There are so many blogs and videos discussing the process of how to become an English Teacher without giving specific ass details. I’m here to hopefully rectify that situation.
Part I: Getting Those Credentials Ready a.k.a. What You’ll Need – 171025
Part II: Costs of Those Credentials & Where to Get Stuff – 171025
Part III: Disappointment is Real but That’s OKAY
Part IV: Getting The Job & Preparing for Take Off
Part I: Getting Those Credentials Ready a.k.a. What You’ll Need
Now the basic credentials everyone is aware of would be a 4 Year Degree in any subject, TEFL Certification, Speak English, be from an English speaking country such as the US, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia and South Africa, and have a Passport.
Your shopping/need list:
- Passport – needs to be valid for at least another year a.k.a. long enough for you to use when you get back home
- VISA – E-2 Visa
- Apostilled Degree – Notarize it then get it apostilled = money 😦
- Apostille Federal Criminal Background Check – same as the Degree
- Sealed Transcript – Not all schools require this
- TEFL Certificate – at least 100 hours but not all schools require this
- Health Check & Drug Test – You need a full bill of health and have to be clean of drugs such as opioids, marijuana, and anxiety/depression medication
- Plane Ticket – Not all schools will provide you with one so be careful
Part II: Costs of Those Credentials & Where to Get Stuff
What they don’t tell you is how much this actually costs, okay. IT IS NOT CHEAP!
Obviously, you will need a passport to leave the country. Passport photos cost $8.99 for 2 at RiteAid Pharmacy & $15 at USPS. The passport book itself costs $110 if you’ve never had one before and the price varies if you have. Check here for more information.
Luckily, your E-2 Visa is cheap. It costs $45 to get an E-2 visa and processing is about 5 days. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS send a return envelope with your documents because if you do not, you won’t be getting them back. UTILIZE THAT TRACKING NUMBER as well, it’s important. You send for the visa after receiving your visa issuance number BUT be prepared to leave immediately after. Have those bags packed and ready.
Now an apostilled degree/diploma (same thing) is a different story. It has to be apostilled by the state in which it was given. Usually, your school will notarize it for free and people tend to say that it is necessary to get it done by your school. To be safe I would do just that if possible. After that, you have to send it to the City Hall in the state it was issued, to be apostilled. My state only charged $15 for the apostille and I got the information on the government website. Keep in mind that it will be different for every state and the link I provided is an example of the state of Pennsylvania’s government site.
The Federal Criminal Background Check is a different story. Thankfully, you have the ability to go through approved partners to get the CBC done more quickly. I used Fieldprint Fingerprinting. They are great and cheap, it takes all of 10 minutes to receive your results after giving your fingerprint at your local Fieldprint place. You have to make an appointment ahead of time and that costs $50 I believe. Then you just download your document and boom! You can get this notarized anywhere within your state BUT you must get is apostilled federally aka Washington, DC. You can use US Authentication Services, it’s not the one I used but it works. It is about $45-47.
Sealed Transcripts come from your school. I do not know if every school charges the same so be sure to check with them. Also be aware that not all jobs will require a sealed transcript.
TEFL certification is also not required by every school but you need to complete at least 100-120 hours. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY A THOUSAND DAMN DOLLARS FOR IT EITHER. A lot of recruiters will have a discount code for you to use. You can get the course for like $250 but when using Groupon or any other site offering a deal READ REVIEWS because a lot of them can end up being scams. My advice is whenever the hell possible, use the discount code provided by your recruiter (if you have one and they have a code. Ask anyway). It may take about 30 days to complete.
The health check and drug test will take place after arrival. If you take anxiety or depression medication, consult your doctor but you should stop long enough for it to not show in your system. South Korea is not too keen on Mental Health issues just yet. If you smoke the green whether for medical reasons or recreational, STOP ASAP. It takes at least 30-45 days to be clean and be sure to drink plenty of water, exercise and try cranberry pills and pure cranberry juice. It also does not hurt to use a 7-day detox. Drug use of any kind will not be tolerated. It takes opioids at least 3-4 days to clear your system. All of these are estimates based on usage and weight. It differs for many people but there are home tests to help you out. They check blood and urine. Also, the health check is NOT FREE. It can be about 90,000KRW.
As for your plane ticket, the schools will sometimes pay for your plane ticket up to $1000. Some schools pay one-way and that can be one-way there OR one-way back. Other schools will pay for your flights’ round-trip. BUT ALWAYS ASK because some schools really mean reimbursement and not actually paying for the ticket ahead of time. This is also important ass information.
Your possible total: $1500 to $2000 depending on what your school requires.
DISCLAIMER: All information provided on this page is due to research and/or personal experience which means its legit. If you have any questions, please use my contact form.
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