Desperate HELP needed!! Can i teach if i am not from the E2 countries?

 

Hi, my name is Justin and i am just emailing in regards to hoping to go teach English in Korea next summer. Basically i have read a few different
forums and i am just a bit confused as to what i should do. I understand that teaching English in Korea usually requires a E-2 visa which means I have to 
have passport from Native English speaking countries such as USA, UK, Australia etc. 
 
Here is my situation, basically I hold a Dutch passport but i have lived in the UK full time since 1996 with my family and all my secondary education (from year 7 onwards)
till my Post Graduate Certificate are all done and passed in the UK. So i was wondering if i have lived that long in the UK and have my full time education there do i still need to have an English passport to qualify for E-2 visa? Basically, in the UK i have done GCSEs (full) and also A levels and i have a 2:1 undergraduate BSc degree in Psychology from
the University of Leicester and a Post Graduate Certificate in Counselling from the University of Manchester. As well as that i am currently doing an online TEFL course which is 140 hours and is due to be completed in the next few months. In total i have lived for 16 years in the UK and next year will be my 17th year in the UK.
 
To be honest i dont really want to resolve to having to apply for Dual Nationality (as i know the process can be a bit of a pain and can take a long time) or change my nationality to UK since my family are very proud that i have Dutch heritage but actually when i called the Immigration office they said that even Dual Nationality is not eligible for E2 as i have to be BORN in the UK in order to get the E2,  so i was wondering in my situation, can i still be exempt and be able to apply for a E-2 visa in order to work full time teaching English in Korea? Or maybe there is an alternative visa that i am qualified to apply for? Any help and advice would be very much appreciated. Look forward to hearing from you soon.
 
regards
 

Re: Desperate HELP needed!! Can i teach if i am not from the ...

You're probably more qualified that 90% of the "teachers" getting jobs ahead of you, however, Korea has strict rules.

I think you're out of luck for legal teaching. Your best shot is to get a UK passport...
Is that not possible?

I have another friend from Singapore (English is her first language) and holds a degree from Australia...but she can't get a job here either.

Sorry for the bad news, maybe someone else has something better.




 

Re: Desperate HELP needed!! Can i teach if i am not from the ...

Thanks for the reply but i have also heard from the Immigration Office in Korea (when i called them this week) that even if i apply for British Citizenship and get a UK passport, i still cannot be eligible for E2 visa? She said I have to be BORN in the UK to get a E2 visa? Can someone clarify if this is true?

Re: Desperate HELP needed!! Can i teach if i am not from the ...

Joshuabeagle is totally tight, sadly you cannot get the visa and without it cannot get a legal or real job.  Teaching without the visa is not a good idea.

However when I checked with immigration office they said you only need the native speaking country's passport along with the UK university papers that showed you graduated from the UK passport.  However the officer was not 100% certain, just thought this was the case.   I would check with the Korean embassy in London if you can go there and get it in writing.  I think there might be a chance, the problem is your UK future passport will state that you were born in the Netherlands.  My UK passport says I was born in Canada so no problem for me with authorities here.  Yes you best shot is the UK passport.

Re: Desperate HELP needed!! Can i teach if i am not from the ...

I know someone who was not born in an N-2 country but immigrated to one later and is working in Korea...

 

How it all got handled, I do not know. Could be luck of the draw, could be nobody at immi checks, could be nobody cares.

The passport is an E-2 country.

I have no other details about it than the person was not born in an E-2 country~