Korean Job Discussion Forums

[adrilou]

This is the deal. My boyfriend and I want to start teaching English In South Korea in July or August ( We want to start a program here in Canada by next September, therefore leaving any later will not be possible because of the year contract). Anyhow, the problem is although my boyfriend will have graduated in June, the diploma will not be ready until October and I realize you need an original or notarized diploma to get the visa however the university said they will provide some sort of proof of graduation. So I e-mailed a dozen or so recruiters and enlightened them about my boyfriend's situation (I am fine, I have my diploma). I got six replies, the majority saying no way its possible and that we must wait until he has diploma in hand. But two of the recruiters ( one actually calling me) said that they could 'cover' our situation and the lady on the phone kept assuring me it was not illegal, she would just have to find a school to 'cover' our situation. She went on to say if there were any problems the school would handle it. My bf and I are really excited to go but I am not willing to possibly have my bf imprisoned or kicked out of the country or have no other choice but to work for some shady school who will bend the rules to 'cover' us. So my question is, is this illegal? What problems could we face? Anyone out there in the same situation or have been? Is this really wrong? Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

[crystal]

don't always trust what recruiters tell you, afaik you cannot get a visa without providing your diploma or a notarized copy. Your bf will be an illegal teacher and while some people do take this route it's not to be reccomended, the penalties if caught are quite severe and it reflects badly on the rest of us when a teacher is caught as illegal. I do sympatize with your situation though, would be great if Unis could provide your diploma with your results but sadly not

[sadsac]

No matter what the recruiter tells you, no diploma, no E2. Check directly with your nearest Korean consulate.

[prairieboy]

Actually, a certificate of graduation will work as well. If you lose your parchment, it usually takes time to get it replaced. As a quick fix some universities offer a certificate of graduation. Although it's not as nice or rugged as the parchment diploma, it is accepted by immigration.

University of Victoria issues these and it was accepted by immigration when they were doing there degree certification back in January.

Cheers

[Aussiekimchi]

Actually, a certificate of graduation will work as well. If you lose your parchment, it usually takes time to get it replaced. As a quick fix some universities offer a certificate of graduation. Although it's not as nice or rugged as the parchment diploma, it is accepted by immigration.

University of Victoria issues these and it was accepted by immigration when they were doing there degree certification back in January.

If this is true, it would not totally surprise me because Immigration change their policy each day, but I have never heard of them accepting anything other than the diploma itself.
Your recruiter is dodgey and she cannot cover anything...she wants you to work illegally until the diploma comes.

Neither a recruiter nor any school has any influence over Immigration or the policies they are enforcing that day. No recruiter can cover you no school can cover you.
Although you are keen to come now, do the right thing and wait for all your documentation to arrive so you can work here legally. Think of the worst case scenarios...it is not worth it.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

I've known two people that got visas with letters of graduation, but I've also been told twice that the degree was absolutely necessary. It's a crapshoot.

[schwa]

[adrilou]

Thank you all for the insight. So it still seems like kind of a 50/50 grey area. I think he's going to pressure the university into giving him something official and acceptable because it is ridiculous to have to wait 4 months for a diploma. Any more info would be helpful from anyone who knows.

Thanks again

[mindmetoo]

To the OP, yeah, recruiters work for very small amounts of money and want their fee. They will tell you absolutely anything to get you here so they can collect their fee.

[Homer]

The university can give you whatever they like adrilou but unfortunately no diploma, no E-2 and no legal job.

This is especially true since they started cracking down on visa applications to screen out fake degrees and unqualified applicants. Without his diploma, your spouse is out of luck. Don't believe anything else the recruiter tells you or do believe it because its convenient for you and roll the dice. Up to you really.

The only thing you can do is contact your university and explain to them you need the diploma now because it is required to get a job visa for employment. That could work and they might charge you money for accelerated processing of your file or some other excuse to take cash from ya!

[Trespasser]

Andrilou, your frustration is understandable. My diploma will take 6-8 weeks to arrive. It was strange to go to the commencement ceremony and not get a diploma! We were handed rolled up letters that basically said, "Congratulations, go live your dream, donate to the alumni organization."

I tried to get my diploma expedited. The conversation went downhill very quickly. I asked if there was some kind of fee that could be paid for the rush. Much to my shock they thought that I was trying to bribe them.

It is annoying to wait for something that has been so much hard work. However, getting upset only raised my blood pressure. I am so excited about getting to S. Korea. I just had to accept that the diploma is not going to come any faster. Hopefully you get better results than I did. Good luck to both of you.

[Antrugha]

My degree was to be conferred June 1st but I got taht deadline moved up to last week because I needed to start processing visa documentation. Maybe your university provides the same service?

[Homer]

Maybe your university provides the same service?

Most Universities should provide this service. The trick is to force them into providing this service as many will just not offer it....ah bureaucratic non-sense!

[Antrugha]

haha, yeah... they weren't exactly happy that i was requesting it and had to jump through a bunch of loopholes to get them to do it, but they did. I just had to push them a little bit!

I mean, it's the university registrar after all, god forbid they do some work