Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bones]

I am trying to get my documents together to begin applying for jobs in Korea. I am confused about the criminal background check. I am a Canadian and I understand that I need to get it notarized and then send it to the Korean Consulate for an apostille. However, i'm not sure which criminal background check i need. I can get one from the police station and it only takes a couple days or a week. Or there is the 'certified' criminal background check where I get fingerprinted and send the prints away to and they send back the background check a few weeks later. Both are national background checks. Does anybody know which one I need? There seems to be confilicting information about which one I need.

[Kaypea]

[MoonArisa]

Havign gone through the same thing myself; I can tell you it depends on the recruiter.

I went and got the police check and as long as it has all the stamps you should be fine. The main difference being that in Canada they check nation-wide instead of province wide. In comparison, should you get a police check in the US they would check only the statewide records; which is why they require an FBI check to get the nation-wide check done.

Some recruiters have told me to get the RCMP, but as long as you explain the police it nation wide, they have for the most part accepted it. And if you go to the police station, you can get it in a couple of hours.

A note (I only found out afterwards) you can ask for two original copies for the price of one. Do it, as the Koreans don't accept notorized copies, and as it doesn't cost you anything it's a good piece to have in case you lose your first one.

Once you have it, it's the regular process. Go to a notary public or lawyer to have it stamped and certified (they may ask you to sign it again, but it's not a problem) and with that you can drop it off or send it to the Consular/Embassy of Korea for an apostille. It takes half a day if you go pick it up yourself.

If you have questions on this, PM me!

[Bones]

I did get one from my local police station and it didn't cost anything. It is just a copy of the form I filled out with the police officer's signature and the RCMP stamp and they checked off the boxes saying no record found and stamped it for VSS check. I just wanted to be sure I didn't need the one with the fingerprints as it would take 2 or 3 months to get and I want to be in Korea before that. I don't have a recruiter yet, but I plan on using JejuESL. I will ask them when I apply but I'm sure it will be fine as they are a Canadian company.

Thanks!

[gordo]

You need to get a nation-wide check done. That means that you need to have your criminal record check through the RCMP database. The local police station with a VSS is no longer supposed to be accepted but maybe you could get lucky with that. If it was done by the RCMP like you indicate, make sure it says on there that the check was a nation-wide check.

You absolutely CAN use a company like Commisionaires but it might depend on where you live. I know this for a fact because I just did it and had zero issues having my visa authorized. If your in a rush, you can do the digital fingerprints through a company like that and they will have it back to you within 2 weeks unless you have a record. Much better than the traditional ink fingerprinting which quotes times of 3-4 months on their website.

In addition, an apostille only applies to Americans and is not something you do in Canada. You need to have your documents notarized by a lawyer and then again by the Korean consulate.

[ren546]

You don't need the RCMP check that takes 2+ months. Go to your local detachment and get a national check printed out.

The official VSS is not done for overseas employment purposes (the RCMP will tell you this when you go there), so don't worry about that. The national check through a local detachment is sufficient.

Take the original to a notary public to get notarized, then send it to the nearest consulate to get verified. Then send it to your recruiter with the rest of your documents.

Your recruiter may be confused because of the differences between American and Canadian notarization policies. Don't listen to your recruiter. If you don't believe what I'm saying, call your nearest consulate and they will confirm everything I just told you.

[tick]

To the Last Poster,


Please, is it really then necessary to get fingerprinted? Because I know it's possible to get a non-RCMP national crc without prints.

[ren546]

You don't need the prints - or, at least I didn't. I used a local check at the end of February and immigration accepted it. I also went to the Korean consulate in Vancouver and they confirmed that I did not need the fingerprint check.

I did send away for my fingerprint check at the beginning of January, and I didn't get it back from Ottawa until the end of March.

Canadian CRCs are different from the American ones. Every local RCMP detachment is able to run a scan of your name in the national database, and this is sufficient for Korean immigration (at least at this point in time).

If you want to double check, just call your nearest Korean consulate and they will verify what I just said.

[ergo.elaine]

I spoke to the Korean Consulate in Toronto today and they told me that it was unlikely that Korean immigration would issue me a VISA if my fingerprints and reference check were done by a private organization. I was then told by my local police station to go down to the Toronto police HQ to get my prints done.

I'll be heading down on Monday to see what the deal is.

[dbtm]

I got an E2 Visa for the first time in February.

Got a criminal background check from Edmonton Police Service. It took 10 days and cost $35. IT came on Edmonton Police Service letterhead but it also clearly says on the back of the check that it searched the CPIC database which is the national database.

Got notarized copies made at my lawyer.

Got E2 from Vancouver consulate.

Anyone paying for fingerprints and waiting months for an RCMP Ottawa check is a sucker. You can also try going a small town and getting one done at the local RCMP detachment so it will come on RCMP letterhead if that will make you feel better but mine was on Edmonton Police Service letterhead and it was not a problem at all.

I was told the RCMP is no longer allowed to do the Vulnerable Sector Search for purposes of foreign employment so that requirement has long since been dropped.


The Vancouver consulate specifically told me that private companies such as Commissionaires are not accepted.[/b]

[tick]

I appreciate your feedback on this, ren56 and ergo.elaine.

And thanks so much dbtm for your particularly, no-nonsense response. I will proceed following the course of action you laid out. The time, money and frustration you saved me --wow.

Regards

[ergo.elaine]

No problem. The CRC is probably the most frustrating part of the whole application process right now.

What exactly should I be asking for? A criminal reference check that searches the CPIC database?

Thanks in advance.

[BankOfRC]

[BankOfRC]

[BankOfRC]