In True Olympic Fashion: All Hurdles Cleared

Today, I finally acquired my E-2 Visa.

I will officially travel to and work in South Korea. The process they put future foreign English Teachers through is a serious pain in the butt. So lets start the chronicling of this adventure by recounting what I had to go through, here in Canada.

Before the PITA process begun, I got in contact with a recruiting agency, called Think Outside Recruiting, which operates in Korea and seemed quite reputable. A recruiter from there had an over-the-phone conversation with me (I don't know if you'd really call this an interview, although I have no doubt that they assess the quality of your spoken english). After this phone call, she gave me the choice of three schools. After I picked one, I had an over-the-phone interview with the Teacher Recruiter, who recommended me to his director, who in turn communicated to Think Outside telling me that I had the job.

The first step of the process was to get several documents mailed to Korea, in order to be granted a Visa Application number (which essentially verifies that you meet all the requirements). This part is the longest in the process, since some documents can take awhile to get.

Step 1: Required Documentation

Original Degree (Has to be any Undergraduate degree of an Honours program)

Obviously this part was not very difficult - although I was a little nervous to give up my original degree for the time being (You get it back in Korea) Cost: Free! (Or tens of thousands of dollars of tuition money, depending on how you want to look at it)

Sealed Transcript

Had to get this one from the UO's Registrar service - Simple enough, but about a 45 minute wait. Cost: 10$

Copy of Passport
Cost: 25 cents?

2 Passport-Sized picture
There are many "Ready-in-5 minute" services - wasn't a pain to get at all Cost: 12$

Criminal Record Check
Loooong wait at the Ottawa Police Station - About two hours. Regular service takes about two weeks to process, but who wants to wait that long. "Express" service is available for an extra 32$, after the original 13$ fee. Unfortunately, the Records Check also has to be verified by an apostille (which affirms the validity of the document) - and costs 45$. Afterwards, both documents have to be verified by the Canadian Consulate at the embassy, which costs another 6$, if I remember correctly. Cost: 96$

Self-Medical report
Simple sheet to attest that i'm healthy, and not some sort of drug addict or drunk! Cost: 25 cents

Finally, all of these documents have to be shipped by Courrier. I don't know if UPS is just ridiculously high-priced, or if all international shipping is this expensive, but it cost 66.18$ to send to the recruiting agency in Seoul.

Total Cost of Step 1: 184.68$

Step 2: Renewing the passport, and Obtaining the Visa
I sent the documents on July 2nd. Once they arrived, my school asked if I could get an early-renewal on my passport, since it was set to expire in 2009. I did this on July 11th, at a cost of 87$.

My Visa number was issued to me on July 21st, and I received my new passport on July 23rd. The next step was to go to the Embassy with a whole new slew of documentation and fees:
-Another sealed Transcript (10$)
-Visa application form + Passport
-Visa processing fee (55$)
-1 Passport Picture (6$)

After i'd assembled everything, I figured the rest of the process would be cake. Sadly, when I dropped everything off, they told me that since I had gone to school not only in English, but in French (I took classes in both language at UO), I may be denied a Visa.

Whee. That's a depressing thing to be told, a month into the process. But as Randy Pausch would've put it, it's just a brick wall.

Anyway, they scheduled an interview with the Consul General for the following week (July 30th). The best solution to my "unfortunate" situation of being French, I thought, was to get a reference letter from a Professor whom I had recently had in an english-language marketing Class. He absolutely wowed me by writing the most complimentary thing i'd ever heard about me.

He also wowed the Consul General. The interview went very well, and ended with the interviewer poking fun at me by saying "Bon Voyage".

So there you have it. Rock and roll - My departure date should be August 17th (I'll arrive on the 18th).

Total cost of step 2: 158$
Total cost : 342.68$
Time lapsed between beginning and end of the process: June 16th-July 31st (45 days)
Time lapsed between beginning and actual teaching: June 16th-August 18th (63 days)

See you in Asia.