Requirements If
you plan on working in Seoul you'll need a residence card and
that involves being fingerprinted with the South Korean Immigration
Service. They run your fingerprints through various databases
to include the FBI and Interpol records in every country that
you have visited. If you are wanted or if you have a criminal
record, forget it. You'll be deported immediately. Click on this
link for visas.
Visas Depending
on what kind of job you have, you will need a certain visa. Find
out what you need to know about living in Korea legally, how long
you can stay in Korea and More...
What should
you if you still want to come here? Know
your rights - Contact
EFL-LAW
Bring enough money with you to leave if you have to.
Always be ready to leave, at a moment's notice.
Always be ready to fight any false charges, breaches or assaults,
at all times.
Pay your own
bills, and obligations, never trust someone else to do it for
you. Learn some Korean, and keep learning.
It will help tremendously.
Always have a back-up plan in place if you must leave.
Contract
Tips
For
any and all foreign employment contracts make sure you have a
repatriation clause. You may need to get home or out of the country.
In Seoul for example, you could find yourself surrounded by the
North Korean Army at any given time. The potential for an invasion
here is very real. Sign only one agreement. Make sure the person
you are signing an agreement with is authorized to act on behalf
of the company you are signing with and that they fully understand
that the agreement they are signing with you is a legal and binding
document. Initial and date each paragraph at the end of each paragraph
so that no "revisions" can be made to other pages later without
an obvious flag. Make sure that you get everything you want out
of the agreement and if you don't, then don't sign it. For example,
do they pay for lunch? Do they pay for all expenses for your visa?
Do they have you doing "other duties?" Be careful. If
it is not in writing, you have no valid claim. If your agreement
is in two or more languages, for example, English and Korean,
make sure that the Korean language version of your contract is
fully translated for you and that word for word, line for line,
and page for page, the documents match exactly. Once that is done,
initial and date each paragraph at the end of the paragraph.
Don't
ever let anyone keep your passport during your contract. It is
your passport, you keep it. Besides, you legally must have it
with you at all times. If you plan on working in Seoul you'll
need a residence card and that involves being fingerprinted with
the South Korean Immigration Service. They run your fingerprints
through various data bases to include the FBI and Interpol records.
Make sure that issues like medical, dental, vision, and other
forms of medical needs are covered in your contract. Vacation
days, personal days, sick days, and other days off must clearly
be spelled out in great detail in your contract. Hours to be worked,
salary, bonus payments and other perks must be detailed in writing.
Employment
for English Speakers
If you are seeking valid and gainful employment where you can
make some good money and enjoy a nice standard of living, work
for a company, a government agency or a university.
Go to our classifieds
section. You can post information there.
There
is also a job search Web site created by Seoul government at http://jobs.seoul.go.kr.
You can do an extensive job search there and read articles about
employment in Seoul.
Avoid the
so-called "English schools (hogwons)" that are privately-owned.
Although you can get lucky, most of them are poorly run. We suggest
that you do not consider teaching English in Seoul or South Korea
due to numerous complaints we received over the past few years
from foreign teachers in Seoul and South Korea. Complaints from
teachers include theft, fraud, deception, acts of violence, threats,
assault, aggravated harassment, extortion, breach of contract
issues, sexual harassment in the schools, rape, and hostile treatment
and passport theft. We are aware of many complaints against English
schools filed with a number of foreign diplomatic missions in
Seoul. What's worse is that your director can get you deported
and blacklisted, just for the simple "crime" of demanding
decent living standards or honoring promises made.
Additionally,
the attitude of many Koreans towards English teachers is poor;
they think many English teachers are poor, uneducated, weak-minded
people who are religious freaks or convicted criminals. Actually,
some of them are. That is why Korea does background checks and
fingerprinting of all English teachers wanting to work here. However,
if you are an educated English teacher who really cares about
teaching children, you can make a good living here. However, it
is difficult to know which schools are good, as all of them seem
to be bad. It also doesn't seem to matter if you are a good teacher
or not, we have seen both end up at the embassy asking for help.
We have asked repeatedly for a white list (a list of schools with
a good reputation), nobody can come up with one.
State
Dept.'s Warning and Advice
Great tips, advice and resources on teaching English in South
Korea. Their information paints a very fair and accurate picture
of teaching English in South Korea for both foreigners and Koreans.
EFL-Law.com
Offers legal advice, tips, lots of information about working in
South Korea.
Tell
us what you love and hate about living in Seoul. Ask any question
about living, working, and traveling in Seoul!
