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Korean Job Discussion Forums "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
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Smithington
Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:57 pm Post subject: Got fired from my hellish hogwan (visa transfer question) |
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In brief here's my situation: I got fired from a hogwan hell-hole. I have my letter of dismissal. I'm looking for a new job in Korea. Does anyone know how I go about transferring my current visa to a new employer? If I don't have a new job by my last day of work does my visa get cancelled? Or can immigration extend it temporarily until I've found a new job.
I really, really don't want to have to leave then go through the whole bullshit E-2 visa process again.
Thank you kindly for any advice,
Smith |
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ttompatz

Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:47 pm Post subject: Re: Got fired from my hellish hogwan (visa transfer question |
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| Smithington wrote: |
In brief here's my situation: I got fired from a hogwan hell-hole. I have my letter of dismissal. I'm looking for a new job in Korea. Does anyone know how I go about transferring my current visa to a new employer? If I don't have a new job by my last day of work does my visa get cancelled? Or can immigration extend it temporarily until I've found a new job.
I really, really don't want to have to leave then go through the whole bullshit E-2 visa process again.
Thank you kindly for any advice,
Smith |
Get thee down to immigration.
Switch from E2 to D10 (looking for work). You need your letter of dismissal, an application, your passport, your ARC and 50k won.
You then have 90 days to find a new job and switch back to an E2 (without all the usual E2 application process) or leave.
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thebektionary
Joined: 11 May 2011
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:51 pm Post subject: |
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Same thing happened to me. My new employers took care of it for me.
Good luck. I feel for you right now. Hopefully your second place will be better. Mine was a dream, opposite of the first terrifying nightmare. |
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Smithington
Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:14 am Post subject: |
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Thank you both very much for your advice. There is just one complication (this being Korea). I had actually given my 60 day quitting notice, then they turned around and said 'You're fired. You've got 30 days." Now, this is a scumbag hogwan. I don't want to provoke them with labour board action at this point. They might respond by stopping my pay until the labour dispute is resolved. I need to get as much of my pay from them as I can right now. If I go to immigration and switch my E-2 visa to a "looking for work' visa will that be considered my acceptance of my school's position. In other words, do I submit my 'letter of resignation' or their (later) "letter of dismissal". If I submit the latter to immigration, will that forfeit my later labour board complaint. If I submit the former, will immigration contact my school for confirmation (which might instigate vindictive measures by them, such as witholding my last paycheck.)
I swear to the gods, this is not an easy place for a man to make an honest living.
The *^&%$ of living in Korea truly and honestly exhausts me.
Last edited by Smithington on Sat Dec 24, 2011 1:41 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Wildbore
Joined: 17 Jun 2009
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:23 am Post subject: |
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| Smithington wrote: |
Thank you both very much for your advice. There is just one complication (this being Korea). I had actually given my 60 day quitting notice, then they turned around and said 'You're fired. You've got 30 days." Now, this is a scumbag hogwan. I don't want to provoke them with labour board action at this point. They might respond by stopping my pay until the labour dispute is resolved. I need to get as much of my pay from them as I can right now.
If I go to the labour board and switch my visa to a "looking for work' visa will that be considered my acceptance of my school's position. In other words, do I submit my 'letter of resignation' or their later "letter of dismissal". If I submit the latter, will that forfeit my later labour board complaint. If I submit the former, will they contact my school (which might instigate punative measures by them, such as witholding my last paycheck.)
I swear to the gods, this is not an easy place for a man to make an honest living.
The *^&%$ of living in Korea truly and honestly exhausts me. |
Actually it's quite simple. Doesn't matter if you get quit or are fired, the Labor board will protect your last paycheque. Even if you broke the contract and gave one days notice, the labor board will fight for your one day. Why do you think they exist? |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Smithington wrote: |
Thank you both very much for your advice. There is just one complication (this being Korea). I had actually given my 60 day quitting notice, then they turned around and said 'You're fired. You've got 30 days." Now, this is a scumbag hogwan. I don't want to provoke them with labour board action at this point. They might respond by stopping my pay until the labour dispute is resolved. I need to get as much of my pay from them as I can right now.
