Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ruby's Mom]

This posting is specific for the Los Angeles, CA area potential ESL teachers. People in other states may use this posting as a reference but I would check with local and state government before proceeding.

Criminal Background Check - To make your life easier, get the state level. Public schools require state level and even if you are going to go for private schools, in the off chance you change your mind, just get the state level. Here are the steps to getting it.

1. Go to a live scan place for fingerprinting. Probably any will do. You will fill out a form show your driver license and pay. That's about it. It should take about a week if you don't have a record.

2. Once you get the CBC in the mail, take the original with you to Downtown LA to get the apostille stamp. Since the CBC is state level document and signature, the downtown regional office will be able to do it for you on the spot.

Here's their location:
Los Angeles Regional Office
300 South Spring Street, Room 12513
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 897-3062


Diploma Copy - This is a three step process.

1. Go to your local notary public with your original diploma. I took copies with me but you can always make copies at the notary public. Some may require that you have the copies made at their location. Get the copy or copies notarized. (I did two just in case I may need another one.)

2. Go to the county clerk's office to get the notary public authenticated. I went to the one in Norwalk, CA. This step is VERY important if you want to get the apostille from the Los Angeles regional office.

3. Go to the same location as for the Criminal Background Check for the apostille. If you skip step 2, you will not be able to get the apostille from the regional office and would have to mail your copies and forms to Sacramento. This will approximately take 4-8 weeks. I would avoid this at all cost since it's time consuming and you'd have to rely on the postal system.

Hopefully, this posting helps many people out there. The recruiters have not been very helpful in this matter. They simply just tell you that you need to get the apostille but they don't know the process whatsoever.

Just an important thing to note. Either have enough cash or a checkbook with you. The regional office will accept visa or mastercard but most other places may only accept cash or check.

[dongdongdudel]

Thanks Mom,
I'm looking at lining my documents up to ROK-it come December, also out of LA.
Do you know how long the CBC is good for
I ask because I may get out of LA next month ( and a month or two before a Korean job), but would make a helluva lot of sense to take care of the CBC etc before leaving LA.
Thanks for your help, where are you headed?

[meforevalv]

hi,

i was wondering if i could still go to the LA SOS with my CRC even if it doesn't have a signature on it (I did get it notarized tho).

Or do I need to get it authenticated before i can go to the LA SOS to get it apostilled?

thanks.. im just trying to figure out all my steps before i spend a day trying to get all this done. =D

[classydame]

Is the fingerprint-based criminal background check required? I ordered the name/birthday-based check from my state (Idaho) because it was cheaper and my fingerprints are unreadable (I had to pay for 3 fingerprint checks 6 years ago for AmeriCorps and they all came up inconclusive). I hope the name check is good enough!

[timmayyyyy]

Name check should be good enough for the CBC. It's just Internet checks that are not sufficient.

Also, if you're going to get something like your diploma notarized, might as well just do that at the County Clerk's office in Norwalk also, since after the document is notarized, you'll have to go down to the 2nd floor and get it authenticated. You can kill 2 birds with 1 stone in Norwalk if you use their Public Notary up on the...5th floor I think it was?

I wish parking around the Reagan building (where the SOS office is) in downtown was easier/cheaper in the afternoon. Be prepared to spend $3-5 for parking somewhere nearby.

[smoggy]

LA Consulate does not require fingerprints or sealed copies of the transcripts. My interview was on phone and it took 2 mins. He told me right away I had the Visa. I have been in Daegu for 5 weeks. He asked if I had teaching experience and verified that my degree was in music. All consulates have different rules. If you don't live in CA, and LA is your consulate, your interview is by phone. They sent back all of my forms as well.

[bji]

I thought I'd share my experience just to give a heads up to anyone that lives in orange county.

Today I went to get a public official signature of my crc and diploma. Had both notorized in orange county then went to the oc county clerk. The crc process went through but I guess the oc county clerk can't process any type of school records for whatever reason. So I need to go to a different county to get a signature on my diploma but the LA county clerk office just informed me that they don't accept anything notorized from an outside county. So now i have to get my diploma notorized, again, in the county of LA before I can get the signature.

Point of the story handle all your paperwork in LA!!!! Otherwise you'll waste time and money.

[meforevalv]

[bji]

anyone know the turn around rate when sent to the sacramento office?

[meforevalv]

[jamiemexi]

If you need an apostille in a rush. You can go to Apostille Pros. www.apostillepros.com. If time is a factor for you and you don't want to put up with L.A. traffic. L.A. traffic is the worst. They can also FedEx to South Korea. Not to mention they have the live scan machine to do the background check.

They provide 1 day service apostille (price) and 2-3 business days apostille.