Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hornbill]

I recently pulled (less than) a week in Korea at an adult Hogwan. After I discovered they had been raided the week before, plus the institute works teachers illegally (on tourist visas) even after being raided, I walked.

The institute paid for my ticket, but get this:
1. The institute paid my recruiting agency for the ticket.
2. The recruiting agency also has a travel agency on the side.
3. Their travel agency canceled the ticket I was supposed to use and bought one that was about half the price.
4. The original ticket was over 850 bucks.
5. The ticket I actually used to go to Korea cost only 415 bucks.

The institute wants me to pay the 850+ they paid for the ticket before I can get a letter of release. Also, I left Korea immediately after leaving the institute, which was more than 6 weeks ago. I know employers have 15 days max to cancel E-2s. The institute threatened to 'report' me to immigration, although it's running an operation in which it hires and works teachers illegally.

For those of you in the know--how do I get this visa cancelled without paying that 850? I don't mind paying the actual cost paid for the ticket, but that won't do, according to the institute. Can they force me to pay this thing at all? I'm thinking NO. I'd like to get this E-2 cancelled and move on with my life to another job in Korea fairly soon.

[OculisOrbis]

Sounds like it should be between them and the recruiter. The recruiter should be replacing you at no cost to the school and you should settle the actual cost of your ticket with the recruiter. Everything else is between school and recruiter to sort out.

Canceling the visa is easy. Since you have left korea and, hopefully, turned in your Alien Resident Card - it should get canceled automatically. If you didn't, then it complicates things...You employer owns you until the visa term expires or they decide to cancel it.

If you've only been there a couple weeks, a letter of release is useless to you. LOR's are only useful if you plan to transfer to new employer and you can't do that unless you completed 75% of your contract.

As long as you have your visa and are legal to work, what's problem? Only the school and the illegal teachers have to worry about consequences. You could also just inform immi and ask that they inspect the school.....or suggest it to your employer if they insist you repay more than the cost of your airfare.

Just find another recruiter and start the process again.

[Hornbill]

I never got an ARC. I wasn't there long enough to get it.

I don't think these guys can 'blacklist' me, so I'll go ahead and start looking for a new gig. I'm gone from the country and have been for weeks, so my E-2 should be cancelled by now, I assume. I'm ready to start over again, which won't be a problem. When I got my ARC back home, I got several copies, along with several copies of the other documents. I'm ready to go to work if I can only find a decent job and immy allows me to work again before this E-2 expires, IF it's not cancelled yet. But it should be.

[le-paul]

just so you know (any everyone else) - these people can not demand any money from you by law. it is illegal to penalise people finacially for quitting a job. if they say 'recruiter fee blah blah blah....' - its a bunch of rubbish. thyere just pulling the wool bout your eyes. they simply cant ask for anything.

[cruisemonkey]

So far, this thread contains two falsehoods:
1. An employer is under no obligation to cancel sponsorship of your visa; and,
2. Leaving K-land (whether or not you hand in your ARC to Immi on the way out) does not automatically cancel your visa (the Immi officer must process the cancellation, otherwise the period of sojourn on that visa 'stands').

If your visa is not cancelled, you must wait until the period of sojourn expires - one year from date of entry (or until such time as the employer does cancel it) - in order to obtain another visa.

If your employer gets a court order against you for moneys owed, your ability to 'freely enter' K-land may be affected. In other words, you will be detained by Immi upon entry and held until you pay.

[Hornbill]

Interesting, Cruise. I've heard that an employer has 15 days to cancel the E-2 of a departed teacher (a teacher who has left the job for good and then left the country) or be fined.

From what I understand, institutes get only a certain number of E-2 visas. That is the maximum number they can have assigned to them at any one time. If they're maxed out and a teacher leaves, they have to cancel that teacher's visa before they can get a new one for the next guy/gal. Perhaps this is the reason schools hire people illegally? They don't have enough E-2 visas available and don't want to cancel a departed teacher's visa for some reason (such as they want to screw with that teacher)?

I could be wrong.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Why care if they were employing others illegally as long as your own visa status was kosher?

[Hornbill]

Because I had to fly all the way back to the USA on my own dime to get the apostilled CRC only to find I was going to work for lawbreakers. That's why. I'm like that, understand. A rare bird in TESOL (see my username). I expect my employer to be clean just like I'm expected to be. If he isn't, I'm out the door. If that's a problem for the employer, too bad. Korea should have thought about this before saddling teachers with these new CPN-inspired restrictions.

If an employer will break the law by hiring teachers and working them on tourist visas for months and months, who knows what (potentially illegal) shenanigans they'll try.

[Hornbill]

I just learned a new fact about my now-former employer:

The place was raided about three days before I arrived. As the raid was going down, classes were being held. One of the classes was being taught by an American woman who was working illegally on a tourist visa.

They were working people illegally as the raid was actually happening.