In order to grant visa, Korea needs long-term plan.

It has been reported recently that Korean immigration is requiring a Vulnerable Sector Screening (VSS) check of Canadians who are applying for the E-2 teaching visa, and that it has these requirements since the 1st of September.

The VSS is required of Canadians in Canada if they are working with children or the elderly.

According to a Joongang Ilbo article, many Canadians were unaware of this new requirement and had to experience lengthy delays while getting this paperwork in order or in some cases, were even denied visas.

The Canadian Embassy was never informed regarding this change in policy and thus, could not provide any assistance or information to its citizens who are trying to obtain teaching visas. In fact, the immigration requirements were for services which the embassy could not provide and which come at great costs to the applicants.

An applicant recently emailed the embassy regarding this and received a reply that said that the Canadian government does not issue VSSs for purpose outside the country and that the embassy is not equipped to provide the same to them.

The reply also reiterated that the Korean immigration implemented the requirement without checking with or alerting the Canadian government, and that the embassy and the Ministry of Justice were working on a solution to new problem.

One of the components of the VSS is fingerprinting, something that can be done at police stations throughout the country. However, Canada does not accept fingerprints for VSS which are taken outside the country. This means that applicants have to return to Canada for such a simple procedure and that too at their own expense.

In spite of the fact that there are many satisfying things about working in South Korea, it is difficult to justify the spending of several millions of won fulfilling rushed requirements that would probably be revoked in few months.