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Immigration Office Plans to Ease Visa Rule
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Whistleblower



Joined: 03 Feb 2007

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:02 pm    Post subject: Immigration Office Plans to Ease Visa Rule Reply with quote

This has just been written on the Korea Times. I haven't had a chance to read it but the headline caught my eye. I hope the E2 Visa regulations become more logical. What's your opinion?

Quote:
Immigration Office Plans to Ease Visa Rule


Choo Kyu-ho, commissioner of Korea Immigration Service

By Yoon Won-sup, Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporters

A top visa policymaker said Tuesday that Seoul plans to give English teaching or E-2 visas to foreigners whose countries adopt English as an official language.

``We�ve already decided to expand the recipients (of E-2 visas),�� Choo Kyu-ho, commissioner of Korea Immigration Service, told The Korea Times, Tuesday. ``I think the supply of (foreign English teachers) should increase to meet growing demand in a reasonable way.��

Choo said that he can�t specify when non-native English speakers will be allowed the visa because the change requires approval of related government offices.

He plans to discuss the issue at a meeting with related ministries before June.

Regarding Pakistani Ambassador to Seoul Murad Ali�s recent letter to Justice Minister Chung Soung-jin, which urged the Seoul government to allow qualified Pakistanis the English teaching visa, Choo said it would be good to allow all foreigners to make some contribution to Korea.

However, Choo said that the ambassador�s claim that Korea violates the World Trade Organization�s (WTO) rule, the most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment, with its visa regulation is not correct.

The commissioner said the nation needs to open its market not only in English education but also in many other areas in order to attract talented professionals from overseas.

At the same time, he said, Korea needs to establish a firmer law-abiding atmosphere otherwise, the opening would not be successful ― for example, he expressed concern over illegal immigrants.

Currently, about 1.1 million foreigners live in Korea but 220,000 are here illegally, according to the immigration office. The ratio of illegal immigrants is high given the number of immigrant laborers here ― 600,000.

``We often hear the Korean government cracks down on immigrant workers and doesn�t pay much attention to their human rights,�� Choo said. ``In a sense, it means Korea lacks full enforcement of the Immigration Law well. So we need to develop a better system.��

He said employers of immigrants needed to abide by the law. ``Free flow and common prosperity is my principle. Please remember that we can�t be open without order,�� he added.

Meanwhile, he said he is ``sorry�� if some foreign teachers experienced inconveniences caused by a new E-2 visa regulations that require criminal record documents and medical checkups.

``Demand for native English-speaking teachers has surged. But there were some unacceptable foreign teachers. To block them, we had to strengthen requirements for foreign teachers. It�s most difficult for us to catch up with rapid changes. I also beg for the understanding of owners of private language schools for the inconvenience,�� he said.

Lastly, he stressed the need of facilities to accommodate refugee applicants. ``Currently we don�t even have a place for refugee applicants. We need to develop a well-organized system for them,�� he said.
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Suwoner10



Joined: 10 Dec 2007

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Holy crap! I'm gonna be worth 5 million a month if I weather this visa crisis...as it will be a cold day in he11 when Korean parents accept their aspiring Ivy Leaguer Rolling Eyes to get school by a Paki.
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ceesgetdegrees



Joined: 12 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here come the phillipino's and indians!

Hahaha...and there we all were thinking that our wages were going to skyrocket, more like plummet! or stay stagnant at best.

Well the phillipina's and indians will be taking the crappy public school positions out in the sticks, there's no way a hagwon owner with any sense of business acumen will hire any.

I like the implistic reasoning of the korean immigration department though, less whiteys coming in, screw it , lets go for some cheap third world labour and see what happens.

I hope the teachers from india teach the kids that funny little head bobbing motion they do when they talk.

It'll be quite funny to see a bunch of indians working in public schools over here, indians can be as molly coddled, ignorant and full of themseleves as many koreans so to see the clash that happens when the indians find out how little regard koreans hold for them would be good to see.
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mistermasan



Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Location: 10+ yrs on Dave's ESL cafe

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

quick check of wikipedia shows 53 nations with english as an official language. plenty of filipinas speak beautiful english. ditto s'pore and hong kong. globalism is coming for your job. the older you are the more vulnerable you'll be. enjoy the rest of your day.
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chronicpride



Joined: 16 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On paper, this is huge news. Schools can now legally hire Filipinos, Indians, etc...But the underlying discriminatory hiring practices in Korean society will limit how much of an impact this make on the industry. Korean mothers are still really iffy about African-Americans and Asian-Americans teaching English, let alone Filipinos and Indians who have learned English as a 2nd language. It's a real tough sell. My guess is that some cheap hagwons will employ some Indians or Filipinos and will then see that the mothers of students are pulling their kids out in favor of the hagwon down the street that has a white-faced, Western teacher.

