Korean Job Discussion Forums

[edgeworth]

Is it neccesary for Australians to visit the consulate for an in-person interview? That seems to be the norm in North America, but we only have two consulates (in Sydney and Canberra) and I live in Perth. I would really like to avoid paying five or six hundred dollars to fly over there for a ten-minute interview.

Both consulate websites are useless and ringing the Sydney one (haven't tried Canberra yet) gives you some equally useless automated messages.

I'd love to hear from Australians currently working in Korea what they had to do during the process.

[Skippy]

Does the consulate offer any alternatives like "Telephone Interviews" or "Web-Cam", or Video DVD (think dating video).

[AussieGav]

I'm really not sure of the answer to your original question about having to have an inperson interview or not as things have changed since I came here. But, my advice is definatly call Canberra as it is the Embassey as opposed to Sydney which is only a consular office. I always thought there was one in brisbane also and therefore possibly Perth. But talk to Canberra and I am sure they can put you straight before you pay out to go there for a quick interview. Good luck.

[emmuh]

I can let you know for sure next week (im from qld)
but, my school said you can just have a webcam interview AND then send your passport with a return paid envelope and the fee for the visa and they will send it too you, but I'll let you know next week when I will have to do all of that!
where in korea are you heading to? do you have a job?

[dragon777]

Have you had an E-2 visa before? The reason I ask is because if you have not been granted an E-2 before you may have to have an interview. The Korean government has a consulate in Sydney and a embassy in Canberra. You are a West Aussie, so you have to go through the embassy in Canberra. Either, ring them during office hours or email them and ask. you can google the phone numbers and adddresses. They are pretty friendly in the embassy, don't know anything about the consulate in Sydney. Good luck!

[chris_J2]

If you're working at a hagwon or private school, then you'll definitely need a face to face interview, particularly if it's your first time in Korea. Note the 2 other options bolded at the bottom of this post.

Here's a couple of email replies I got from Sydney Korean Consulate that may help:

Dear Mr ****,

Thank you for your inquiry.

If you had a Korean E2 (teaching English) visa previously, you do not need an interview.

And yes, you need to apply for a criminal record check in Australia (should be not more than 6months old) with an apostille stamp and send it over to Korea.

Once you are approved by Korean immigration office, you will given a visa issuance number. With a visa number you can apply your E2 visa.

02/04/09: Once you granted your work visa issuance number from the Korean immigration, you can lodge your visa application to us and it will take around 3-5 working days to process. If you live far from the Sydney, you can post your application.

Please send

1) Original passport

2) Visa application form (www.koreasydney.net >English) with 1 passport size photo

3) Visa confirmation number

4) $75 visa fee (please make money order if you going to post it)

5) Academic TranX-X-SCRIPT or Degree Certificate

6) Self-addressed return envelop (registered or Express mail only).

If this is your first time to lodge E2 visa application and if you are going to the private school in Korea, you will definitely have an interview with Consul, which means you should come to our office yourself by booking or you should post your Self Intro video tape or CD.

There is an one more option, that if you have a videocall function on your mobile phone, you can let us know and can have an interview on mobile phone.

Regards,
Consular office
Korean Consulate General
Postal Address: PO Box 1601 Sydney NSW 2001

Tel: 02 9210 0200
Fax: 02 9210 0206

Regards,
Consular office
Tel: 02 9210 0200
[email protected]

[edgeworth]

Hmmm, only just discovered that the Canberra embassy has WA jurisidiction. It's also my first time to Korea... so I hope they have Skype. I'll ring them tomorrow morning to find out.

[edgeworth]

OK, I rang the embassy in Canberra and they said that a phone interview was fine and that I wouldn't need to fly over there. Thank God for that.

[Swampthing500]

[emmuh]

woohoo!