Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

Canadian English teachers in a bind
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2897140

An English teacher from Toronto was baffled after he learned a couple of months ago from the Korean immigration office that he had to obtain a document he had never heard of from his home country to renew his visa.

The document is called �Vulnerable Sector Screening,� and without it, the teacher was stuck.

The Canadian teacher, who declined to be named, went back and forth from the Canadian Embassy in Seoul to the Korean Immigration Service for the last two months to figure out how to get this document. He ran into a wall every time. He became anxious because his visa expires early next year.

The Canadian teacher�s frustration grew as he faced a bureaucratic shuffle.

When he went to the Canadian Embassy, people said they were unaware of the VSS requirement.

�The Canadian Embassy didn�t know about the VSS and they even asked me what it was,� the Canadian teacher said. �They referred me to another service. Then they later told me to find out information by myself.�

He went to the immigration office but the answer was not helpful.

�They told me they have discussed the problem but they are sorry and can�t help me,� the Canadian teacher said. He said employees simply did not have the authority to solve the problem.

Vulnerable sector screening, or VSS, is required in Canada if someone is going to work with a �vulnerable� group such as children, the disabled and the elderly.

This is a combination of a local check from one�s home province and a national background check by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the federal state police in Canada.

The candidate�s local record is checked and then the candidate is fingerprinted. The fingerprints are sent to the state police and are compared to a national database of criminals with a history of sexual or mental health related offenses.

The Korean immigration office started requiring the document on Sept. 1.

The problem with getting the VSS is that the vulnerable sector is defined as children, the elderly or the infirmed. That�s key because Canadian English teachers teach not only children but also adults.

Most adults taking English classes at hagwon do not belong to any vulnerable sector but regardless of who they are going to teach, all Canadian teachers are required by the Korean Immigration Service to submit a VSS to acquire or renew their E-2 visa.

As a result, both current Canadian English teachers and teacher candidates were denied visas in September.

This has caused headaches for many an English hagwon, private academies, in Korea as they were unable to hire Canadian English teachers - who make up a large portion of native English teachers in Korea.

Considering that September is a busy season because students graduate from colleges and apply for visas to teach English abroad, the problems the hagwon now face are enormous. Getting an E-2 visa usually takes two to three months.

�There�s usually a grace period before a change is implemented but there was no such thing,� said a recruiting manager at a business English hagwon, who declined to be named. �The Ministry of Justice or the Korean immigration office absolutely gave us zero notice for the change that was implemented and this means thousands of Canadians have to suddenly get another background check, which sometimes takes several weeks.�

He said the number of Canadian English teachers dropped recently because of difficulties getting the VSS. The Korea Immigration Service issues E-2 visas to all native foreign language teachers.

In December 2007, the Ministry of Justice and the immigration office required all native-language teachers to provide a background check and a medical checkup to receive a new E-2 visa after a Canadian English teacher who taught in Korea was arrested on child molestation charges. The same rule applied to the teachers already in Korea beginning in March 2008.

The problem arose when the ministry and the immigration office abruptly began demanding the VSS document in September without notifying any of the parties concerned including the Canadian Embassy, teachers and local hagwon. Before that, Canadian teachers only needed a check from local or provincial police in Canada, which teachers can request while in Korea.

�Korean consulates in Canada suggested that we require the VSS from English teachers or teacher candidates,� said Kim Tae-soo, a deputy director at the Korean Immigration Service. �The VSS is very detailed.�

Kim explained that they decided to require the document because it shows records of crimes or drug use. He said in Canada, educational institutions require the document for those who work with children. Kim said the immigration office discussed whether to request this document with the Canadian Embassy in advance but did not notify the embassy that it had started implementing the policy.

�It was only an addition to the background check we have already adopted so we didn�t inform the Canadian Embassy,� Kim said.

Another problem with the VSS is that it is issued by different provinces in Canada that sometimes use different forms. The Korean immigration office has refused to accept applications from some provinces, such as British Columbia, that do not clearly show Vulnerable Sector Screening in large letters.

The recruiting manager said police in different towns and provinces in Canada should not issue a VSS if the teacher is not working with a �vulnerable� group or outside of Canada.

As an additional Catch-22, Canadian authorities do not accept fingerprints taken outside of Canada in processing VSS requests.

And Korean authorities won�t accept a background check by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, though it�s more extensive than a VSS check. The problem: the RCMP documents do not include the key letters VSS.

�The VSS is to be used in Canada. The Canadian Embassy recently stated that it is impossible to get a VSS from Korea or any country outside of Canada,� the recruiting manager said. �You must be in Canada to get it.�

This means that Canadian teachers currently in Korea need to fly back to Canada at a cost of thousands of dollars.

�Many people are simply giving up. They will go someplace else like Taiwan or Thailand,� the Canadian teacher said.

Canadian teachers recognize the need for background checks but they said they cannot understand the lack of communication between the Korean immigration office and the Canadian Embassy. They say the immigration office did not try to inform the teachers.

�Background checks are a good idea,� the recruiting manager said. �But when they implemented the change they didn�t inform the Embassy. Not everything on the Web site of the Korea immigration office is up to date,� he said.

However, there is some good news. The Canadian Embassy and the Korean immigration office have started discussing the matter.

�We are in talks with the Canadian Embassy on the issue,� Kim said, though nothing has been decided.

