Teaching English Abroad in South Korea: Tips, Tricks, and Trouble!
8:20 PM
(Photo by Michelle C.)
In approximately one month, my best friend and I will heading off to South Korea to teach English at a hagwon just outside of Seoul and we are very excited to get this first leg of our journey going!
Well, I'm sure we will feel more excited, anyway, once the after effects from all the stress, stress, and more stressss have finally worn off.
Don't know what I'm talking about? If you are planning on teaching English abroad, I'm sure you soon will.
It may not seem like the paperwork required for an E2 visa is such a big deal at first--and we certainly had no idea. But don't be fooled by the simple requirements...time is your enemy here! I hope you are doing your research and are more prepared than we were but if you still have no idea what you are getting into let me give you some tips and tricks so that you can avoid all of the trouble we went through!
Tip #1: FedEx EVERYTHING. This will save you so. much. time. You may think it is an unreasonable expense but to be honest with you FedEx isn't that much more expensive than USPS anymore and...just trust me on this one.
You don't trust me? Okay, here is a good reason why: when you receive your Federal Background check you will be required to ship your precious document off to Washington D.C. (unless you live there or close by, in which case Lucky You)! If you make the easy mistake of using USPS for your shipment your document is headed off into the Screening Process of Doom Limbo that can take weeks.
Why? I have no idea. When I called the Department of State, Office of Authentications I was told that all documents shipped via USPS have to go through this process because it's a government agency and I was also informed that they have no idea where the screening process takes place or how to contact them. Sounds like a conspiracy to me! They left me with the impression that if you ship via FedEx though, you get to surpass this magical process. (You will have to contact them to be sure, but I'm almost positive)...
Anyway, que the panic! By this point there is no extra time to get another background check (see Tip #2) and things are starting to feel rather hopeless. That brings me to~~~
Trick #1: Contact your local congressman. No really, if you are pressed for time, do this! My friend and I read online that you can contact your congressman's office and ask them to send a letter of release to the F.B.I. after you send in your background check and the process may only take around 2 weeks instead of 6+ weeks. Apparently, there are times when the F.B.I. gets backed up enough that they can't do this...but it would be worth a shot.
And although my friend and I already had our background checks, we decided to contact our congressmen anyway to see if they could do anything to help speed up our apostilling process. They replied to us right away and sent inquiries to the Department of State. By the next day, our documents were being processed. Coincidence? I think not.
So if you ever end up stuck in our situation, you should try this! It may also save you a lot of precious time.
Tip #2: Get 2 copies of everything. I know it's a bummer to have to pay more, but the little extra expense will give you a whole lot of peace of mind. Plus, if you decide to ignore my advice and USPS everything anyway you will have an extra copy in case yours get's lost in the mail or otherwise rendered useless. And it can happen. It can.
A note on your background check: if you only request 1 copy and decide later that you want another one, it's just too bad. I tried calling them to get another copy of mine when I was having trouble with the Department of State and even after telling them my whole sob story I was still informed that they would be unable to help me and if I wanted another copy I would have to start the whole process all over again. And it's a very long, loooong process.
So~
Tip #3: Start working on getting your documents as soon as you start thinking about working abroad. It's unfortunate that some (like your lovely background check) will expire after a while but you never know when you are going to get hired or how long it will take you to find a job so it's better to just fork out the extra money and get it early at the risk of having to get another one later because you will feel so much better when you get hired and are already prepared.
We made the mistake of assuming it would only take a couple of weeks to get all our documents in order.
Do not make this mistake.
It will (generally) take you at least 6 weeks to get your background check done. Then it will take another 2-3 weeks to get it apostilled through the Department of State (so you are looking at a little over 2 months here). Depending on where you live in your state it may take a couple of days or more to get a copy of your degree apostilled as well. This is all just if everything is normal. It can take longer if the different offices have a heavier workload or if you need to get other things done, such as an updated passport.
A note on your apostilled degree: This is what I was informed, so I'm assuming it's true in most cases - if your university does not issue apostilled copies of your degree (like mine) then you are required to get a copy of your degree notarized through your school first before sending it to be apostilled! I was under the impression that I would be able to waltz into a local notary, get a copy of my degree with their stamp of authentication, and then send it off. Double check with your state's office of Authentications to be sure, but you may have to request a notarized copy from your school (which can require you to either send or drop off your degree with them) or personally bring your degree to a notary associated with your school.
Tip #4: Get your passport photos from Costco. If you are not a Costco member, go with someone who is! I know it may seem mundane but I called around to a LOT of places and Costco was one of the few that issued passport photos in batches of 4 (which is what we were required to have) instead of just 2 and it was by far the cheapest. Don't spend a small fortune on these things.
--
I think if you've taken the time to read this short novel you should have a good idea of what to expect.
If you have any questions, feel free to shoot them my way. As it is, my friend and I just got all of our paper work back and we're sending it off tomorrow so I don't know for sure how the actual visa process will be but I'll be sure and post an update if I run into anymore problems!
My best advice to anyone wanting to teach abroad is to be prepared. Don't just assume things. There is a bunch of research available online that can really help you so save yourself a lot of stress and dig in!
