| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
adzee1
Joined: 22 Jul 2010
|
 Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:08 am Post subject: Living with an unmarried partner |
 |
|
I am planning on moving to Korea for 1 year with my girlfreind. She is not from a native speaking country and will be using a tourist visa, she will not be working.
I have been told that a recently introduced rule for states that she cannot live with me in my free apartment. Is this true ?
If so then if I work in a private school does the same rule apply ? Anyone have any experiences of this ? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
DeLaRed
Joined: 16 Oct 2008
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:36 am Post subject: |
|
|
| haven`t heard about these rules but anyway, even if true, just don`t tell your school that you`re partner is living coming to live with you. I really doubt your school would care too much anyway. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Reggie
Joined: 21 Sep 2009
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 10:37 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I doubt they'll notice or care. They'll probably just assume she's some girl you met in Seoul who doesn't actually live in your apartment, but is clingy and can't get enough of adzee1. If they ask, that's your story and you're sticking to it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SeoulNate
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Location: Hyehwa
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 1:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| DeLaRed wrote: |
| haven`t heard about these rules but anyway, even if true, just don`t tell your school that you`re partner is living coming to live with you. I really doubt your school would care too much anyway. |
bad advice if she is coming with you.
They might just leave you at the airport with her when they come to fetch you.
If she is coming at a later date, do not tell them.
Better to ask forgiveness than permission. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Will you be working for a hagwon or school? Schools are more lenient.
Best if she comes well after you get established. A few weeks to a month later is probably advisable. Don't tell anyone at your school she will be living with you. It will be doubtful that you will be found out, but if you are found out, just insist she is just there temporarily. At the end of your contract ensure she leaves a few days earlier. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:22 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| jvalmer wrote: |
Will you be working for a hagwon or school? Schools are more lenient.
Best if she comes well after you get established. A few weeks to a month later is probably advisable. Don't tell anyone at your school she will be living with you. It will be doubtful that you will be found out, but if you are found out, just insist she is just there temporarily. At the end of your contract ensure she leaves a few days earlier. |
+1 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
It's questionable enough that an unmarried couple might be setting themselves up for temptation by living together, so by all means, please don't fornicate!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
adzee1
Joined: 22 Jul 2010
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I was planning on working in an government school but am now not so sure Do you think its best to try and work in a private school ?
Her coming a few weeks after me is not really an option so i guess i should try and find a school with 21st centuary values. Anyone have ideas where to find one ?
The whole issue seams slightly petty as the school will not be paying anything extra for her living with me so I dont really see why there is any problem at all with it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
eljuero
Joined: 11 Aug 2009
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| adzee1 wrote: |
Her coming a few weeks after me is not really an option so i guess i should try and find a school with 21st centuary values. Anyone have ideas where to find one ?
|
Somewhere outside of Korea.
Sorta kidding. I guess there are a few requirements for public school teachers that I think are, shall we say, a bit "old fashioned"
I was recently surprised to find out about the requirement for public school teachers to report when they leave the Republic. When I asked why, I was told it was that public teachers are considered "public officials".
This of course leads to the question of "why do public officials need to report leaving the country to their government?"
Call it a political - cultural hangover from the military-dictatorship years which are apparently not that long gone. 
I wish you well and sorry it's even a question to deal with. An interesting question. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 10:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
It's a potential problem for you regardless of whether you're at a hogwon or a public school. The PS might have issues with you "living in sin" since you're supposed to be teaching little kids.
I would think that a hogwon would be a better choice because they don't really care (or at least pry) into your private life as much. At either though, they will gossip about whatever dirt they learn about you, so keep your private life private. If there's a school party or dinner or whatever, go but keep chit chat about your life to a minimum. Like in just about anywhere in the world, your co-workers WILL gossip. In these little schools where everyone knows everyone else and some of them may resent that you got a different deal than they did, or anything else, you don't want to give them anything on you. As friendly as they may be to your face, keep your distance.
Some Koreans DO live with their partner without being married to them. It's very uncommon though, and it's only going to happen in big cities. Even then, they likely aren't going to tell their co-workers if they work in a conventional domain like teaching. You really should avoid them knowing that you are living with your partner.
Why can't your girlfriend arrive later than you? Some details might help people suggest you a solution. If it's really necessary, you could both arrive early and stay at a hostel for a few days. Tell the school that you want to arrive a few days early to look around Seoul before starting work. In that case, you'll surely have to buy your own ticket and wait to be reimbursed. After you move into the provided apartment (which may be quite small, by the way) you could then wait a day or 2 before your girlfriend moves in.
You could also just tell the recruiters/schools about your situation. In that case, don't expect the best of offers. The recruiter will not recommend you to their preferred clients (schools). In fact, you may get recommended to the shady schools and really be setting yourself up for an unfortunate situation.
Either way, whether you tell the school or not, you should look for work in a big city. Not so much for the social stigma, but because you are more anonymous in a large city. In a small town with only a few foreigners, everyone will quickly know who you are - and hence they will know you your girlfriend is. In a large city, there are so many foreigners around (maybe even in your neighborhood) that you won't stick out so much, and word isn't going to get back to your school (or worse yet, the mothers of your students).
If you have some more details, let us know. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
|
| Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 10:43 pm Post subject: Re: Living with an unmarried partner |
|
|
| adzee1 wrote: |
I am planning on moving to Korea for 1 year with my girlfreind. She is not from a native speaking country and will be using a tourist visa, she will not be working.
I have been told that a recently introduced rule for states that she cannot live with me in my free apartment. Is this true ?
