By Lee Dong-wook
Some recent articles in The Korea Times by E-2 visa holding English teachers were shocking to my colleagues and myself who work in the Korea Immigration Service, the Ministry of Justice.
Let me take some examples one by one.
Firstly, Mr. David Louis Quick, an American English teacher, made incorrect claims in his Dec. 5 article, which can be summarized as follows:
(1). The Ministry of Justice seemingly made no attempt to understand the situation of native English teachers and the bureaucracy of their home countries.
(2). A criminal records check in the U.S. is only effective if it is conducted at a national level and the only way to be truly sure that the criminal check is conducted nationally is to have it done by the FBI.
(3). Prospective and current teachers will simply choose to teach in Japan, China or other countries, which do not require such an extraordinary burden to be borne by the employee alone
When one makes arguments, it is very easy for people to fall into the trap of emotional feelings and become very illogical, unless he is well trained in logical reasoning. He was too farfetched in many ways.
The Ministry of Justice, nay more specifically my colleagues and I have made every possible attempt to understand the situation of native English teachers and that of their home country's legalities.
To take a few examples, we are maintaining very close contact with seven embassies _ the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa ― from countries whose citizens qualify for the E2 visa.
He also argues that it may take up to seven months to get his criminal record if he uses the FBI services. Thanks to my personal experience as a member of the New York bar and with experience working at an American court and the Korean Ministry of Justice, I can say he was wrong or at least very misguided.
There are several ways he can get his criminal record from Korea. Other than using the FBI service, he can use the following options:
(1). If he contacts a local police station by fax or by mail, he can get the documents sooner and notarized at the U.S. Embassy in Korea.
(2). If he is uncomfortable with the local police station, he can use a privately-run criminal check system, for example an online site (https://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com), although he may be charged up to $59.95.
He needs to have the documents notarized in his embassy. However, in the process of notarization, he can be charged if he commits perjury.