�We are aware of the issue and in regular communication with the Korean authorities to solve it,� said Shauna Hemingway, head of public affairs at the Embassy of Canada in Seoul


By Limb Jae-un Staff Reporter [[email protected]]

[Bigfeet]

The Korean government should just hire companies in the approved native speaking countries to do background checks as part of the hiring process. Or get the recruiters to use them.

[some waygug-in]

It's obvious, the Korean government feels Canadians are more of a risk than people from other countries.

More fallout from the CPN case I suspect.

There are other places to work.

[Fishead soup]

I know at least half a dozen people who's E-2 was approved on just the basic RCMP check. I guess it all depends on the individual immigration officer. Are they going to make us do this every year now? There are other countries that will take the basic RCMP check and they only ask for it once.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I'm pretty sure the check I got from a local police department in BC had VSS ticked off on it. When we went to the Masan immigration office we had to explain where it said on the form that I had no criminal record to the officer who looked at it. Why, in this day and age, the Candian government just can't keep an on-line record of citizens' records that citizens can authorise third parties to look at I can't understand.

[Otherside]

Well, it's good to know with the crashing won and the stagnation of salaries they are making it even harder for teachers to come over.

Needless to say, Kimmi won't keep this check on record and you'll have to jump through these hoops every year.

[Arthur Dent]

I went through all of this - as I am sure many of us did - and the search included a VSS from B.C. However, at first, I tried to get the police in my local Gu to sign a document verifying my identity. I didn't even get as far as requesting fingerprints. The owner of my school accompanied me and we both had current and extensive IDs. A shouting match ensued....No joy. The 'lead officer assigned to the case' said they had no guidelines for such a procedure and would only supply us with a business card and his handwritten name.
My boss said that an unscrupulous hagwon owner (where would one find one of those?) might use the signature in an unapproved manner to which the officer responded with the verbal equivalent of a shrug.

During the embarrassed ride back to the school (the manager called at least once wanting to know when I would be back in the class - despite the fact I was with the boss!) the owner blamed "the Korean way of thinking" and apologized profusely saying that she knew how hard it was for foreigners to live here and that such a request would meet with considerably more success in the USA and Canada.

I had to write a different document to the RCMP stating who I was and asking for the two search's (as well as naming a person in Canada to present and later receive the completed search and supplying their address and phone number) and then have it notarized at the embassy before faxing it to Canada. I had already received the two search forms in fax form and completed them.

The notarization process had to be repeated once I had the completed documents in order for them to be received and accepted by immigration. There was also some problem with the legibility as the document had now been faxed at least twice, and was nearly illegible to my eyes - it must have been incomprehensible once they received it. I had to fax an original incomplete copy (which I had had the forethought to save just in case) so they could compare it to the completed version.

It all worked out in the end though, and I was able to finish the last two months of my contract for which I had to undergo all of this. All of it could have been avoided if my boss had simply extended my visa before the cut-off date.


Big Feet, the idea of hiring companies to do all of this would be a good one - if that didn't cost money! As I am sure you are well aware, they are loath to part what they already have to without adding more, no matter how well spent.

Yu_Bum_suk, I was also confused by the comment in the above article, since I also had no trouble with that particular aspect. With regard to the idea of personal information on line, although convenient, I cannot agree with the idea. The internet is simply too vulnerable to have such information - however well (ostensibly) protected. Not incidentally, this is why emails are not considered legally valid documents, but faxes are accepted. Inconvenient, but I much prefer that inconvenience to the alternative. We have already heard of many incidents where personal data has been compromised. "Left laptops," accidentally discarded memory drives, non-shredded documents....

[OculisOrbis]

You can get it without problem from the Winnipeg Police Service. As long as you are Canadian, you dont have to br from Winnipeg or Manitoba. This service is provided for ANY Canadian.

Go to their website, print the form and send it in with two pieces of photocopied ID. They will even send it to Korea for you, but it will take longer. It takes 10 days to process the application, plus mail time. If you want the VSS check done, just check the box. I think it was $33 dollars. Much, much faster than RCMP and you DON'T need fingerprints.

I just had mine done in October with the VSS check. I express mailed it to Winnipeg and had them send it to my friend in Ontario, who then express mailed it to me in Korea. Total time from sending the application to holding the check with VSS in my hands --- 18 days.

[wylies99]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[wylies99]

But the FBI accepts fingerprints done overseas? Something is rotten here.

[espoir]

In order to get the VSS you DO NOT need to be fingerprinted unlike what this article states. Furthermore the VSS is normally done through your local police station and not the RCMP.

I came here in September and was required to get the VSS. I just went to my local police station, gave them 2 peices of ID, they sent my form to Ottawa as well since I lived there for 5 years previously for school and then 2 weeks later (because stupid Ottawa lost my form) I got my VSS. Furthermore those 2 peices of ID didnt even have to be gov't issued, only one of them did. I gave them my Ontario drivers licence and my University of Ottawa student card and that was good enough. Which is good because I didnt have my passport yet (it came 2 days after I submitted my paperwork) and I have no other form of photo identification, (still have the old red/white health card).

[Seoul'n'Corea]

[justaguy]

If I was coming over to teach for the first time I would probably look into Japan instead. The yen is very strong now and there seems to be less difficulty getting on with your work. Japan is giving more reasons to go there, and Korea is giving more reasons to stay away.

[justaguy]