Bon Voyage!
(Photo by Michelle C.)
In approximately one month, my best friend and I will heading off to South Korea to teach English at a hagwon just outside of Seoul and we are very excited to get this first leg of our journey going!
Well, I'm sure we will feel more excited, anyway, once the after effects from all the stress, stress, and more stressss have finally worn off.
Don't know what I'm talking about? If you are planning on teaching English abroad, I'm sure you soon will.
It may not seem like the paperwork required for an E2 visa is such a big deal at first--and we certainly had no idea. But don't be fooled by the simple requirements...time is your enemy here! I hope you are doing your research and are more prepared than we were but if you still have no idea what you are getting into let me give you some tips and tricks so that you can avoid all of the trouble we went through!
Tip #1: FedEx EVERYTHING. This will save you so. much. time. You may think it is an unreasonable expense but to be honest with you FedEx isn't that much more expensive than USPS anymore and...just trust me on this one.
You don't trust me? Okay, here is a good reason why: when you receive your Federal Background check you will be required to ship your precious document off to Washington D.C. (unless you live there or close by, in which case Lucky You)! If you make the easy mistake of using USPS for your shipment your document is headed off into the Screening Process of Doom Limbo that can take weeks.
Why? I have no idea. When I called the Department of State, Office of Authentications I was told that all documents shipped via USPS have to go through this process because it's a government agency and I was also informed that they have no idea where the screening process takes place or how to contact them. Sounds like a conspiracy to me! They left me with the impression that if you ship via FedEx though, you get to surpass this magical process. (You will have to contact them to be sure, but I'm almost positive)...
Anyway, que the panic! By this point there is no extra time to get another background check (see Tip #2) and things are starting to feel rather hopeless. That brings me to~~~
Trick #1: Contact your local congressman. No really, if you are pressed for time, do this! My friend and I read online that you can contact your congressman's office and ask them to send a letter of release to the F.B.I. after you send in your background check and the process may only take around 2 weeks instead of 6+ weeks. Apparently, there are times when the F.B.I. gets backed up enough that they can't do this...but it would be worth a shot.
And although my friend and I already had our background checks, we decided to contact our congressmen anyway to see if they could do anything to help speed up our apostilling process. They replied to us right away and sent inquiries to the Department of State. By the next day, our documents were being processed. Coincidence? I think not.
So if you ever end up stuck in our situation, you should try this! It may also save you a lot of precious time.
Tip #2: Get 2 copies of everything. I know it's a bummer to have to pay more, but the little extra expense will give you a whole lot of peace of mind. Plus, if you decide to ignore my advice and USPS everything anyway you will have an extra copy in case yours get's lost in the mail or otherwise rendered useless. And it can happen. It can.
A note on your background check: if you only request 1 copy and decide later that you want another one, it's just too bad. I tried calling them to get another copy of mine when I was having trouble with the Department of State and even after telling them my whole sob story I was still informed that they would be unable to help me and if I wanted another copy I would have to start the whole process all over again. And it's a very long, loooong process.
So~
Tip #3: Start working on getting your documents as soon as you start thinking about working abroad. It's unfortunate that some (like your lovely background check) will expire after a while but you never know when you are going to get hired or how long it will take you to find a job so it's better to just fork out the extra money and get it early at the risk of having to get another one later because you will feel so much better when you get hired and are already prepared.
We made the mistake of assuming it would only take a couple of weeks to get all our documents in order.
Do not make this mistake.
It will (generally) take you at least 6 weeks to get your background check done. Then it will take another 2-3 weeks to get it apostilled through the Department of State (so you are looking at a little over 2 months here). Depending on where you live in your state it may take a couple of days or more to get a copy of your degree apostilled as well. This is all just if everything is normal. It can take longer if the different offices have a heavier workload or if you need to get other things done, such as an updated passport.
A note on your apostilled degree: This is what I was informed, so I'm assuming it's true in most cases - if your university does not issue apostilled copies of your degree (like mine) then you are required to get a copy of your degree notarized through your school first before sending it to be apostilled! I was under the impression that I would be able to waltz into a local notary, get a copy of my degree with their stamp of authentication, and then send it off. Double check with your state's office of Authentications to be sure, but you may have to request a notarized copy from your school (which can require you to either send or drop off your degree with them) or personally bring your degree to a notary associated with your school.
Tip #4: Get your passport photos from Costco. If you are not a Costco member, go with someone who is! I know it may seem mundane but I called around to a LOT of places and Costco was one of the few that issued passport photos in batches of 4 (which is what we were required to have) instead of just 2 and it was by far the cheapest. Don't spend a small fortune on these things.
--
I think if you've taken the time to read this short novel you should have a good idea of what to expect.
If you have any questions, feel free to shoot them my way. As it is, my friend and I just got all of our paper work back and we're sending it off tomorrow so I don't know for sure how the actual visa process will be but I'll be sure and post an update if I run into anymore problems!
My best advice to anyone wanting to teach abroad is to be prepared. Don't just assume things. There is a bunch of research available online that can really help you so save yourself a lot of stress and dig in!
Bon Voyage!
0 comments:
Post a Comment