Korean Job Discussion Forums

[viruletdew]

Hi,

I apologize if this question has been answered in an existing thread. I haven't had any success is finding and answer to my particular situation.

I was adopted from Korea 29 years ago.
I was a 'foundling' - aka abandoned/found on the street without any papers
I only have an associates degree

I believe I have all of the necessary documentation, with exception to the Korean Family Registry and/or proof of renounced Korean citizenship. Is anyone here familiar with this situation? I did write to my adoption agency in Korea. Waiting to hear back.

Also. I am currently in the US. I would like to get my F-4 before heading over to Korea. I downloaded the Visa app, and even tried to call my consulate in NYC. They told me I would have to go to them to have them help me fill out the application (http://usa-newyork.mofat.go.kr/eng/am/usa-newyork/images/res/visakorean.pdf), unless I have someone in Pennsylvania who can help me. I would like to avoid the 8 hour drive or expensive flight, if at all possible. Can anyone here help guide me through the application? It doesn't appear to have a place on it that specifies the type of Visa.

Are there restrictions on type of employment with the F-4 visa? I only have an associates degree, but I have 10 years of professional experience.

Also, would my spouse need to apply for an F-2 Visa?

Do either / both of us need to be employed in Korea before in order to obtain a Visa?

Sorry for the long post. Any help would be great.

---Thanks,

Jessica

[ttompatz]

You would get an F4 and I cannot give decent advice about the process for an adoptee.

Your spouse would get an F3 (dependent family) and would NOT be allowed to work.

If he wanted to work he would have to qualify for and be granted the appropriate work visa.

If he does not have a degree and does not qualify for an F4 then he may NOT be able to legally work at anything.

There are some restrictions on what is legal for employment on an F4.

.

[Murakano]

[Yongbae22]

I'm in a somewhat similar situation you are currently in.
I haven't started my F-4 visa procedure yet, as I'm still researching information about the whole process of going to Korea before I spend money and time doing something that is not required or accepted.

From my understanding a person with a F-4 visa can work in any industry other than hard-manual labor.

Even though you don't need a bachelor's degree for immigration for a visa, it is required by law that you hold a bachelor's degree in order to teach in a school. You are permitted to do private tutoring as long as you register for it for tax purposes. You can also try to find other types of employment, but I am doubtful that you would be able to find such employment. I have searched for positions that do not require degrees nor being fluent in Korean, and all I have found so far is 1 job that pays 2mil won/month for 60 hr work week, no benefits, and it is a manual labor job.

There are ways to teach without a BA degree. TALK program accepts people with an associates degree, or F-4 holders that are currently enrolled in their first semester of college for a 4 year degree. As I mentioned above, you can legally teach privates without a degree. I've read numerous posts on the web about people teaching at hagwons without a degree, or a fake degree. To be honest I have thought about doing that myself, but I don't think I am comfortable with working illegally overseas nor be responsible for the education of children when I am not qualified to do so. You said you have 10 years experience so you are much different than I, and I also do not have an associates degree.

I've spoken with Korean natives through skype and they have mentioned that there is possible jobs in teaching English in corporate offices, voice acting, English radio, translation, editing and proof reading, and some other jobs where one would need to know both English and Korean to work at.

I have also been told to just go to Korea on a traveling visa, and get my F-4 visa there. I'm not sure if that is plausible, but you could look into it if you cannot find someone to help you with your visa application.

If you're interested, I've posted in this forum just recently about going back to college and transitioning to Korea. Here is the link:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=202794

In that post, there were two responses that said I should attend college at a Korean institution, which I am not sure if that would be the right move for me, but you may be interested in learning more about that opportunity.

Another way to stay in Korea is through the US military. There are jobs that a civilian can do in Korea, I'm not certain if you have to live in Korea in order to apply to them due to the free trade act? I forget what policy it was, but it's posted on the military website about working in Korea.
For most of the jobs they offer in Korea, you would need at minimum a bachelor's degree with some experience in the field of employment. They range from engineers to human resources.

Best of luck to you.

[wishfullthinkng]

[viruletdew]

Thank you so much for all of the information you have provided. I'm sorry for the delayed reply.

@wishfulthinkng: I do have a scrapbook that my adoptive parents kept for me. It has my original passport, all of my health records (from Eastern Social Welfare), intake information, as well as correspondence between my adoptive parents and the adoption agency.

@Yongbae22: Thanks for your thorough response. I don't know if I would even want to teach at a school. I would only want to teach business English, which seems impossible with my degree. I've considered looking for and English speaking tour guide job, but pickings seem slim. My husband doesn't want to teach English either, however he is an engineer with his PE license, so at least he could so if it came down to it. I would like to look into taking a Korean language course in a Korean university. It looks like I may just have to try to get (remote) contract front-end dev gigs for some part-time income

@Murakano: Thanks for the links. I am a member of GOAL, but beyond telling me that it is easier to acquire an F4 while in Korea, they haven't been of any more help. It is a bit disappointing.


----------------------------
Again, thanks to all of you. These are the best responses I have received to date!

[Daegu Chingu]

Hi Jessica,

Don't worry about being an adoptee and not being able to get documentation. I also don't know who my birth parents are, so you just need to contact your social worker at Eastern Social Welfare and request 2 documents: (1) adoption certificate and (2) copy of the family registry. They will make one for you saying that your registry is with ESW.

Now, I live in Korea, so I asked the KOREAN social worker in Holt to send it to me, so why don't you just contact ESW in America and see what they have to say? You need these two documents to get the F-4, and it shouldn't be hard. The weird thing about them are that they are time sensitive, so you need to use it within 3 months of getting them. Just keep that in mind, since it might be annoying to ask for the same documents twice! ^^

I don't know about getting the F-4 in America, but I know people who have done it in Korea and it hasn't been hard. If you run into a bunch of problems, you should consider coming to Korea on a tourist visa and get your F-4 in Korea. Don't forget to bring your naturalization paper.

For you, it will be easy to get the F-4, but your husband might have some difficulties with his visa. How long do you plan on staying? Seems like you need to line up a job for your husband before coming due to the visa situation... I don't know about engineering, but teaching English isn't so bad and if you did it for just a year, it would give you a chance to easily live in Korea. I recommend coming through EPIK. http://www.epik.go.kr/ They are open to new applications for next semester! Then, your husband can get the E-2 visa.

Good luck!

[viruletdew]

Thanks for the info and the encouragement! I did contact ESWS and they did send me the documents, before I knew that there were any time sensitivity involved!

I AM concerned...do I need to have employment lined up before applying for the F-4? I didn't think so, but now I'm not so sure. I think I may just fill out the application and send it to the NYC embassy. The worst they can do it is reject the application.

Neither my husband or I really wish to teach English, though I think he would be great in an adult/business classroom setting. Maybe I'll just work in a cosmetic shop, and go to school, heheh.

Thanks again, and I'll keep updating this thread...

[Murakano]