1. What is an E-2 Visa?
2. Does my nationality matter?
3. I am an American who graduated from
a university in a country other than the ones listed
as being the required nationality. Can I get an E-2 visa?
4. I am a U.S. citizen but English is
not my Native language. Is this a problem?
5. Is there any age restriction on Visa?
6. How much is the salary?
7. How often do I get paid?
8. Do I have to pay income tax in Korea?
9. Do I need to get a bank account in
Korea?
10. Do I pay my own airfare to Korea?
11. What's the housing like?
12. Is there shorter term,less than
1 year contract?
13. Can I stay longer than one year?
14. Does it make sense to apply now,
even though I have to wait awhile until I can actually
go to Korea?
15. Why am I not getting hired?
16. Can I bring my family to Korea?
17. Can I bring my pet?
18. Do you need my photograph?
19. What's the interview like?
20. Do I need TESOL/TEFL certificate
if I don't have English related major or teaching experience?
21. Do I get higher salary for my English
degree and/or past work experience as a teacher?
22. Since I don't have any teaching
experience, can I get some sort of training at the school?
23. Is there any other native speaker
at the school?
24. Do the students speak any English?
25. Do I need to learn Korean?
26. Can I get online even if I don't
bring my laptop?
27. Is it expensive to call home in
U.S.A.?
28. Is South Korea Safe?
29. What do I need to bring?
30. How much money should I bring?
31. Who pays for your service?
32. What do I do when a school wants
me to come immediately?
33. Can I tutor privately?
34. Do I need to get vaccinated?
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The teaching visa is known as the E-2 Visa. Korean Immigration Department
issues an E-2 Visa to people who have the following requirements for the
purpose of authorizing them to teach English at an accredited language school
in South Korea.
If you are not a native speaker of English, you can't work even if you have
a Master's degree in English. Although you have specific certificates such as TESOL/TEFL
you are not allowed to get an E2 work without a completed bachelor's degree.
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YES. You need to apply and receive an E-2 Visa from Korea Immigration
Department in order to teach conversational English in Korea. One of the
requirements placed on the applicants is that they be Native English speakers
with passports issued from one of the following countries, United States, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom or South Africa. This restriction
is a policy of the Korean government and we cannot go around it.
For an example, even if you are a Native English Speaker with a passport
issued from France, you will not be able to get the E-2 Visa and will not
be able to teach English in Korea. Also a lot of teachers from Philippine
speak English as first language. Still those teachers will not be able
to obtain the E-2 Visa since Philippine is not one of the countries listed
above.
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Unfortunately, NO.
If you went to university in France, you are not able to obtain the teaching
visa even though you are an American. This falls under Korean Immigration
and the E2 visa requirements. This is completely beyond our control. You
cannot teach English in Korea if you did not graduate from a college in
one of those countries, regardless of education, English skill, or experience.
While we appreciate your enthusiasm, we cannot change the rules of the Korean
Immigration department.
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Yes it is a problem.
Schools in Korea require that you speak English as your native language.
Since you will be teaching conversational English, the school wants the
best possible speakers of the language. That is why an applicant's major
in college is not as important as his speaking ability when being considered
for hire. To reiterate the requirements asked for the applicants: Applicant
must be a Native English speaker, Applicant must possess a passport from
one of the countries mentioned above, and Applicant must have a minimum
of a Bachelor's Degree of the university in one of the countries as well.
Those 3 conditions must be met when applying.
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There is no age requirement when obtaining an E-2 Visa. However, each
school has its own guideline when hiring a teacher. Currently the hottest
age group of teachers being hired in Korea is from about 22 to 40 years
of age. If you are outside of this age group, it might take longer to find
a school and your patience will be appreciated. The fact is, the retirement
age in Korea is presently 55~60 yrs and therefore it is highly unlikely
that anyone nearing or past 55~60 yrs will obtain a decent job offer.
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Your salary will likely be between $2,000 - $2,500 USD. The pay difference
is based on your qualification and teaching experience. Specific amount
of the salary will be spelled out in the contract.
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You will get paid monthly, usually on the 10th of each month.
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YES. Since you are a legal worker in South Korea with an E-2 visa, you
are responsible for the income tax. The income tax rate in Korea is low,
somewhere around 4-7 % of your salary depending on how much you make each
month. The low income tax rate will be a delight for you when compared with
the high income tax rate in the U.S.
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YES, you need. Soon after your arrival, a representative from your school
will escort you to a bank and set up an account for you. You will receive
your salary deposited straight into your account.
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NO, you don’t. All school provides airfare for you, but generally you
will first purchase the ticket on your own and then will be reimbursed for
the airfare upon your arrival. If the school decides not to pay in advance,
we as the recruiting agency sometimes pay in advance for our teachers. But
that depends on how you impress the school and how eager they are to have
you as a teacher. Also as we go through for a while together, we have to
be able to decide that you are a reliable person to be working with.
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Some schools offer 2~3 bedroom apartments that you share with other foreign
teachers, while other schools will house you in your own studio apartment.