If so then if I work in a private school does the same rule apply ? Anyone have any experiences of this ? |
I hate to rain on your parade... but depending on where SHE is from (not a native speaker) means she may very well have difficulty getting a tourist visa, or entry on a visa waiver stamp.
It may also mean that the intended 90 day visa runs to extend her stay may not be successful.
Better have plan "B" for that as well as your intended extra resident in your apartment (which is a non issue at a PS or hakwon).
. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
adzee1
Joined: 22 Jul 2010
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 5:35 am Post subject: |
|
|
Thanks for the replies, It looks like I am going to apply for the PS or language schools. Is the general advice that I should not tell them until i get there ? or tell them further down the recruitment process ? or pick another country which pays well such as Japan?
I am from England and my girlfreind is Mexican, she is a qualified nutritionist and was considering doing her MSc from home in Korea .We currently live in Mexico where I work as an English teacher. I have documents to prove we have been living together here for 2 years.
With regards to the visa thing I checked and it says that Mexicans do not need a tourist visa for 90 day stays. So you think that there could also be a problem doing the 90 visa runs to renew it ? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 5:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
1- Do NOT hide the fact she is coming with you and will live with you. Remember that the accomodation is school provided and they have the right to know how many occupants will be in the appartement.
2- Being umarried may cause issues with some schools, up to you to check up on that. Just ask.
3- Tom is right about the visa issue. Your gf may have issues getting a tourist visa. Check with immigration or call the local Korean Embassy/Consulate. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 9:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| PatrickGHBusan wrote: |
1- Do NOT hide the fact she is coming with you and will live with you. Remember that the accomodation is school provided and they have the right to know how many occupants will be in the appartement.
2- Being umarried may cause issues with some schools, up to you to check up on that. Just ask.
3- Tom is right about the visa issue. Your gf may have issues getting a tourist visa. Check with immigration or call the local Korean Embassy/Consulate. |
1.
I'm not sure on the whether or not they have the right to know, but they may WANT to know. If they want to know they can easily figure it out.
I really don't think that a hogwan would care. As long as the apartment isn't connected to the school where the students can see what you do, I really don't think they'd care. Still, I wouldn't tell them about it. Definitely don't tell your students about it.
2.
I have a feeling that with a PS it would cause more problems. With a hogwan, they might not care. At a hogwan, you're really just there to bring in more customers. As long as you don't do anything illegal or anything morally questionable that they students would find out about, it doesn't affect their profits, hence they don't care. You can go out every night of the week and get wasted and throw up in the city fountain, and as long as you do it in another city where the students (or their moms in the case of kiddy hogwans) aren't going to hear about it and you don't get arrested.
Personally, I wouldn't tell the hogwan owner. For me, it's none of their business. If circumstances necessitated that I tell them, I'd tell them as little as possible. You could tell schools that she's your fiancee. You could also tell them that she's your common-law wife (or just wife). Keep in mind that if you tell them any of these things, you're going to get fewer job offers, and lower quality offers.
3.
The problem that she may be faced with is this. It's up to the person at immigration to decide whether or not they'll allow someone to enter. If things seem perfectly normal (e.g. the person looks like a tourist) they stamp their passport and let them in. If things look suspicious, they can reject the person, in which case she can't enter. So, the first time she comes here, she'll most certainly get a 90 day stamp in her passport. The problem will occur 3 months later when she does a visa run to Japan. When she comes back, she might get another stamp. It seems to be common for them to do this, even for people who they consider come from poor countries (and yes, they WILL consider Mexico a 3rd world country) . 6 months into your contract she's going to have to do a 2nd visa run. This is when it's going to start looking suspicious to the immigration official. He may once again stamp her passport and let her in, but chances are that he's going to at least consider the possibility that she's doing something illegal here. Let's face it, Korea isn't exactly a cheap place to live for 6 month if you have no job. You could probably hang out in Bishkek or Vladivostok for a whole year without a job but not Seoul. Without having a work visa, they're going to at least suspect that she might be doing something illegal. When 20 year old Australians and Canadians do the visa run too many times, then sure Immigration also suspects them of doing something illegal - teaching English without a visa. In your girlfriends case, they will suspect her of being a prostitute (or at best an illegal factory worker). She could say that you are supporting her, but then it's just her word on the matter. Legally you can't support her. Then 9 months into your contract, she's going to have to do a 3rd visa run. You get the picture?
You COULD ask the Korean embassy for advice but the Korean consulates/embassies have a bad reputation for not always giving out the same information or not being up-to-date on the law. The ultimate decision will be made by the guy with the stamp at the the airport.
You do have another alternative.
You could tell the school that you are engaged or common-law married (or just say married to not confuse them) and that you want to come together. You could ask the school to get your girlfriend an E2 visa to teach Spanish. That will get her a 12 month visa just like you. To get this, you're going to have to negotiate with the school. So, it will cost you something. In the long run though, it may be cheaper and more secure than doing visa runs every 3 months. It has the added bonus, that your girlfriend could legally get a bit of work if she wants it later.
As far as Japan, don't bother with it. It's no better than Korea on this issue. I've heard that Vietnam is ok with giving out longer term visas, so you might consider that. Ask on the Vietnam forum for more info. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
naturegirl321
Joined: 18 Jul 2006
Location: Home sweet home
|
| Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2010 11:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| A friend of mine, also Mexican, did visa runs to Japan for two years. Luckily she didn't have any problems. It takes its toll though, financially and she finally got married. My husband's from Peru. he entered on a one way ticket, but also had a ticket to Thailand. They didn't ask for proof of funds, ticket, nothing. He got 90 days upon entry, three weeks later, he got his F3. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
