Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jason85]

Hi everyone. I'm new here at the forums, and I am here to get some visa related advice. I will need to explain my story to you first of all (a little long, so apologies for this). Whilst I gather that no one person will be able to give me a definitive answer, I bow to your superior knowledge on the matter and your own personal experiences. Thank you in advance.

Around 6 years ago (a lot younger and immature back then), I was working as a teacher in Korea. I was signed up to the Suwon branch of immigration at this time. I will not give a sob story of my negative experiences at the hakwon at which I worked (failure to pay on time, generally cruel treatment), but it all got me to the point in which I decided to run away. I did not want to stick it out and fight anymore, I just wanted to get out of the country and move on. I was not resilient enough back then, and looking back, I could have handled things much differently and professionally.

Soon after (about a year or so later), I attempted to apply again to work in South Korea (once again on an E2). I found a job at one of the major adult institutes and sent my documents out (this immigration branch was different). The immigration flagged me up to the company, and the company decided not to proceed. I tried again, this time to a smaller hakwon (where the boss was on my side and understood my predicament), but the same thing happened again. My potential boss at that time tried to fight my case, but the immigration officer was so crude and he seemed to derive pleasure in refusing my application as I spoke to him on the phone...

It turned out that the employer that I ran away from has really tried to stick in the knife once I had fled the country. They made up all manner or allegations against me (for instance that I trashed my rented house prior to departure, and that I was a terrible teacher, and so on). The final piece of advice that I received was the following:

1. Every immigration office is different and thus has the potential to accept or decline an application. So, literally an individual man or woman can make the decision on his or her personal feelings about the case in question.

2. That whilst I could not apply at that point in time, there was a chance that things would be wiped away in the future and I could try again then.

It was left in an ambiguous state. About 4 years ago I returned to South Korea as a student. I studied for 2 years and received my degree. During that time I worked part time for some companies and so on. I received the D2 visa, and at the time I was so happy that they issued it to me without any problems.

Now, I am thinking of applying for another E2 visa. After the negative events of 6 years ago, I have studied in South Korea and received my degree (masters level). I believe that I have made up for things in the past, and that receiving the D2 visa is good enough to enable me to get an E2 visa again. That said, I also know that the D2 visa is different from the E2, and to receive a D2 you do not actually need permission from the Ministry of Justice (I believe).

So I just have a few questions (if you managed to finish reading).

1. Do you think that I would have a problem getting the E2 visa after all this time?
2. Do you have an experience of being rejected a visa, and in the future being given another one having let the dust settle?

Thanks so much for your insight!

[denverdeath]

Pretty sure I had/have at least one strike against me. I did a mid-night run during my 10th month from a miserable place. Got back to work a few months later in a DIFFERENT province with a DIFFERENT ARC number (not done now). In ANOTHER province, i refused to work at a place that lied about the provided accommodation. I went for a better job at a bigger chain who believed my story and bailed me out. Granted, i had actually done nothing wrong and printed out all the lies i received via email and took pictures of everything so even the craziest person in the world would agree i was right. I actually had to write a letter of explanation for kimmi and 'apologize'. For what? The other place's lies i guess. That was one awful day of losing/gaining face, and learning how to 'keep your cool'.

What you have achieved since that time cant hurt you. All you can do is apply. I cant guarantee anything.

[jason85]

Thanks for your reply.

The past was some time ago, but at the time, my problems seemed to stem from 2 things.

1. I did not tell my first 'new' employer about the past. This meant that when immigration told them about what happened, they decided not to proceed. In terms of this, the situation is the same for me now, as it was then. If I tell the potential employer about what happened, they will inevitably ask for details of my previous employer 6 years ago. They will contact the employer and I know for a fact they would not go ahead with the recruitment having heard the venom from those characters. So, basically, the only place that would go ahead with recruiting me having heard about my past, would in itself be a pretty shady institution. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

2. The second problem was the cumulative effect. So, once that school refused to go ahead with the hiring process, it was considered a rejection and another black mark against my name. The more that added up, the more difficult it became to solve the issue.

Logic dictates that I have been back to the country and completed a masters degree, and thus why would the govt let me back in to do that, if they would potentially refuse me a visa having done so. Logic also dictates that everything said against me was one-sided, unproven, and quite frankly mere conjecture that did not equate to anything serious in the first place, and thus why would this need to stick around for 6 years to haunt me. But the system is far from logical.

I am not sure what they will see when they carry out their checks upon receiving my application. Will they see the rejections of the past and the complaint from the old school on file? Will they also see the fact that I have completed a masters degree or will that not appear due to the fact it is a different visa? I guess it depends on the protocol, and it depends on the person who gets the application.

