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Kyung Hee University School of Law1 Hoegi-dong, Dongdaemun-guSeoul, Korea 130-701Phone: +82-2-961-0418
Working Paper, May 2009Distributed for educational purposes
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST NON-CITIZENSIN THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA IN THE CONTEXT OFTHE E-2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING VISA
Benjamin K. Wagner
Copyright © 2009, by Benjamin K. Wagner.
This article is available for educational purposesonly. This article is a working paper, which represents ongoing research and compilations of various materials. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the permission of the author. To request permission to reproduce this article, please contact the author atkhu.lawschool@gmail.com.
Benjamin K. Wagner Draft—Not for Quotation or Citation Without the Permission of the Author
21. An Introduction to the E-2 Visa Policy
A. New requirements for the E-2 visa are introduced through a KoreaImmigration Service policy memorandum affecting nearly 20,000 non-citizens residingin Korea.
The “Foreign Language teaching (E-2)” visa is for non-citizens working in Korea as“language instructor[s] at foreign language institutions or educational facilities (primaryschool and above).”
1
Nationality
2005 2006 2007 2008
U.S.A.
3,951 5,372 6,989 8,890
Canada
4,598 4,870 5,263 5,029
U.K.
975 1,367 1,697 1,673
South Africa
294 451 695 971
Australia
582 679 665 646
New Zealand
630 701 705 643
Ireland
305 332 350 322
Others
2
1,104 1,229 1,357 1201
TOTAL
12,439 15,001 17,721 19,375
(Table 1) Number of E-2 Visa Holders by Nationality from 2005 through September 2008 (Korea Immigration Service)
3
As of September 2008, there were 19,375 E-2 visa holders in Korea. Ninety percentof E-2 visa holders are teachers of English, representing seven nations whose native languageis English.
4
Of these nations, Americans hold the most E-2 visas (40%), followed byCanadians (30%), Britons (10%), South Africans (3%), Australians (3%), New Zealanders(3%), and Irish (2%).In November 2007, the Ministry of Justice (“MOJ”) introduced a policy memorandum
1
See
“Foreign Language Instructor (E-2) . . . Application Eligibility.” Available at Korea Immigration website,http://www.hikorea.go.kr/pt/InfoDetailR_en.pt?categoryId=2&parentId=382&catSeq=385&showMenuId=374&visaId=E2Of particular importance, the Korea Immigration Service (“KIS”) does not keep statistics on thenumber of E-2 teachers who teach children. While the requirements for E-2 teachers were introduced to protectchildren, many E-2 teachers work in positions where they do not teach children.
2
The E-2 visa is also available for teachers of foreign languages other than English. Teachers of foreignlanguages other than English account for less than ten percent of E-2 visa holders.
3
Korea Immigration Service, International Cooperation Division, Ministry of Justice. Included in the Annex.
4
The remaining 10% of E-2 visa holders not teaching English (1,201 individuals as of September 2008) havefaced discriminatory treatment despite not being “foreign English teachers,” the target group of therequirements.
Benjamin K. Wagner Draft—Not for Quotation or Citation Without the Permission of the Author
3entitled
“원어민 회화지도 (E-2) 사증제도 개선 안내”
(“Policy Memo”).
5
On December 10, 2007, the Residence Policy Division of the Korea Immigration Service released anEnglish version of the policy memo entitled “New Changes on the E2 Teaching Visa Holdersin Korea.”
6
This document gives the reasons for the new E-2 visa requirements. In thefirst section, entitled “Background of the Changed Program,” the policy memo states thechanges have made because of “[s]erious social outcry [concerning] unqualified E2 teachingvisa holders.” This “social outcry,” the policy memo explains, was created by: News media coverage about those unqualified E2 teaching visa holders.For example, Mr. Christopher Paul Neil,
7
the serial child sex offender,was reported by KBS on Oct.17th, 2007 and the report came out aboutthe holders of fraudulent diplomas, drug using, etc. on September 5th,2007.For the stated purpose of “protect[ing] children and young students from . . . criminaloffenders and fraudulent diploma holders,” the new E-2 visa policy requires 1) an “HIV test”and 2) a “TBPE diagnosis”
8
for illegal drug use at “National or privately-run hospitals and/or public health centers” in Korea (medical tests done outside of Korea are not accepted). TheE-2 policy further requires foreign teachers to 3) submit criminal background reports fromtheir home countries and to 4) provide verification of their academic credentials.
B. The introduction of the E-2 visa policy was an extra-legal and discriminatorycrackdown designed to calm a xenophobic public.
The E-2 visa policy was not implemented in order to achieve the legitimate aim of “protect[ing] children and young students,” instead it was designed to achieve the symbolic
5
원어민 회화지도 (E-2) 사증제도 개선 안내, 법무부,
2007. 11. Included in the Annex.
6
“New Changes on the E2 Teaching Visa Holders in Korea,” Residence Policy Division, Korea ImmigrationService, December 10th, 2007 (Hereinafter “Policy Memo”). Included in the Annex, also available athttp://home.windstream.net/ssheiko/e2_changes_en.pdf
7
Neil’s arrest and its effect on the revised E-2 visa requirements are discussed in section 1(D)
infra
.
See further
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Paul_Neil
8
The Policy Memo
supra
note 6 explains that E-2 visa holders require a “TBPE diagnosis . . . about drug use.”TBPE refers to a tetrabromophenolphtalein ethyl ester indicator test for the presence of ‘hard drugs’ such asheroin, amphetamine, methamphetamine, and MDMA. Cannabis is not tested for under the E-2 requirements.For more information on the TBPE,
see
“A simple device of the dry tetrabromophenolphthalein ethyl ester reagent strip for the detection of methamphetamine,” Myung Ja Choi, EunYoung Song, Seungki Kim,Jeongeun Choi, Dong-Seok Lho and Jongsei Park, Pharmaceutical Society of Korea, (Volume 16, Number 3,1993). Available athttp://www.springerlink.com/content/n125p5406785x231/
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