If I go to the labour board and switch my visa to a "looking for work' visa will that be considered my acceptance of my school's position. In other words, do I submit my 'letter of resignation' or their later "letter of dismissal". If I submit the latter, will that forfeit my later labour board complaint. If I submit the former, will they contact my school (which might instigate punative measures by them, such as witholding my last paycheck.)
I swear to the gods, this is not an easy place for a man to make an honest living.
The *^&%$ of living in Korea truly and honestly exhausts me. |
You don't go to the labor board to switch your visa...that's Immigration. The labor board is for later...after you get your pay. |
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Utopian
Joined: 12 Aug 2011
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 6:03 am Post subject: |
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| Wildbore wrote: |
| Smithington wrote: |
Thank you both very much for your advice. There is just one complication (this being Korea). I had actually given my 60 day quitting notice, then they turned around and said 'You're fired. You've got 30 days." Now, this is a scumbag hogwan. I don't want to provoke them with labour board action at this point. They might respond by stopping my pay until the labour dispute is resolved. I need to get as much of my pay from them as I can right now.
If I go to the labour board and switch my visa to a "looking for work' visa will that be considered my acceptance of my school's position. In other words, do I submit my 'letter of resignation' or their later "letter of dismissal". If I submit the latter, will that forfeit my later labour board complaint. If I submit the former, will they contact my school (which might instigate punative measures by them, such as witholding my last paycheck.)
I swear to the gods, this is not an easy place for a man to make an honest living.
The *^&%$ of living in Korea truly and honestly exhausts me. |
Actually it's quite simple. Doesn't matter if you get quit or are fired, the Labor board will protect your last paycheque. Even if you broke the contract and gave one days notice, the labor board will fight for your one day. Why do you think they exist? |
I wish this were true, but I hear of people having experiences like this all the time and having no recourse to legalities that protect them because they have to leave the country for various reasons.
Last edited by Utopian on Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:09 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 8:46 am Post subject: |
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| Utopian wrote: |
| Wildbore wrote: |
| Smithington wrote: |
Thank you both very much for your advice. There is just one complication (this being Korea). I had actually given my 60 day quitting notice, then they turned around and said 'You're fired. You've got 30 days." Now, this is a scumbag hogwan. I don't want to provoke them with labour board action at this point. They might respond by stopping my pay until the labour dispute is resolved. I need to get as much of my pay from them as I can right now.
If I go to the labour board and switch my visa to a "looking for work' visa will that be considered my acceptance of my school's position. In other words, do I submit my 'letter of resignation' or their later "letter of dismissal". If I submit the latter, will that forfeit my later labour board complaint. If I submit the former, will they contact my school (which might instigate punative measures by them, such as witholding my last paycheck.)
I swear to the gods, this is not an easy place for a man to make an honest living.
The *^&%$ of living in Korea truly and honestly exhausts me. |
Actually it's quite simple. Doesn't matter if you get quit or are fired, the Labor board will protect your last paycheque. Even if you broke the contract and gave one days notice, the labor board will fight for your one day. Why do you think they exist? |
I wish this were true. Trying to be an honest person, I gave my hakwon director my 30-day notice, which was stipulated in my contract. She bullied me into making it a 60-day notice by threatening to report me to my recruiter -- the implication being that they would try to sue me 1 million won for the recruitment fee, even though no mention of that was in my contract.
So, I gave my 60-day notice, and on my last day, she basically deducted 1 million won from my final paycheck. A third of it was my vacation pay from 5 months prior. She said Korean law dictated that she didn't have to pay for my vacation if I terminated my contract early. The other third was for a fee for cancelling cable in my apartment. I was stunned. Definitely the worst experience I've had here. |
Deducting for vacation days could be legitimate. For example: If you took you whole year's vacation in advance, but only worked 6 months, then your employer should deduct half of your already paid prior vacation.
