Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Joe_Cool]

Dear Posters,

I'm strongly considering the possibility of going to South Korea to teach. However, I've heard from other people, that in Korea the employer might hang on to your passport for the duration of your teaching contract.

a. Is this legal and a standard practice from all employers?
b. Can they keep your passport like some damage deposit/lean for that long a period?
c. Or is this just something only some employers do?
d. If they hang on to your passport can you get it back within a reasonable amout of time?
e. Or do you have to wait until you finish your contract?
f. Can you specifically request in your contract that the employer not be able to hang on to your passport?
g. Are there are good lawyers in South Korea who can help you in the event that the employer is dishonest? That is, do their laws amount to more than just a hill of beans?

The reason I'm asking is that I wouldn't want any employer to retain my passport for any purposes whatsoever, because I'm concerned that if it is a bad employer, they could use this practice to detain teachers and take advantage of them.

Anyway, just asking. Perhaps someone in this forum could comment on this.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

No, that is illegal. You keep your passport and if they hold it, you call the police.

[Big Mac]

Absolutely not. Your employer has no right to hold on to your passport.

When you apply for your Alien Registration Card, immigration will hold your passport for a few days. I don't like it, but for some reason they do. However, you will get it back when they give you your card. Beyond that, there is no reason to give anyone your passport in Korea.

[canuckistan]

If any director does manage to get your passport and won't give it back when you ask, you can also call your embassy. They'll inform the director that it's gov't property and he/she has, say, 10 seconds to return it or else the Korean police will be showing up very, very shortly.

[Wangja]

[joe_doufu]

They will also try to claim your university degree. They want it for two reasons: first to prevent you from finding another job, second to display in a frame for the parents of students to see. (They display a photocopy of mine next to photocopies of two former teachers', behind our front desk.) Bring some color copies.

[pdxsteve]

[BigBlackEquus]

This very thing happens to many filipinas in the Songtan area. I know firsthand that when some were taken to their embassy by US soldiers last summer, the Korean police became involved, and the girls got their passports back and were allowed to go back home.

The stupid thing is that all of Songtan is like this, and that area is the closest thing to human trafficking (sp?) of non-Koreans you will easily stumble upon. Those girls are told they will be paid singers or actresses, have to pay a large sum of cash upfront to get here, and then are told to dance in bikinis to earn drinks for patrons. Their passports are taken, and all IDs are kept. Many engage in prostitution under the control of their Korean boss because they can't make nearly the amount of promised money to send home, The boss keeps much of the money. Nearly all (if not all) are allowed out only 3 to 4 hours per day between the hours of 10am and 4pm. The rest of the time, they are literally locked in a house with all of the other girls working at the same bar. Most girls working in that area will go most of the year without ever taking a 40 minute trip to Seoul.

Every time I see and hear the USK forces commercials against human trafficking, and see the MPs walking in Itaewon, I wince. I make it a point to ask the MPs why they aren't stopping it in Songtan, where the true human-trafficking is, and where the soldiers there actively participate in it. I was told by one individual who worked for a newspaper, "Because General LaPorte is only concerned about what happens in his own back yard."

[VanIslander]

"I cannot work without my passport in my hand. I need it."

My director knew from day one how important it was to me. So he rushed to have it returned from immigration when it was taken to process my Alien Registration Card.

Say either (a) you can't work a minute without it, and at most concede (b) a less-than-one-week window to process the ARC card, getting a commitment of by which date exactly it will be returned. And let it be known that you absolutely NEED it by then.

Be nice but clear and firm.

There's no way you can be a slave. They take away your freedom by holding your passport only with your complicity.

[Grotto]

What everyone else has said.

If for any reason they do not return your passport to you promptly contact your embassy. That is one thing they will act on PDQ!

[kat2]

If you are really worried about it when getting your ARC card, you don't even need your boss to go with you. The school can give you some kind of paper saying you work there (it was all in korean so i don't what it said). You take the paper to immigration and they take your passport for 2 weeks, which is kind of nervewracking, but at least your boss doesn't have it. My boss had no control over my ARC card application. He never had his hands on my passport.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[own_king]

Yeah, as said above, just contact your embassy. A passport is government property. Beyond that, if you do make a mistake and hand it over, then just tell your boss you need your passport because you want to send money home. And then of course don't give it back! I've never had this problem, but I've also heard of bosses going into a teacher's apartment to get the passport, so hide it when you do get it back.

[memorabilis]

You don't even need to hand over your passport when getting your ARC. I went with the man from my school, who handed over all the form to immigration. I gave the lady my passport, she examined my visa and wrote down the number. I then got my passport back with a little form saying when to come back 2 weeks later. I went back with my form and the passport on the appropriate day, and they gave me the card and put the sticker in for a multiple entry visa. Really easy.