Teaching in South Korea

So back in April I applied to EPIK because I wanted to teach English in South Korea. Everything so far has been successful thank the Lord. It is now June and I'm waiting to hear about placement. It has been a really long process. I mean, it's not really that long, it's just that there is a lot of waiting involved. All this waiting is making me crazy~~  @_@. But, with the help of Korvia Consulting, the recruiting agency I applied through, and Ciena, my Korvia recruiter, the whole process is passing by smoothly. Both EPIK and Korvia has a facebook page where you can ask questions or just let everyone know where you are in the process. It is really encouraging to read and everyone is really nice. It helps make waiting easy.

I'd like to share the timeline of my application process. Everyone's timeline will be slightly different but I know I like to have a general idea of how long things takes so I'm sharing mine.

If you have any questions about any part of the process let me know in the comments below.

Best wishes to anyone applying!

March 5- Mailed FBI CRC 

April 1- Submitted EPIK Application (Korvia sent it. I sent it to Korvia 2 weeks earlier so that they could check for any errors in my application. Errors in your application causes delays in the process. For that reason I decided to apply to EPIK with the help of Koriva.)

April 2- $18 posted to my account. (The fee posting to your account means that your CRC has been completed and it will be on its way back to you. They only process your payment after the check is done.) 

April 10- Received CRC in mail! yay~~

April 11- Skype interview with EPIK at 8pm. (Ciena, my recruiter, skyped me 30 minutes before to help me prepare and give me words of encouragement. She really helped me relax! Thanks Ciena~~ ^^)

April 12- Dropped off my FBI CRC at the US Dept. of State Authentications Office. (This is the place where you get your CRC apostilled. I did walk-in. Walk-in hours are 8am-9am only.)

April 16- Received interview results from EPIK via Ciena. (I passed!!)

             - Picked up my apostilled CRC. (Pick-up hours are 8am-9am only.)

April 17- Shipped all of my final documents to Korvia via. Fedex.

April 19- Korvia received my documents and sent them to EPIK. EPIK received my documents in the afternoon. (I didn't need to make any copies because Korvia made all the copies I would need and sent them to EPIK. But, I made copies for to keep for myself.)

April 26- Paid and faxed my US Residency Form 8802 to the IRS. (This could take a really long time so I applied early. This form is needed so you won't have to pay US taxes and Korean taxes as it exempts teachers for 2 years from having to pay Korean taxes. It is best to have it in hand when you arrive in Korea. Make sure you request 2-3~~~! I heard that a school told a teacher that they lost her certificate.)

April 28- Passed EPIK document screening!! (EPIK will now recommend me to a MOE/POE).

May- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. (Nothing happened in May. My process went by pretty quickly in the beginning. I had finals for university in May and my graduation so I had things to keep me busy.) 

June 4- My degree posted on my transcript! (This is relevant to current students: Even though you sent in your current transcript, EPIK still needs your final transcripts. Once your degree information posts, you can request your final transcript.)

June 7- Received e-mail with placement information. SEOUL!!!!!! (My recruiter is sooo sweet, I love her so much. She went out of her way to email me my placement information. Korvia is beast! Especially Ciena!!)

June 12- Received diploma and 3 notarized copies of diploma. (My school has a notary person? lol that works in the diploma office so she made copies and notarized them for me.)

June 14- Got diploma county certified. (It was only $3 for my 3 copies so I'm assuming each copy was $1.)

June 15- Got notarized certified diploma copy apostilled. ($5/copy. I only got one apostilled now and will send the others later.)
             - Shipped final documents to Korvia (Fed ex $55)

June 19- Final documents delivered to Korvia.

June 24- Final documents approved by EPIK.
             - Residency certificates received in mail.

July 15- Took visa application, contract, and NOA to Korean Embassy in DC. ($45. They told me to come pick it up on Friday.)

July 19- Picked up passport with VISA.

So nothing's going on right now. I'm just working and trying to save money for my plane ticket and the first month I'll be in Korea. If any of my friends in Korea are reading this, know that I will probably be poor for a month so feed me!  

I'm still waiting for placement information, my diploma, and my US Residency certificate. Lord willing, I'll receive some good news this month! The Lord has answered my prayers!