Likewise, deducting for the disconnect fees required due to your leaving early could be legitimate: These are utility charges, and most likely you agreed to pay your own utilities, and since you are leaving early this charge is necessary to end your housing contract, so you have to pay this fee. Although the disconnect fee just for cable isn't this high, the disconnect fees for all of your utilities could be.
You didn't mention the other 1/3 of a million won BTW. |
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Smithington
Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2011 1:26 am Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| Smithington wrote: |
Thank you both very much for your advice. There is just one complication (this being Korea). I had actually given my 60 day quitting notice, then they turned around and said 'You're fired. You've got 30 days." Now, this is a scumbag hogwan. I don't want to provoke them with labour board action at this point. They might respond by stopping my pay until the labour dispute is resolved. I need to get as much of my pay from them as I can right now.
If I go to the labour board and switch my visa to a "looking for work' visa will that be considered my acceptance of my school's position. In other words, do I submit my 'letter of resignation' or their later "letter of dismissal". If I submit the latter, will that forfeit my later labour board complaint. If I submit the former, will they contact my school (which might instigate punative measures by them, such as witholding my last paycheck.)
I swear to the gods, this is not an easy place for a man to make an honest living.
The *^&%$ of living in Korea truly and honestly exhausts me. |
You don't go to the labor board to switch your visa...that's Immigration. The labor board is for later...after you get your pay. |
Yes, I understand that. I meant to write "immigration" not "labour board." Thanks anyway. |
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Wildbore
Joined: 17 Jun 2009
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 7:39 am Post subject: |
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| Utopian wrote: |
| Wildbore wrote: |
| Smithington wrote: |
Thank you both very much for your advice. There is just one complication (this being Korea). I had actually given my 60 day quitting notice, then they turned around and said 'You're fired. You've got 30 days." Now, this is a scumbag hogwan. I don't want to provoke them with labour board action at this point. They might respond by stopping my pay until the labour dispute is resolved. I need to get as much of my pay from them as I can right now.
If I go to the labour board and switch my visa to a "looking for work' visa will that be considered my acceptance of my school's position. In other words, do I submit my 'letter of resignation' or their later "letter of dismissal". If I submit the latter, will that forfeit my later labour board complaint. If I submit the former, will they contact my school (which might instigate punative measures by them, such as witholding my last paycheck.)
I swear to the gods, this is not an easy place for a man to make an honest living.
The *^&%$ of living in Korea truly and honestly exhausts me. |
Actually it's quite simple. Doesn't matter if you get quit or are fired, the Labor board will protect your last paycheque. Even if you broke the contract and gave one days notice, the labor board will fight for your one day. Why do you think they exist? |
I wish this were true. Trying to be an honest person, I gave my hakwon director my 30-day notice, which was stipulated in my contract. She bullied me into making it a 60-day notice by threatening to report me to my recruiter -- the implication being that they would try to sue me 1 million won for the recruitment fee, even though no mention of that was in my contract.
So, I gave my 60-day notice, and on my last day, she basically deducted 1 million won from my final paycheck. A third of it was my vacation pay from 5 months prior. She said Korean law dictated that she didn't have to pay for my vacation if I terminated my contract early. The other third was for a fee for cancelling cable in my apartment. I was stunned. Definitely the worst experience I've had here. |
The director could have made the contract say 60 days notice if they wanted to give 60 days notice. 30 was obviously enough, so you should have told them "no" and gave 30.
I am assuming you filed a labor board complaint and had either a) the claim rejected or b) the unauthorized deductions returned or c) a settlement |
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Gorf
Joined: 25 Jun 2011
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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| A visa transfer is only 30,000 won now, actually. They charge you only for the new visa extension. |
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thebektionary
Joined: 11 May 2011
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Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2011 1:47 am Post subject: |
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Hold onto that letter of release with dear life. You got it, and its yours now. Don't let it get anywhere near your boss.
Find a job ASAP. I found a new one within the first two days of searching. AND I was looking for a very strange thing - a school that could only hire me for 2 months. This was only 9 months ago. If I could find that, you could definitely find a normal 6 month or 1 year contract.
Good luck! Hopefully your next school will be nice like mine was so you can look back at all of this garbage from afar and be done with it forever. |
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