Exception To New Rule For E-2 Teache Visa Issued In Home Country

I am a US citizen on an extended holiday in Australia. I am considering teaching in Korea. I was advised since I arrived in Australia Korean visa rules changed and now new teachers who have never worked in Korea must be interviewed and granted the E-2 visa in their country of citizenship only. This would mean I cannot obtain the E-2 while in Australia.

I have found a Korean recruiter in Australia who says there is an exception to this. A group called the United University Association of Korea can certify and original BA diploma in Korea (before the teacher is hired and issued a visa) and this eliminates the need to return to home country.

Have any of you heard of this?

Today I emailed both the Embassy of Korea in Canberra and the Consulate of Korea in Sydney, and, you guessed it, got two different answers! One says I can get the visa in Australia, the other says I must go back to the USA. Thanks.

Why not just send your passport back to the US using a courier service and do it right?

Ruth

There is indeed an exception for it. I found this loophole myself. I had my first E-2 Visa issued in Bangkok Thailand. You can get it issued in Australia. I posted about it on ESL Cafe:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?p=1766341

So, yes ... I have heard of it and done it. I am in Korea now.

AFAIK, it's illegal to mail a passport internationally - but the catch with the new E2 regulations is that the applicant must personally attend an interview at the nearest Korean consulate in their home country.

I have heard of people going to Korea since the new regulations and getting an E2 without going home (though they still had to go to Japan for the visa stamps), but I suspect it's a very hit-and-miss affair. You could try asking on forums.eslcafe.com/korea in case anyone else is in the same situation, but be prepared for a barrage of your-employer-will-screw-you-over comments. ;)

doc_ido - sending passports internationally is done absolutely all the time particularly when there is no consulate for a country in the country of your passport. For example, if you live in Canada and want a Mongolian visa, I am pretty sure that you must send your passport to the US for a visa.

Ruth

However, that will not help with the requirement for an interview without having your degree verified. There are some stories of possible webcam interviews. That is hit or miss. The law states you can have your visa issued in a third country if your degree is verified in Korea first.

The visa rules here in South Korea are just barking. My fiancee went to her interview in Toronto, which took around three weeks to organise, and there were about 30 other people there. The interviewer just asked one or two questions and then said, 'Come back in two days for your visa.'
Lunacy.

New visa rules: Dec 2007:

Under the new law, applicants for a new E2 visa or an extension have to submit their criminal background certificate and medical report. In addition, applicants are required to appear for a personal interview at the nearest Korean embassy or consulate in their home countries, with some exceptions such as, for example, mission location unreasonably distant from applicant's location. I'd say Australia qualifies as too distant from the USA. Go into the Sydney Korean Consulate, with all your documents, & fill out all the required forms.

(Criminal-check records are also required for C4 visa candidates who plan to work in English language camps here for less than 90 days.)

In their initial application package, prospective teachers must fill out a short, unofficial health statement regarding infectious diseases, drug use, and psychological problems. Then, within three months after arriving here, the official medical data must be provided to the immigration office, as part of the application for residence registration. The medical exam to be conducted by government-approved public and general hospitals includes tests for narcotics use and HIV/AIDS, the ministry explained.

The academic-credentials check has also been toughened. The original degree, along with a copy of it, must be submitted. The original will be returned after the credentials are authenticated. The copy must be verified by the Korean consulate in applicants' home countries or the Korean Council for University Education (www.kcue.or.kr).

For those whose credentials have already been authenticated by the KCUE, there is no need for the interview. They can apply for an E-2 visa at a Korean embassy in a third nation such as Japan. The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will put those with verified academic credentials in its database so that they don't have to submit them again.

http://www.korea4expats.com/article-new-e2-visa-requirements-from-15-december-2007.html