The Turning Gate

Tightening requirements for E-2 visas in Korea

The application process for an E-2 teaching visa will be tightened up in December, according to this article from the Korea Herald newspaper. Personally, I think it’s about damn time they implemented background and medical checks. Until now, it’s been far too easy for individuals of questionable backgrounds to come here to teach – I’ve met more than a few in my four years teaching. I share the cited reservations about mandatory consulate interviews, however, and how it will impact the number of qualified teachers who come here, and how the increased difficulty will impact hogwans.

Begin article:

According to a Ministry of Justice press release, foreigners who apply for teaching visas will have to submit a criminal background check and a medical check, and must undergo an interview at the closest Korean consulate to their home town. Visa runs to Japan will also be scrapped. Teachers must now receive and renew visas in their home country.

The exact date of implementation has not yet been decided, an official at the Ministry of Justice said. “The changed regulations will be implemented sometime in December but we have not yet set an exact date, as the ministry is still in the process of finalizing the details.”

“Hagwon and other employers of foreign teachers will be informed as soon as the details have been finalized,” he told The Korea Herald.

The tightened controls come in the wake of news that a pedophile suspect worked in Korea on several occasions, along with the avalanche of fake-diploma scandals throughout Korean society. The suspect has not yet been convicted, and there is no public link to any offences in Korea.

“We have been drawing up the new regulations for some time but the recent case of Christopher Paul Neil could be said to have brought the issue to the surface,” said the official.

“Drug use and other criminal activities carried out by foreign English teachers have been a social issue for some time, and have built up to dangerous levels in recent years. That is why we are implementing changes now.”

The new regulations will only affect foreigners holding E-2 visas, and those seeking an E-2 visa.

“We do not plan to strengthen regulations concerning all foreign nationals in Korea, as that would be unnecessary,” the ministry official added. “We are focusing on teachers because they come in close contact with children, and we have a duty to protect children from unnecessary dangers.”

Concern is mounting among current teachers, not about the validity of the new rules, but about the “messy” implementation, as one teacher described it. They say information from the government has been vague and unclear. Potential teachers are also put off by the uncertainty of the new regulations, which some important government organizations don’t even seem to be aware of.

The Korea Herald contacted Government for Foreigners, a Korean government organization which “aims to provide comprehensive information on entry regulations.” When asked if there were changes to the regulations being planned for December, the help desk clerk’s answer was a vague “probably.”

He was unsure of when they would be implemented. “How are we supposed to know,” he asked the reporter. The clerk then said that he is aware of new regulations, but could not comment on them, saying “We will have to wait and see.”

There are concerns about the logistics of the consulate interview part of the plan. “It’s about time they had criminal record checks, and the health check is a good idea,” says Tricia Elliot, a teacher at a private institute in Seoul. “But this interview at the consulate is a bit overboard because it cuts out a lot of people from smaller areas of large countries.

“A lot of the Canadians who work as teachers are from the East coast, and the nearest consulate is in Montreal,” she explained. “That’s really far away, and impossible for most people to get to on short notice for an interview that doesn’t guarantee a job.”

English teachers have had trouble finding information about the changes. Many have been told by their local immigration branch that there were no changes, or that the office was unaware of them. This is in spite of a press release which came out last week.

If implemented in December, the move would leave schools struggling to fill vacancies as applicants spend months waiting for police checks and arranging medicals and travel to embassies. It would also discourage hagwon from getting rid of underperforming teachers.

While no one doubts hagwon would boot abusive teachers, those coming in hung over, unprepared and unenthusiastic could be more of a problem. Schools already have a tough time shifting them because their replacement is costly, difficult and time consuming.

Some suspect the extra time and expense of visa application will deter legitimate teachers. “I predict a mass exodus of legitimate, qualified, native-speaking ESL Teachers. They will be replaced mostly by highly transient and unskilled backpackers who will work illegally on tourist visas at premium wages,” said one teacher, asking not to be named.

Mindful of this, the ministry also intends to increase the severity of punishments for those hagwon employing illegal teachers.

But that teacher remains unconvinced. “You’ve got to really want to work in Korea to go through all that mess,” he says. “Those few teachers who are compliant with these new visa regulations will almost certainly be demanding extraordinarily high wages.”

By Paul Kerry

(paulkerry@heraldm.com)

2007.11.07

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