Korean Job Discussion Forums

[seonsengnimble]

*Very long rant, but a very frustrating day today.

Last year, I worked for a pretty good hagwon. My pay and hours were good, and I had a lot of freedom in my classroom. It was good, but I decided to move up to a University so that I could visit home more often and have more time to pursue graduate studies. I let my school know my plans several months ago, and they were fine with it. I gave them plenty of notice and assisted my replacement teacher.

I looked all over for a good uni position and finally landed a great one with 15 contact hours per week, three months paid vacation and very good pay. I left a month before the end of my contract at my hagwon so that I could visit friends and family I haven't seen in three years before the start of my new job. I went home for a couple of weeks, came back to Korea and got all of the documents from my new school that they had been processing over the last few weeks.

I went to immigration with all of my documents prepared to transfer my visa to my new employer and renew it. I had a signed and stamped letter of release from my previous school, and I was looking forward to starting work next week at a fantastic job with no hitches.

My previous employer, however thought she needed to cancel my visa in order for me to start work at my new job, and she didn't mention this to me at any point. My visa was canceled at the beginning of February.

Had it not been canceled, I could have transferred the visa and renewed it with no problems. If I was informed that it was canceled, I could have obtained a new visa number and gotten the visa stamp while I was in America.

Now I need to leave Korea ASAP because I am here illegally and have been for two weeks, and I hope my new employer will get a new visa for me and I can return soon.

One would think that a piece of information like "you have no visa" would be passed on to the person with no visa.

[hockeyguy109]

Breath deep. Drink some soju. Relax.

It sounds like a big misunderstanding between you and the employers. It will all be resolved. Don't worry too much. Think on the positive: New kick butt job at a University and a new change of pace.


Heck, if you don't want the University job, I'll take it!

[seonsengnimble]

[OculisOrbis]

I would say that your bigger problem than the tourist visa is getting another work visa. Since you overstayed, you'll likely have to pay a fine. It can also determine whether or not they even approve a new work visa - or as with others who overstayed, they could require a consular interview in your home country.

The other problem is, since its a university, I assume they want you start march 1. Since your visa has already been canceled and you are no longer eligible to transfer employers you'll need to apply for a whole new work visa from scratch with a complete new set of documents.

Assuming you have all the documents you need for a new visa now and don't need to order, notarize or apostille anything, you're still looking at about a week or two or three just for kimmi to process them and give you a visa issuance number. Then you have to leave korea again to get the visa and come back before you can start working. The few weeks delay means your uni might just write you off and take someone who can start immediately. (For example, hockey109 seems to be available)

Hopefully that doesn't happen, but these are all possibilities. Good luck getting it sorted.

[Juregen]

[roknroll]

[littlelisa]

[Trevor]

This can all be solved by an overnight trip to Fukuoaka. Try Agoda.com if you want to stay in a hotel, or if you want to go to a fun backpacker's place, go to Khaosan, for like twenty bucks a night:
http://www.khaosan-fukuoka.com/

No biggie. I've gotten out of bigger jams with Immi. It all ends up even.

[Seoulio]

Unless I am missing somthing you are pissed off at your old boss for doing what she should have done when you quit.

I am baffled why you thin someone should tell you that you have no visa especially if you didnt tell the person cancelling it that you do not want it cancelled as you are transferring to another school.

Either way, her cancelling your Visa for employment with HER school is what she should do, and I would think you should have gotten your Visa transferred before you left KOrea.

I mean unless you left those details in your lon ( which wasnt actually that long) rant then you have no one to blame but yourself for lack or communication.

[seonsengnimble]

[Seoulio]

If I was leaving the country and had not told my boss that I didnt want her to cancel my visa then I WOULD know my visa was being cancelled.

That's my point.

You want someone to explain something to you that is a total and complete given when leaving a job.

SO to be honest, no I wouldnt expect or want something explained to me when common sense basically dictates its a given.

if you no longer work for a school, you no longer have a valid Visa with them, so that they can get a new one for the new teacher.

[seonsengnimble]

[roknroll]

[Seoulio]

[Seoulio]

oh and to rock and roll, At the heart of YOUR assumptions is that the school admins knows what the hell the letter or release actually does.

My last boss had no idea how the immigration end process actually worked, didnt know the purpose of a LOR etc. She was just the kind of idiot who would have given a letter of release and then had your visa done by the next day.

However GENERALLY if you stop wroking for a company, after a month your VISA is not going to still be uncancelled by your employer