In the past, a group of teachers lived in one apartment with their own private
bedroom sharing same living space (kitchen, bathroom, living room). Current
trend is giving one studio per teacher. The size of the studio will be small
but it is clean and convenient for you. It has a kitchen, bathroom, closet,
sofa, bed, television, VCR or DVD player, laundry machine, heater and air
conditioning unit. High speed Internet is also available if you bring your
own laptop. (High speed Internet will be installed in a few days when ordered
by phone) Korea is the most advanced Internet service providing nation in
the world.
As far as utility, in some cases schools pay all or half of the utility.
Some schools just give you a set amount every month for you to use. For
a small studio, the utility usually runs around $40 - $100 USD. You will likely
be housed within the walking distance from the school. In rare cases where
you are placed at some distance from the school, there will be a shuttle bus provided
by the school.
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In reality, it's hard to find any contract being offered for less than
1 year. A school's reputation gets tarnished with frequent changes of teachers.
Also the students need stability of learning from the same teacher for at
least a year. Furthermore, the school spends a great deal of expense in
hiring you; airfare, housing, training and more. Schools are reluctant to
spend all that expense for less than a year commitment from a teacher.
That is why most schools we deal with only offer 1-year contract. For your
commitment for one year, schools will give awesome benefits during your
stay and an attractive severance pay at the end of a year.
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Of course, but in order to do that, you will need to travel to another
country to renew your E-2 Visa. Although that might seem cumbersome, take
the opportunity to travel other countries. If you decide to stay with the
same school, it will be a simple process of negotiating with your school.
We will be glad to help you if you want experience teaching at another school.
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If you have several months until you are available to start working in
Korea due to personal reasons, waiting to graduate or fulfilling a current
job, we will contact you 2-3months prior to your available start date, as
most employers start interviewing 1-2 months prior to the starting date.
For example, if you tell us that you will be ready to go in August, we will
contact you June.
Korea is always looking for native English teachers. There are jobs available
all year round, but the busiest time tends to be in the summer, especially
August. June is the time when the fewest teachers are available, and when
it's therefore easier to get good jobs. We hope this information would be
helpful. Please inform us of your new availability to update your job seeker
profile.
We look forward to working with you then.
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There are many possible reasons. But most of the time, it is because your
qualification is not what the schools are looking for. Although you are
a U.S. citizen and a Native English Speaker with a Bachelor’s degree, other
qualification might not meet the standard of the schools. It is also possible
that your image or presence as a teacher is outside of what schools want
in their English teacher. It is unfortunate to judge a teacher by their
stage presence instead of their ability to teach, but that is the reality
in Korea at this time. That reality is slowly changing in Korea for the
better but we might need a little more time to find a school for you.
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YES, you can. However, just remember that all the benefits are offered
solely for you. Your spouse will get benefits only if he or she gets hired.
Other than that you will be responsible for the added cost of finding a
suitable housing for two, airfare, health insurance and more. If you and
your spouse want to teach together, you can be placed with him/her, but
it may limit you choices of placement. It requires finding a school that
needs two teachers at the same time, but couples can get placed together.
Also, you need more spacious apartment, so it usually takes longer. If you
have school age children, added cost of sending them to an English-speaking
private school (The monthly tuition is very expensive, almost equal to your
one-month salary) or home schooling will be demanding.
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YES, you can. But there are a few issues to resolve.
We know your pet is important to you, but we still need to declare this
fact to the prospective employer and get their approval. Situation gets a
little more complicated, if you were to be placed in an apartment with other
teachers.
Your pet also needs to be medically examined before being admitted into
Korea. Please note that your pet needs to take all the required vaccine
shots, including one for rabies, minimum of 30 days prior the departure
date. If you don't meet the 30 days requirement, Korean quarantine station
will house your pet for an unknown duration.
You are personally responsible for the added airfare for your pet and the
added amount will be set by the type of animal and weight.
For further information check out United
Airlines, Korean Air or Asian
Airlines websites.
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Yes, we do. Since the School administrators do not have an opportunity
to conduct an interview in person, they need to see your photograph along
with your resume. Please don’t be offended by being asked for a photo. Although
most U.S. jobs do not request a photo in resume, it is a custom in Korea
to supply a photo for a job application. Remember, this is your first impression,
so please consider it part of your job interview. Also, remember to smile!
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After we review your resume, we will set an appointment via e-mail for
you to have a phone interview with one of our directors. This interview will
last 20-30 minutes. Main topic of the interview will be your interest in
this program, your strengths along with your teaching qualification. Once
you are done with the interview, we will start marketing you to schools.
Once a school shows an interest in you, that school will most likely ask
for an interview with you. This interview will introduce you to the school
and give you a chance to ask specifics about the contract.
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NO, you don't need it. Although the Institutions offering the certificate
programs will say that you need a certificate to teach, but that is not
true. If you are a native speaker of English, with a valid U.S. passport
and at least have Bachelor's degree, you qualify. You will be teaching mostly
conversational English. However we are not saying that the certificate is
a waste of time. We encourage teachers to take the course to learn teaching
techniques and methods to apply in a live classroom situation.
