Thursday, January 03, 2008

The new E2 Visa Hoopla...

Ok. I've been sucked into the "you have to know about.." category because I'm a fellow EFL Teacher here in Korea. And, though I've stayed away from talking much about EFL related stuff (well, I've had a kid, for one--and he surely keeps me busy) I decided it was time to contribute.

Everyone is talking about it. You can read it daily in various blogs. There's tid-bits of gossip you hear at work, or on the street; and up to this point, it has sounded like nothing but hearsay. The new E2 Visa laws have caused a lot of commotion in the ESL/EFL community.

The Korea Immigration website posted about this topic, but I think if any native English speaker were looking to get the right information--and the necessary documents to get their E2 Visa accordingly (especially newcomers who plan to come and teach in Korea)--a huge question mark pops up.


Who has the low-down on what's really going on?


For the past month while on maternity leave, I had been helping out a Korean friend who works as a recruiter, finding teachers to work for hagwons in Daegu. She didn't even know about these new requirements that supposedly took effect as of January 1st, 2008. One thing I DO know, however, is that schools will no longer be able to find teachers quick. And if you want to tack on a part-time job working for another school (at your own risk, of course), these new E2 laws won't apply to you. You'll have a whole new set of issues to deal with yourself.

EFL Geek has posted on this, and I found the site to be the most informative. The widely read Marmott's Hole also posted an interesting take of the E2 situation through an article written for the Korea times. I also ran across EFL-Law.com has some particularly important links to consider, too.

So what's the deal? Does anyone have a definitive answers?!?

Well, I fell upon the G4F of Korea website, dedicated to bridging the gap between Korea's foreign population and the government. TONS of valuable information to be had, so check it out; however, as of yet, I haven't found any new information regarding the new E2 visa requirements. In the meantime, I'll be surfing the web for more info on this matter...

5 comments:

the winter sunlight said...

HELLO HOW ARE YOU? i AM TRYING TO GET COMMENTS ABOUT STREET SIGNS OF kOREA.i BELIEVE THIS IS A MAJOR ISSUE FOR TORUISTS AND VISITORS IN KOREA. YOUR COMMENT WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED

Anonymous said...

Good to read your blog. I am ET. It's my nickname. The acronym of English Teacher. not ET of Spielberg's.

Can we share some information?

For example, Topics children like. I am planning on English Camp. I hope instructors will teach campers topics they like.

I wish your best regards.
If possible, mail me
cuspace@naver.com

Unknown said...

Hi!
My name is Rick.
I've enjoyed your wonderful and useful article.
I'm running a website related to Korea and English.
Now we opened a new section named 'English Bloggers'.
This section introduces Korea-related bloggers' articles with their blogs URLs.
You can post one of your favorite articles along with your blog name and URL, or by asking me.
I bet it'll help promote your blog and be visited by more readers who want to enjoy reading your wonderful writing.
If you are interested, please visit www.KoreanESL.com or email me.
Thanks!
Rick Park (info@koreanesl.com)

jdecris said...

Hello,

I have a question about the E2 visa. I was planning on going to south korea and securing a job in person, but I'm not sure if I can still do this with the new visa guidelines. Can people applying for their first visa still do visa runs to Japan or do I have to get it from my home country? thanks

Justin

Sonia said...

Thank you for the info. It sounds pretty user friendly. I guess I’ll pick one up for fun. thank u

Visa to Australia