Stomps feet, gnashes teeth, shakes fist, bangs head on wall...
Heyyyy.... remember, like, that time, when I, like, had to get a smudged stamp put on a piece of paper that said I hadn't committed any criminal acts in Canada even though I'd been living in Korea for 2 years AND had a less-than-2-year old criminal record check that had already been done before I could get my original visa processed here? Right... remember how I had to do all that to keep the same job at the same school instead of just getting a simple renewal stamp? Remember how all that cost me about $300 and wasted my time, my mom's time and even my school's time? Remember how the people at the Mokpo Immigration Office looked at it with puzzlement and handed the paper back to me because they couldn't understand why I was giving it to them?
Yeah.... good times.
It seems that South Korea feels that it is a "violation of basic human rights" for their citizens to have to provide a criminal background check to the US government in order to join the US's Visa Waiver Program.
You can find a well-researched comment written by an ex-pat, as well as a link to the original article here.
Yeah.... good times.
It seems that South Korea feels that it is a "violation of basic human rights" for their citizens to have to provide a criminal background check to the US government in order to join the US's Visa Waiver Program.
You can find a well-researched comment written by an ex-pat, as well as a link to the original article here.
posted by Ms Parker at
12:50 PM
7 Comments:
Thanks for the love.
I think I told you this before, but they didn't even need my CBC at Yeosu immigration, even though I had been told time and time and time again that it was necessary. I went to Gwangju the night before, took the 4:10 am to Seoul, went to the embassy, came back to Gwangju, got sent to Yeosu, and was told that since I work for the Jeollanam-do PS system I had already submitted one. afj9832qwaeoiflaskflawefowe. Cost me over $100 between fees, transportation, and a motel in Gwangju, not to mention the stress of trying to get it done on very short notice. Ridiculous.
Like I said I don't have a problem with having to do a CBC. I had a problem with how it was implemented, targetting only a small group of teachers based on the actions of one guy---ON A DIFFERENT VISA---in another country, and whose crimes wouldn't have turned up on a CBC anyway. Plus, of course, was the language coming out of immigration and the media about damned dirty foreigners, blah blah blah.
By
Brian, at 2:42 PM
Ridiculous, to say the least. I've been here only a few months, so had to go through the latest and greatest visa application hurdles which took a sweet three months before I was granted an OK to the country. After being here only a few weeks, my boss was told by immigration that he'd have to order a domestic (read: KOREAN) criminal report for yours truly... Because I possibly could have committed a felony between the time I arrived and now.. still trying to figure that one out...
By
Moxie, at 5:57 PM
Quis custodiet ipsos custodies?
(3 years of high school Latin...Mrs. Houston would be proud)
By
Anonymous, at 7:36 PM
"Who watches the watchers"????
I echo Brian's sentiments that I have no problem with doing the criminal record check at all, since I believe that people who work with children (especially) or the elderly or whoever should not have past records of violence or assault etc. There are many non-Koreans who work here in different fields ~ engineers, ship workers, etc ~ and I've sometimes wondered if they also need to provide extra and redundant documentation (Okay, I'm going to say it: Russian sailors, not ESL teachers, are the reason why there's a red light district ~ Russia Town ~ in Busan). At any rate, Korea lost quite a few qualified and experienced teachers ~ who weren't drug users or pedophiles ~ when they implemented the new regulations, since quite a few people took it as a slap in the face that they'd have to redo all that paperwork, and couldn't be bothered with the whole process.
As for moxie ~ Geez... I really hope that I don't have to do a Korean criminal check too!
By
Ms Parker, at 8:48 AM
Also, quite a few of my friends (who are returning to Korea to work) have been so tangled up in the red tape of these new regulations that they've missed their start dates and, in some cases, lost the jobs they were coming for in the first place (or just given up on the process and decided to try a different place).
By
Ms Parker, at 8:50 AM
It is "Who will watch the watchers" By which I meant that there is a vicious cycle with visa clearances. Who decides when enough is enough? Why do governments keep escalating the paperwork?
When we lived in Korea, (a life time ago) my Father's company, acted as a surety for him. It was the same with every country in which we lived. Why can't your schools do something similar today?
By
Anonymous, at 9:15 PM
If you have a criminal record and you want to work or volunteer overseas you should get a pardon to have it cleared.
I write about
pardons for Canadians here.
By
AllCleared, at 4:08 AM
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