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YES, it is likely that you will get a higher salary. The most important
factor in determining the salary is your teaching experience. If you have
majored in English and have worked as a teacher, you will be offered a higher
salary. On the other hand, even if you have a double major or have a Master's
degree or even a doctorate degree, you will not be offered a higher salary
if those degrees do not relate to teaching English.
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YES. Upon your arrival, you will have a chance to watch other teachers
in action and learn how to conduct yourself in a classroom. From there on
you will need to craft and create your own style of teaching. Perseverance
is the key to a successful teaching career. With constant effort in crafting
your teaching skill, you will be more effective as a teacher than other
teachers with higher education level.
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YES. There will be a fluent English speaking bilingual staff at the school
to communicate with.
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It all depends on what level of class you are teaching. Beginner's class
will speak barely any English and advanced class students will speak adequate
English. As you work with all different levels of classes, your teaching
technique will improve.
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Not necessarily. You will not have a problem just because you don't know
Korean. Majority of the government buildings have signs and English and
the street signs also display in English. All of the public transportation
broadcast in English. It will be wise for you to learn Korea if you are
interested in learning Korean culture. Also other Koreans will treat you
more affectionately if you know the language. Learning the language of the
host country displays your affection and respect towards that culture. There
are plenty of free Korean classes offered by various government institutions,
volunteer groups and college associations.
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YES, as I mentioned earlier, Korea is the most advanced Internet service
provider nation in the world. If you don't have a laptop to use at home,
there are plenty of Internet cafe's within the walking distance. The cost
is usually around $1 an hours for a high speed internet connection.
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NO, you can buy discounted phone cards or sign up for promotional rate
offered by cell phone providers. The average rate is usually around 4.5
cents / minute. If you have access to a computer, you can use, Skype
(www.skype.com) to make free international calls.
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Korea is safe!
It is reported that Korea has lower crime rate than U.S. It is always wise
to use caution in a big city, but you will feet safe the moment you see
a crowd of people walking the city block way into the night. Korean people
are very law abiding citizens and kind in nature.
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Korea is a heaven for shoppers. But it is not practical to purchase everything.
Bring your personal items plus clothing. We will talk about this further
once you are hired.
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Most schools pay you monthly. So depends on your date of arrival, you
might need to wait one month before getting paid. If you are frugal, $500
should cover the expense for the month. Although you will be provided with
the housing, you will need to purchase miscellaneous items plus food and
transportation. Korea has abundance of restaurants to choose from and you
don't have to 'tip' the waiter! There are many restaurants that deliver
for free. Even if you don't have cash, your credit card is welcome everywhere
in Korea.
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Our service is free to you. Schools in Korea pay us to advertise, recruit,
qualify, assist and hire qualified teachers. This does not mean we put school's
priority over yours. Unlike other agencies, we stress the quality of service
to both you and the school over quantity. We help teachers to transition
smoothly to living in a foreign county and at the same time represent schools
Korea to hire quality teachers without having to set up their own marketing
firms in U.S.
You are responsible for costs related to the issuance of Visa and U.S. Passport.
For information regarding your U.S. Passport, please visit travel.state.gov/passport
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In some instances, a school has an immediate opening for a teacher. In
such case, we utilize what we call "Japan
Visa-Run" to expedite the process. If it is possible
for the teacher to leave immediately, the teacher leaves for Korea with
all the necessary documents in hand. A U.S. citizen can go to Korea without
a Visa for 30 days. (Traveler's Visa is good for 3 months) Once you arrive
in Korea, the school submits your diploma, transcript, and photographs along
with other documents to Korea Immigration Department for a 'Visa Issuance
Number'.
You then fly to Japan and submit your package along with the 'Visa Issuance
Number' to a Korean Consulate in Japan. Next day you will be issued a E-2
Visa and you fly back to Korea. This is a fast and easy process of obtaining
a Visa and number of teachers in Korea obtained Visa this way. You can teach
before you go on a "Japan
Visa-Run". (You can go to Taiwan instead of Japan
if you desire) The school will pay all the expense incurred by this process.
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It is illegal to tutor without consent of the hiring institution. Your
E-2 Visa only allows you to work at the school you got hired from. If you
desire to earn extra income, discuss it with the director at your school.
The school director sometimes will allow you to tutor privately or offer
overtime work at the school. Many teachers take on the risk of teaching
privately without prior consent, although it is not a criminal offense,
they are risking being terminated from the job and forced to come back to
U.S. We highly suggest you obtain a prior consent.
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NO, there is no requirement for you to get vaccinated prior to leaving.
If you are planning on being around animals or spend a lot of time in the
forest, you should consider talking to your doctor. Other than that, you
don't need to worry about it. Korea is not a tropical country, so you don't
have to worry about diseases such as Typhoid or Malaria. If you are planning
on visiting tropical countries while in Korea, you can always go to a hospital
in Korea. The hospitals in Korea are very modern and readily accessible.
You don't have to make an appointment to see a doctor right away.
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