The only way this could work is if the Ministry of Education lightened up on restrictions over who can employ E2 teachers. Currently, there are a lot of hoops (ie., school must be over a certain pyeong size, etc..) in order to be legally able to employ an E2 teacher. If they dropped some of those restrictions, then the small ipshi hogwans and gongbubangs can be able to hire Filipino teachers for cheap, and become a low tuition alternative to more expensive foreign language hogwans.
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ceesgetdegrees



Joined: 12 Jul 2007

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And pleanty of koreans subscribe to the philosophy regarding english teachers that "if you ain't white, you ain't right", and that won't be changing for a long long time. Koreans hold south east asians, indians/pakistani's in incredibly low regard, let alone africans.
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hari seldon



Joined: 05 Dec 2004
Location: Incheon

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Suwoner10 wrote:
Holy crap! I'm gonna be worth 5 million a month if I weather this visa crisis...as it will be a cold day in he11 when Korean parents accept their aspiring Ivy Leaguer Rolling Eyes to get school by a Paki.
Given the struggle I had understanding Indian teaching assistants at university, I don't think they'll present much competition to native speakers for desirable jobs. Instead, they'll fill openings at the lowest of low income hagwons and isolated rural public schools.

Since the customers for these schools--the Korean parents--have little choice, they'll be stuck with second-rate Third World teachers. Thus, another example of the losers in Korean society getting the shaft.

Of course, a two-tier wage structure will quickly develop and we'll be reading Hagwon advertisements offering one million won salary to applicants from the Philippines or India. I'm guessing that hagwons who employ these discount teachers won't discount their tuitions so Hagwon association members who own low income hagwons are feeling positively giddy today about the prospect of windfall profits.
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matthews_world



Joined: 15 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hari seldon wrote:
they'll be stuck with second-rate Third World teachers.


You suck, dude.
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Netz



Joined: 11 Oct 2004
Location: a parallel universe where people and places seem to be the exact opposite of "normal"

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And to think, this all could have been avoided with the application of small amount of "common sense".

Too bad it's in such short supply in Korea.
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mistermasan



Joined: 20 Sep 2007
Location: 10+ yrs on Dave's ESL cafe

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

this was planned all along. they will be able to get philipino doctors for what they are paying us. whoi better to teach med school students. they'll be able to bring in supurbly qualified candidates. they'll be able to bring in scads of qualified, certified teachers who won't run off and will be happy to stayin podunk for years.
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seoul101



Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good luck to them, I really don't care if there are less jobs here.. with the current climate of things, it would just be a bigger incentive to go home or elsewhere! Cool
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articulate_ink



Joined: 23 Mar 2004
Location: Left Korea in 2008. Hong Kong now.

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If the level of English in some of these posts is any indication, Korea will be better-served by hiring educated, qualified Indians, Filipinos, Pakistanis, and so forth.
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yingwenlaoshi



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Location: ... location, location!

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Koreans are having a harder time exploiting foreigners these days, so this will solve that problem. Forget about making life easier for current foreigners by making sure they get paid, pension, medical, and taxes. Forget about making sure our taxes are paid and that we can easily resolve labor disputes in order to make better relations between our countries and theirs. Forget about that.

Just hire some foreigners they can exploit. After all, it is we who are the evil ones. We are the ones that come into their country and smoke dope, rape women, and molest children. That's where the problem is. There's not need to do anything to assure we are dealt with fairly while in their country. Oh no. Those are not the issues. They don't exist.

Where do you see anything in the media about the problems Korean employers give to foreign teachers? Nowhere. Even though those are rampant and the major problems foreigners cause very isolated and/or not major, trivial problems that Koreans themselves are guilty of.

Hire some cheap labor. Announce that you are first. Then do it. Then let Korean employers continue to get away with corrupting foreign teachers.
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hari seldon



Joined: 05 Dec 2004
Location: Incheon

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

matthews_world wrote:
hari seldon wrote:
Since the customers for these [low income] schools--the Korean parents--have little choice, they'll be stuck with second-rate Third World teachers. Thus, another example of the losers in Korean society getting the shaft.


You suck, dude.
Laughing The truth hurts.
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CentralCali



Joined: 17 May 2007

PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mistermasan wrote:
quick check of wikipedia shows 53 nations with english as an official language. plenty of filipinas speak beautiful english. ditto s'pore and hong kong. globalism is coming for your job. the older you are the more vulnerable you'll be. enjoy the rest of your day.


Oddly enough, the United States doesn't even have an official language. I wonder how the new Minister's going to figure out his new policy when Americans get denied E-2 visas because their country doesn't have English as an official language?

Yes, I now that'll never happen. I'm merely showing how, yet again, asinine the Korean government is when dealing with foreigners in any manner.
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