FAQs

Unfortunately, private academies are regulated by Korean immigration and can only hire teachers from a select group of native speaking countries so legally you couldn't get an E2 Visa, but others married to Koreans or just in the country do get jobs at smaller schools and/or kindergartens.

You need to have someone back home hopefully get a state criminal check for you or you would have to be fingerprinted in Japan after downloading the right forms from the FBI site and get that started. The notary and apostille must be done in the US too or you could come to Korea and have the US Embassy provide an affidavit for criminal check and those are the only 2 ways that Korean immigration would accept that criminal check. http://www.koreainsider.com/korea-visa/korean-visa/notarize-documents/korean-council-on-university-education/ Also, the first step would be to have your degree verified by the KCUE and that can take 1 week to a month to get and then 2 weeks for the visa process and the Employer must do it. Quite an involved process and made that much harder if you aren't back in the US to take care of these things so it may be better to plan a trip home or hope someone back home can do some running around for you.

You sure can get a job teaching English as it seems you are a native speaker. It may be a bit tougher to get an interview with your resume showing a Korean university, but I still think you won’t have any difficulty finding a job teaching kids or adults. All the best!

It depends on which Korean immigration officer you get unfortunately. Always case by case. I have seen someone get an E2 visa even though 10 years earlier they had a DUI conviction so I would think that possible. That offence isn't one that they look on too strongly.

Probably by sending it to SM Entertainment 521 Apgujung-2-Dong, Kangnam-Gu, Seoul, Korea Tel 82-2-6240-9679

I don't believe that with an F4 you can sponsor your wife on a working F2 visa, however, things change and it would be better to call 02-1345 to see what Korean immigration has to say.

Looks like you would have to give KBS a call - see comment here: http://www.koreainsider.com/korean-actors-singers/korean-music/korean-music-bank/

??? Hope that is right ^ ^

It should take just 24 hours. Get the Korean Consulate say in Fukokua in the morning hand in your documents and then pick it up the next day early afternoon. I think the longest would be 48 hours if you got there only very late on the first day.

You do need to get an E2 visa and to get that you need to have a degree and passport from a native English speaking country, but immigration generally only accepts Can, USA, Eng, Aust, NZ, SA. not non-native or even other countries that have English as an official language either.

As far as I have seen KCUE will be able to verify MA or BA, but the employer must submit it and immigration will certainly accept an MA as long as it is from an accredited university. Even had some get a Juris Doctor degree approved, but it took almost 2 months for some reason, so be ready for a long wait.

It may seem a bit strange, but likely you would need to do an FBI one as Korean immigration wants one from your native country even though you haven't lived there for 10 years.. However, they may in fact want both so it might be good to get both. You would also need to have the notary and apostille from the US and not from there in Portugal. It might be worth calling 82-2-1345 to ask immigration directly although even after getting an answer from them the actual visa officer may ask or do something completely different

To work (teach English) you would have to still provide your degree, transcripts and likely state level criminal check to work and go through that whole process and get an E2 (Japan run, degree verification if you haven't already had an E2).

No problem with studying at a language school, but would have to get a student visa (pretty straight forward) to enroll in credit courses. Hope that helps!

You could possible need both, but you'll certainly need one from the UK, if that is the passport you travel on as that is all immigration cares about.

Should be just over 4.5% for Pension and about 2.25% for medical. When you get a pay slip (If you are lucky enough to get one) you can double check to see if your employer is deducting the right amount. Around 10% total coming off the top, but you get a good tax return usually in Korea, just be sure to use your debit card for everything and then you can get a statement from your bank to use to claim that against your Korean income tax

Nope, first time applicants can get an E2 Visa, but they have to go through the degree verification process and that can take 2-5 weeks and then apply for a visa issuance number http://www.koreainsider.com/korea-visa/korean-visa/notarize-documents/korea-degree-verification/

Yes, unfortunately this is normal. If the school doesn't have a business license then they can't apply to sponsor your E2 Visa. It can happen with new schools or when a hagwon is opening a new branch, but hasn't yet got all their business docs and gov't registrations in order. I'm sure they thought it wouldn't take as long to get, but now are stuck without legally being able to get you a visa.

If you have a UK and South African passports then you should go with the one that is the easiest to get, which might be a subject access request or one through disclosure Scotland. If you are applying for a visa in the UK after getting a visa issuance number then having a UK criminal check would be best. Korean Immigration though could also complicate matters by asking for a criminal check from where you graduated and that matches the passport you are applying with. I hope that helps. KoreaInsider.com

If you have had an E2 visa before for at least a year and never overstayed your visa or have any other issue with your visa or time in Korea then it should be no problem for you to get your visa in Japan or other 3rd country. If you haven't had an E2 Visa before then you can still do the above but your Employer would have to get your degree verified from the KCUE. http://www.koreainsider.com/korea-visa/korean-visa/notarize-documents/korea-degree-verification/ Be sure to have all your documents and a state level criminal check (if US), with notary and apostille and get it about a month before you come as it is only good for 6 months. Study hard! Sure you've seen this site, but it is the best for studying Korea for free http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/