By This story just makes you wonder if this bending of the rules for E-2 visas is widespread or not?:
The Korea Immigration Service (KIS) allegedly extended an E-2 visa to an American teacher who refused to submit mandatory health checks.
Andrea Vandom, an English instructor at Chung-Ang University, visited the Suwon Immigration Office, Wednesday, to renew her status under the terms of the English-teaching visa rules.
But Vandom told The Korea Times that she had her visa extended ? even though she refused to submit papers on health checks, which are demanded under the regulations that govern the E2 visa. She only handed over criminal record documents to the authorities, she said.
This case appears to suggest that the immigration rules are being bent ? not applicable to those who complain strongly, she said.
Instead of producing documents showing HIV/AIDS and drug test results, she gave an immigration officer a letter.
It reads: “Unfortunately, I will not be submitting the HIV/ AIDS test results or the tuberculosis drug test results that you have requested. These tests unreasonably discriminate against me as a foreigner living in Korea and are a violation of my human rights.”
In the letter, she also said that she has lived and worked in Korea for more than three years and does not understand why she is suddenly suspected of being a danger to Korean society.
“I have done nothing wrong, and yet the Korea Immigration Service wants to search my body. This is an invasion of my most private and personal rights and an affront to my human dignity,” she said.
According to Vandom, after reading the letter, the immigration official showed the letter to one of his colleagues, and then his colleague came back and said, “Last year, the law changed and you need HIV and drug tests.”
Vandom, 30, said she then replied, “I understand what you are saying,” and again directed his attention to the letter. At this point, she said, the immigration officer completed the sojourn application form and handed over her alien registration card saying “visa extension, one year.”
“I feel relieved that my human rights were respected. However, I feel concerned about thousands of other E-2 visa holders living and working in Korea that have not been similarly treated,” Vandom said. [Korea Times]
1:54 pm on March 28th, 2009 1
I'll give you 3 to 1 odds the woman would pop positive on a drug test…
I'd probably have more respect for her if she did than this lame stuff about "human rights."
Foreigners do not have the "human right" to move, live, and work in another country.
Being allowed access to another country is still a privilege – governed by a whole slate of regulations that each nation crafts for itself and the nations it has contact with.
If you feel that submitting to this or that rule is a violation of your personal human rights, then go to a nation that doesn't have those requirements.
2:50 pm on March 28th, 2009 2
This Andrea Vandom is about the dumbest thing on 2 legs.
When you beat the System through the kindness or laziness of others, it takes a special kind of stupid to brag about it in a national newspaper.
Let's hope immigration takes another look at her case so the budding minds of Korean college students can be molded by someone with better judgment.
3:07 pm on March 28th, 2009 3
I don't buy the whole "human rights" garbage that any of these jokers are spewing. This whole thing stems from teachers who were here before the visa requirements changed and they don't want to go jump through the hoops for one reason or another, so they claim their human rights have been violated.
New teachers who arrive wouldn't say a thing, but have been convinced that something is wrong. Now, I agree with them insofar that F2 and F4 visa holders should have to go through the same process because as of now, the whole thing smacks of discrimination, but this is not a human rights issue.
Andrea Vandom should forced to submit the tests. The Korean government is not going to be one-upped by a western girl.
I agree with USINKOREA on this one as well. She just finished her first year contract, probably traveled to Thailand or something equally as seedy and would now fail the drug test.
Still, ATEK is going to run with this one and it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top.
3:12 pm on March 28th, 2009 4
All the English teachers here in Korea that I know are on C-3 Tourist Visa's so they don't have to go through any crap at all.
5:45 pm on March 28th, 2009 5
She wouldn't have to go to Thailand. I knew a fair number of language instructors in the Seoul area who had no trouble getting pot and others who went to raves in the entertainment areas.
5:52 pm on March 28th, 2009 6
I'm not against the hakwon/ESL crowd. I've defended them vigorously before in the K-blogs. I'm not a fan of how vulnerable they are due to the immigration restrictions and the power it gives the owners —
— so my reaction to this "human rights" stuff isn't knee-jerk or another way to bash that crowd.
But, if you don't want to go through the hassle of visa regulations or you think it is a human rights issue or you want to enjoy an occasional joint or hit of ecstasy, then don't go to Korea — or be prepared to face the consequences if you are caught.
5:53 pm on March 28th, 2009 7
That immigration has policies that differ from office to office and officer to officer is hardly surprising. I hope—but I doubt—the emphasis here would be on inconsistent and ineffective immigration policies, rather than teachers trying to beat the system.
2:46 am on March 29th, 2009 8
First, you can't give HIV to a student – unless you're sleeping with them without protection, so what does the government want to prove?
Second, if she's been living there for 3 years already, she couldn't possibly get HIV as it doesn't exist in Korea, could she?.
And lastly, places aren't necesarily seedy but the people who populate them are – Korea is equally as seedy as Thailand (or other seedy places) if you go to the right neighborhood.
10:41 am on March 29th, 2009 9
"Instead of producing documents showing HIV/AIDS and drug test results, she gave an immigration officer a letter." The letter was in a white envelope which contained, among other things, a note explaining why she did not want to take an HIV test etc..
" … lived and worked in Korea for more than three years …" Understands the system well!
3:36 pm on May 10th, 2009 10
Greetings all. I have a question for everyone out there reading. Can you get a visa with a criminal conviction? I have a Reckless Driving, a gross misdemeanor from the State of Washington where I live. I keep getting slightly different stories that you can get a visa or you can't, even if your prospective employer is behind you a hundred percent. Does anyone have the straight info?
Frank