Korean Job Discussion Forums

[StructuredChaos]

To make a long story short. I was offered a job in Korea, signed the contract, got issued a visa number. However, for reasons I wont get into. I decided not to take the job. I never took the visa number to the Korean Embassy in Japan to get the working visa. And ultimately, never went to Korea.

I was wondering if I was put on an immigration blacklist and/or unable to find another job in Korea? Or maybe some sort of teacher blacklist?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[jajdude]

Nope. Nothing to worry about. No work visa in passport, no legal obligation.

What is this mysterious teacher blacklist anyway? I don't believe in it. What employer has the power to stop anyone from finding another job?

[ontheway]

A contract becomes binding the minute you sign it.

If you break your contract, even before you begin teaching, even before you get your E2 visa, you can be liable for damages. The amount of damages could exceed your pay for an entire year. If so, you will probably face legal action.

However, the injured party has the duty to mitigate damages. If you give adequate notice for the school to replace you (your contract may state 30 or more days) then the damages will be minimal and the injured party will be unlikely to take action.


OP, did you notify the school and explain your situation or just not show up? Breaking a contract without any reason is just as bad as what many schools do to teachers here. You damage a school that did nothing to you and it creates an atmosphere of mistrust, where current teachers and the next teacher suffer because of the actions of the previous bad teacher (you).

The kind of problems you will have now depend on when your contract was due to start. You are locked in to the original school for a year, even if you never show up. If you are within that original time period you might be unable to get an E2 visa.

It is quite unlikely that you are on the Immigration blacklist since not showing up is not something that Immigration will take as a major reason to be listed on their blacklist. There is a recruiter blacklist somewhere and you could be on it, but that list isn't very effective as few recruiters and fewer employers make use of it.

If more than a year has passed since your transgression, you are probably in the clear. It is likely that the school you cheated will never know you've come to Korea.

[caniff]

[jajdude]

I'd like to see proof that a contract is binding without a work visa. That would mean you have to follow the contract and work, illegally. I don't see how a legal document could apply to an illegal worker. You have no rights if you are not legal. How can an employer hold you to anything unless you are working legally? If you sign a contract and work without a work visa, there's no chance you can claim anything against an employer if he wants to cheat you. I think the contract is meaningless, in legal terms, before the work visa is obtained.

The OP never even came to Korea. I don't think there will be any problem with immigration or whoever the employer was. How would that employer know if you go work elsewhere? Are people really going to try to track you down somehow? Sounds unlikely to me.

[ontheway]

ALL contracts become binding when you sign them. Some contain escape clauses and cooling off periods, but these are part of the contract and these terms, along with the other terms, become binding and begin to operate when you sign the contract. If you want proof, sign up for a contract law class. As for a teaching contract specifically, the act of getting an E2 visa is part of fulfilling the obligations of both parties under the contract.

If an E2 was required to make the contract binding, then getting the E2 would be the first step and would be required before signing a contract.

People who can work in Korea without an E2 are bound by the same contracts. They do not need an E2 to make the contract valid.

It is just a kind of rationalization that dishonest teachers use to justify their dishonesty to say that a contract is not binding until after getting the E2.

Most such teachers are replaced quickly, however, and the damages are small, so no legal action is taken. It would be nearly impossible to pursue such a teacher outside of Korea in any case.


In the case of the OP, he actually had a work visa. He had his visa issuance number, meaning the VISA HAD BEEN ISSUED. That's what "visa issuance" means. The number is merely a reference that allows the foreign embassy or consulate to place a record of the already issued visa in the passport of the applicant.

The only thing the OP failed to do was show up. Not getting the visa stamp is the same as not getting a plane ticket or a boat ticket. It's the same as not getting in a taxi. The OP just didn't show up for work.

[jajdude]

OK, that makes sense. Visa had been issued.

Still, there are many people working without... I don't see the contract meaning much to employers or illegal workers, except that they both agree to it to keep things OK at work. I don't see how it's binding if both parties are breaking the law. An employer is not apt to pursue an illegal worker who just disappears, just as an illegal worker has no leg to stand on if he gets screwed.

[ontheway]

You are correct about illegal workers. If a party to a contract has broken a law that pertains to the fulfillment of the contract, the state and its administrative and judicial branches are less likely to assist the lawbreaker in enforcing the contract.

So, if you have a contract but no E2 visa, the labor office is unlikely to help you. Immigration will likely arrest you. However, you could pursue redress in a civil suit under contract law. However, illegal actions by one party could be used as defenses by the other party. The court would have to sort out the legitimacy of such defenses.

[Peter Jackson]

[ontheway]

You are right that the visa issuance number is not the visa. The visa was issued prior to the visa issuance number being given out. The number is the "visa issuance" number, meaning that the visa has already been issued. The number allows the embassy or consulate to locate the already issued visa on their computer and then place a sticker or stamp in your passport, which is a visual record of your visa. It is NOT the visa.

Your visa is issued by Immigration. They have it. You do not. They control it, and you do not. Your passport only contains a record of the visa, not the visa itself.

If you lose your passport your "visa" is not lost. The passport merely contains a visual record of the visa that has been issued. When you get a new passport to replace the lost one, you do not have to go through the whole process to obtain a new visa, because your visa still exists. Immigration can place a new record of your visa in your new passport.

Subsequently, when you get your ARC, you have a card that becomes the new official record of your visa and your status in Korea. This card will have the most correct information regarding your visa and right to stay and work in Korea. This card is not your visa either. It, too, can be replaced if lost.

[gujer]

Hi

well I dont get it...If the person didnt pitch he didnt pitch...furthermore what can they actually really do? If the OP does not want to come at all then they cannot do anything to him anywhere else...I also dont understand about the thing about owing anything..They never spent anything on him as yet either....

Well, runners do it all the time and they go straight into other jobs in other countries...NOT THAT IT IS RIGHT ..because it causes problems for other teachers who are here.

[shifdog]

Once a visa confirmation number has been issued, you can't apply for another visa for 3 months.

[gujer]

You cannot apply for another visa in Korea only or averywhere else too?

[Saxiif]

[shifdog]