[denverdeath]

[Hotpants]

I'm perhaps a bit late to chip in on this one, but I'd be curious to see how your situation pans out, as I'm not sure how immigration managed to intervene in your visa application process under the terms you describe. In addition to that, there must be hundreds, if not thousands of teachers on E2s who have done a midnight run but have managed to get a new teaching job successfully later on. Immigration clerks have said to me in the past that they can only refuse your visa application if you have violated the terms of your visa in the past or have received criminal charges in Korea. They do not record any spats that disgruntled employers try to report to immigration, as they realize that what employer's say might not be the full picture and cannot hold their words against yours. (I was told this after I once changed my mind on a contract I'd signed the day before and the employer went ballistic and said he was going to have me blacklisted with immigration.)

I would list the previous employment on your resume and submit it with a job application and only reveal that you terminated the contract early if ever you get asked about it. I would emphasize the fact you have completed a degree in Korea and avoid applying to any post in Suwon just in case.

Let us know how it goes.

[jason85]

Thanks for your input. My experiences in the past are as complicated as they are long to be frank.

Having lived through those negative experiences with my old employer, I pretty much applied again for another E2 visa a few months after the event. I do not know the extent of the derogatory comments and feedback my old employer fed to immigration, but whatever they said was enough to cause me problems at the time. Legally, I did breach my contract in the sense that I left the job before my contract expired. I had my reasons (which I perceived as justified), however I did not do things by the book, and thus I did not give myself an opportunity to convey my side of the story.

I agree when you say that immigration would not decline the visa for this, however they did feel the need to report my past history to my potential employer and thus give them the option to go ahead with the hiring. When they chose not to, the immigration officer told me that this, in the system, went down as a declining of a visa. That said, trying again (once again in close proximity to the events), everything was building up and making it more difficult for any immigration office to issue me a visa.

In retrospect, my mistake at that time was to not be transparent with my prospective employer from the start. That said, I did not disclose my past (5 years on now) to the employer this time around either. It was abundantly clear that telling them the reality of the past would provoke further research on their part, and having done that research and possibly found a way of contacting my previous employer, they would not consider hiring me in what was already a competitive hiring process. If I simply disclosed the fact that I worked for a school 5 years ago for a few months, this would have inevitably led to a discussion about why I did not fulfill a 1 year contract.

I am at the stage where all documents have been handed in and I am currently waiting on the decision for visa issuance. I am expecting some feedback soon. The way I see it, a few things are in my favor this time around:

1. The immigration office is a different one (I have never applied there before).
2. The issues in the past occurred over 5 years ago.
3. I have subsequently received a degree from the country, with a high GPA and honors.
4. According to some digging, my old school has actually now closed down in 2015 actually, something that I fully expected considering the nature of the owner.

I will post an update when I hear the verdict. Thanks again for your help.

[jason85]

I received my visa confirmation number which is a huge relief

Lessons learned:

1. There is no absolute truth when it comes to visa issuance policy. Different immigration offices employ different personnel, and in this sense, any given decision is up to individual interpretation to a point.

2. If you walk out on a job mid-contract, expect repercussions. If you choose to flea rather than endure, you can expect all manner of angry reactions. When I chose to leave some 5 years ago, my recruiter at that time threatened that he would make sure that I could never work in South Korea again. If you render yourself voiceless, employers are capable of making allegations that stick, from stories of damaging property, theft, negligence to students, and so on.

3. If you encounter difficulties but want to return nonetheless, expect difficulties in the short-term. The manner in which you attempt to return matters. Whilst immigration directly are unlikely to decline your application at face value (unless criminality is proven), there is a distinct chance that they will relay your case history to a potential employer. If this happens, your potential employer will be given the option to terminate the visa processing. In this sense you will have to seriously way up the pros and cons of being transparent to a prospective employer from the outset.

4. If a potential employer backs out on visa processing (mid process), this goes down as a strike against you. In no time at all you can find yourself accumulating a list of baggage that at the end of the day, will make life difficult to get back in. Having had an employer back out, my second attempt culminated in a direct rejection from immigration themselves. Speaking to the immigration officer in charge of my case on the phone, he told me, in an angry tone, that he hated foreigners like me who took advantage of his country.

5. Time heals. I am not sure of there is any truth in this, but I believe records get wiped incrementally if what is on file is not related to criminal convictions etc. 5 years on, I managed to get my issuance number with no problem at all. Redemption is possible, but sometimes you will either have to wait, or earn it. Different visas are seemingly unconnected, and opportunities like studying in the country can obviously restore credibility.

Just a few lessons from the road. Thanks for all of your advice, and good like in Korea

[denverdeath]

[J.Q.A.]

[Hotpants]

That's good news for you. Sounds like the legacy of it all has been a real nightmare, but you can live in peace now that your former school no longer operates and you have a new job to go to.