1. Research - We first looked at bunch of different Korean recruiting companies that primarily place ESL teachers to schools across the world. We actually began our search with no specific country in mind, but quickly discovered that Korea is one of the highest paying countries for expat teachers with a more traditional, conservative culture than other places. We felt it was safest and most lucrative to narrow our search to Korea.
2. Apply to recruiter - After selecting about 4 recruiting agencies that we got good vibes from and consulting my friend who already lives here, we filled out the online applications and sent them off. The apps are free, there are no fees, and they are fairly easy to do. You also need to send a resume, cover letter, and a photo. We heard back pretty quickly from two recruiters but only interviewed with one, who happened to be the same one my friend Bryan went through. The interview was conducted through Skype with the recruiter, and then a phone interview with the school, where we talked to both a Korean supervisor from the school as well as a Western teacher to check that we had North American accents. We got the job, signed our contracts, and then the paperwork began.
3. Background checks - To work in Korea, you need to get an FBI background check, which is the most tedious part of the process, at least in terms of waiting. The checks don't cost much, around US $18 each, but take up to 2 months to process, which for us I think ended up being around 6 weeks. So start early if you are on a time crunch. We received the results in the mail and scanned a copy to the recuiter, and later sent the copies to the school for the visa stuff. More on that later.
4. Foreign Documents and apostille - Really for me this was the hardest part of the process, mostly because of my school's end. Since I recently graduated but had not yet received my diploma, I had to get a notarized letter from my school to supplement that said I graduated. Either this letter or a diploma works, but the first is much more of a hassle to get done, I'd say. The documents the recruiter tells you to compile ranges depending on country, but basically include passport photos, passport copies, visa application forms, and apostilles. An apostille is a foriegn notary which you have to get from a secretary of state office. For your diploma/school letter of graduation, you can just go to the state capitol and get it done while you wait for about US $15. For the background checks, though, you have to send them to D.C, which is fine if you have time, but if you're pressed for time because of your departure date, as we were, then you definitely want to express them. We seriously lucked out because we had a contact who worked for the Sec. of State office in D.C, so we express shipped them to him and he submitted them in person for us and turned it around in about 4 days as opposed to over two weeks that they estimate on their website.
5. Send stuff to Korea and visa application- Once you get all the required documents, notarizations, and photos compiled, you ship them to Korea for processing, and the visa office in Korea gives you a confirmation number that more or less says you have permission to apply for a visa. This takes about 4 days, and you can start the visa stuff while you wait if you want/need to, which is what we did since we were so crunched for time. Once you get the number, you attach it to your application, along with the required money orders, passports, and photos, etc. and mail it to the office. What we did, and what I think is really a good idea to do, is to call whichever Korean consulate you plan on mailing the visa apps to and letting them know that you're sending them, so they expect your applications. It expedited the process for us by about 5 days, because the lady there knew we were in a hurry and so gave us priority. I would also recommend spending the extra money to ship it priority and get tracking alerts on your documents throughout the whole process so you can see what status they're at. Also, the visa office and the apostilles require paid return mailing envelopes, so if you buy a priority flat rate prepaid to come back to you, you know how to track it once they've sent it. After about a week and a half we got our envelope back with our visas!!!
6. Flight info and logistics - I will say the more questions you ask during this whole thing, the better. We probably could have packed smarter and saved some internet research time by asking more about the conditions in Korea and the process steps, but we did pretty dang well, and were quite prepared for the move. Most recruiters will provide a flight for you to your county and will arrange pick up and accommodation for you so that you just have to worry about getting there. What I did is print off our own itinerary and check baggage stuff on my own, and that helped me feel more connected and in charge of our flight info. We also just asked a billion questions to our recruiter, as we thought of them, and she was great at getting back to us.
So that's basically a summary of the last 4 months of our lives haha. It was a daunting process from start to finish, but actually is much smoother than you'd think. The number one thing I'd recommend for people interested in this is to plan ahead and get a time frame set in advance so you know when things need to get done by. We simply mapped out the weeks on a calendar and set deadlines for when stuff had to get submitted by, and it worked well. More info and updates coming soon!
So that's basically a summary of the last 4 months of our lives haha. It was a daunting process from start to finish, but actually is much smoother than you'd think. The number one thing I'd recommend for people interested in this is to plan ahead and get a time frame set in advance so you know when things need to get done by. We simply mapped out the weeks on a calendar and set deadlines for when stuff had to get submitted by, and it worked well. More info and updates coming soon!
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