Paperwork Paperwork!

After making the decision that we definitely wanted to teach English in South Korea, it was time to tackle the paperwork required for the E2 Visa. Most recruiters outline the paperwork required for teaching in South Korea, for example:  http://www.flying-cows.com/index.php/visa_process.html  and http://www.asknow.ca/visa.aspx . I would recommend getting these documents together as soon as you have decided that you want to work in South Korea, as I discovered, the process can often take a lot longer than anticipated.  We experienced some confusion with the following documents:

1. An apostilled/notarized copy of your degree - When I first read this I had no idea what  apostilled or notarized meant when I first read this! After a bit of research I found the website for the Foreign Commonwealth Office http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/what-we-do/services-we-deliver/legal-services/Legalisation/ . This website outlines how to get your documents notarized and you can apply via this website to get your documents apostilled. It's not free! First you need to photocopy your degree and get it certified as a true copy of the original by a solicitor or notary, if you know anyone who is a solicitor they might be able to do you  favour! You can then send this off to be apostilled.

2. An apostilled/notarized criminal record check - At first I thought I was covered when I saw this as I has several CRB checks for various jobs, however, they were all over 6 months old and therefore not valid! As you can't get a CRB check unless it is through a company based in the UK we weren't sure what to do next. I e-mailed a couple of recruitment agencies who told us to get a Disclosure Scotland certificate which you can get through their website http://www.disclosurescotland.co.uk/ .  We acquired these (again you have to pay), I then spoke to a solicitor about getting it notarized, who informed me that because it was an original it did not need to be notarized. We then sent these off to be apostilled only to get them refused because they weren't notarized! Very frustrating! In the end I took the Disclosures to a notary (your local one can be found via the FCO website) who certified the actual document as the original copy. This wasn't cheap so phone around to get an estimate before you get it done! This was then accepted and apostilled, yay!

Hopefully this post will help others who are struggling with their visa documents!