up to seven months. Criminal records checks are the responsibility of the government or the company, not the employee.

America has no national health care system. Usually our health insurance is provided by the company. Since we are not working in America, we would have to pay the cost as an uninsured person.

American hospital fees are already notorious around the world, and the cost for uninsured people is even higher than usual. The cost for whatever checks are finally decided upon by the Ministry of Justice could range from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

Prospective teachers are now required to conduct an interview at a Korean consulate near their hometown. For many of us, there is no Korean consulate near our hometown.

If you check the Web site for Korean embassies in America, there is no announcement about the E-2 visa changes or interview scheduling. I have to wonder how well prepared the consulates abroad are to handle conducting interviews with every prospective English teacher.

I have already consulted with the American Embassy in Seoul and been told that they can provide no assistance with criminal records checks that they have no information regarding the new E-2 visa rules.

Almost all teachers have no problem with the decision of the Korean government to insist on these checks to protect their children. It is their responsibility to make the teaching environment for Korean children as safe as possible.

The problem is with the sloppy implementation on the part of the Ministry of Justice. The disturbing lack of information available about a regulation which will take effect next month may result in it simply not being possible for teachers who have to renew in the early months of 2008 to be in compliance with the new rules.

These procedures will result in a dramatic shortage of qualified English teachers in Korea and a correspondingly dramatic increase in the tuition for English classes.

Prospective and current teachers will simply choose to teach in Japan, China, or other countries which do not require such an extraordinary burden to be borne by the employee alone.

David Louis Quick is a native English tutor working in Seoul. He can be reached at [email protected].

[blonde researcher]

On the surface there is no simple or understandable reason why these new visa regulations were almost instantly thrown at foreign teachers and the hagwon owners - except to say " well this is Korea - what different could we expect?"

However- consider the following:
There is a very simple connection to the sudden E2 visa changes. This is the political scene in Korea at present. There is a presidential election this month. Historically every Korean government in office (or tying to be in office) has an official or unofficial mandate of 'destroying' the hagwon market which is seen as undermining the public education sytem in Korea.
Those with 'power'or a 'political crusade' publicly state they want to stop the huge costs for parents who HAVE NO CHOICE but to pay big costs to private hagwons. or they put "worry and concern" in the media about the unskilled and often drug taking, ill prepared foreigners coming to Korea to teach English!

Often these same high profile crusaders then send their own children overseas!

The timing of the now apprehended Paedophile Chris Neil working in Korea as an English teacher was a great opportunity to bring the changes in quickly 'with some validity' - as was the media exposure of many Korean academics with fake degrees recently.

[tiger fancini]

[Xerapis]

No, we still don't have official confirmation on the details. I pulled what details I could from the press releases and English newspaper articles to write my response.

Of course, the new rule is supposed to take effect on the 15th of this month. And we STILL don't know the exact wording of the regulations. Really shoddy implementation on the part of the Ministry of Justice.

[garykasparov]

edit

[Draz]

[nomad-ish]

^ same here, i wouldn't be surprised if they implemented the new regs for a couple months only to cancel them when they realized that native teachers aren't willing to jump through their hoops

[Xerapis]

Of course, that will be small consolation to those of us who have to choose whether to renew or leave in the next couple of months.

[Draz]

[Dome Vans]

My co-teacher today was telling me that they are hoping to have a native teacher in all public schools by 2009.

I'm waiting until the 15th before jumping on the bandwagon. We'll see.

Doubt the consulate interviews will be brought in. Wait and see what actually comes after the elections. In England there's always a lot of immigration policies in the manifesto that never get implemented. I think this is the case here, what is being said and what will be done are two different things. The anti-foreigner card is obviously big in Korea. It'll get votes.

The BNP in England always seems to get a fair bit of the limelight coming up to the elections but never anything at the election time. Korea is slightly backward in this sense, these parties and policies have influence. But we'll see. The criminal check and medical are the least they could do, if you can't be bothered to sort these out then you are lazy and will not be missed here.

[blonde researcher]

Apparently immigration offices were issued the new manuals last week.

[Xerapis]

It's not a matter of laziness. I have to renew my visa in February. It may be impossible to be in compliance with the new rules in time, once they are finally released. There is also the matter of the unexpected expenses involved in this process.

Chalking it up to mere laziness is insulting.

If you read the article, you can see that I completely agree with the new rules. It's the procedure that needs to be revised.

The Korean government needs to enter into a memorandum of agreement with our home countries regarding criminal records checks. Then the teacher can sign an official form authorizing the Korean government to request their records. This way they can ensure authenticity and the burden of the process rests on the office that implemented the regulations.

We should be able to renew our visas here in Korea, without the unnecessary delay and expense of returning to our home countries.

The health check should be conducted in a Korean hospital at the cost of the school or covered by Korean national health care.

Again, THE RULES ARE NOT THE PROBLEM! THE PROCESS IS THE PROBLEM!

[Bibbitybop]

[ntwrightsmom]

Nice pose David. You should have a pipe hanging out of your mouth.

[cubanlord]