EPIK - Application

Against my better Judgement I have been preparing my EPIK application form.

Why do I think this is not a good idea????   WELL...

FINAL APPLICATION DATE WAS 1st DECEMBER 2011 

(It was nearly 1 month ago)

But my wife thinks I should still Apply and as much as it pains me - she is usually right!

The form is a bit of a monster and 2 letters of recommendation are required!

To work in Seoul there is an additional form and you have to submit a lesson plan.

We know someone who applied in February and started working in March so there is maybe a chance!

I am just waiting for the letters of recommendation and I will submit the form and hope for the best!

Fingers Crossed!

APPLICATION SENT

Well just got Christmas and all the dramas that go with it, out of the way and finally got around to sending my Visa application!

A rather LARGE envelope containing:

1. Application form
2. Notarised sponsorship form
3. Marriage certificate
4. Marriage certificate - Certified copy
5. Marriage register - KOREAN
6. Birth certificate
7. Land registry for House (House contract) 2 - Signed by Buyer and seller
8. Bank Statements - Nationwide /  Nat West
9. Mortgage Statement - NAT WEST
10. UK Passport
11. Photo (2)
12. £80 FEE

EXCIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITED!!!!


SPENDING SO FAR

LeGaLiSaTiOn!

Legalisation of Documents >>>  There are 2 different "Legalisation of documents" that you will need to get your head around when you apply for your Korean visa!

1. Notary
2. Apostille 

If you have a sponsor (In my case my wife) to support your application (I think in the case of E2 visa applications - this will be the school your contracted to work at) you will need to get the document witnessed and  stamped by a notary. Basically this is all it is they watch you sign then stamp it to say they have witnessed it.  They will need to see ID of the  sponsor and your CASH! - You can find a local notary >HERE< they are usually based at a solicitor, but not all solicitors have a notary! 
Prices vary . There are 2 in Peterborough they quoted £60 and £50.  I was surprised that the guy wanted cash and didn't give a receipt ... I guess you just expect solicitors to work within the boundary of the law and pay taxes like everyone else!!! or is that just me?

The  second is the Apostille. - THIS CAN ONLY - be issued by the foreign Office it costs £30.
These guys offer to take the pain out of it for you but will charge you £79.79+VAT

Blog pain!

Just wrote a lengthy post about legalising documents! This has
disappeared into the ether!!! Very annoying!! Will have to wait until
after Christmas now!

Merry Christmas!!!

--
Sent from my mobile device

Opportunities!

Just had a sniff of a job at a university in Suwon, Seoul! It would be
a 30 minute bus ride from Bundang, where we want to live. It would be
a fantastic opportunity that could lead to many opportunities in the
future!

I have sent off my resume, copies of my qualifications and a self
introduction by way of an essay! I am now keeping my fingers crossed
that i will hear back about an interview soon!

I am going to send my details to EPIK as well even though they appear
to have closed recruitment for spring 2012. I know someone who applied
in march and got a job in April so it may still be possible, trouble
is i need to find something near where we want to live and EPIK state
that you get what you are given, after orientation and no questions! I
will still apply to some hagwons but i am trying to avoid going
through an agency to ensure i get the best package and conditions!

fingers crossed i hope to be able to update soon!

EPIK OR EPIC WORKING HOURS!

After looking into a number of hagwons I started to realise that the
hours in the private sector are not only unsociable but are also
restricting to "private" teaching!
This has caused me to look back to EPIK and working in a public school.
--
Sent from my mobile device

The death of Kim Jong-il

I always knew that i was moving to a war zone, but this was was
different... Now i am not so sure!!!
Today it was announced that Kim Jong-il has died and his son will
assume the position of leader.
there is now fears of instability in the region as Kim Jung-un tries
to show he has what it takes!
Not sure how I feel about it at the moment!!!
More later...
BBC NEWS --
Sent from my mobile device

F-2/F-6/£7K AND BRINGING SOMETHING!

The first requirement for a Korean F-2, now called an F-6, is
obviously that your partner is a Korean national or an F-5 visa
holder. (THIS is the equivalent of indefinite leave to remain
/citizenship for non Koreans)

The 2nd is that you have £7k in your account for 3 months.

I don't! But there seems to be a way around it if i can prove the
house is in my name and what the outstanding mortgage is! Although
what proof they need is unclear. In fact they don't even seem to know,
and suggested that.

1. I just bring SOMETHING in for them to see.(?) This means a trip to
London battling oxford street during the Christmas season which may
turn out to be pointless

...

2. OR WAIT until the house is <b> SOLD <b> and the money is in my
account before applying!

The visa application takes 5 days to process, everyone keeps telling
me that "because you are British" that it will be no problem getting a
visa, i hope this is true!
But once i get the money and the house is sold then i need to
>>>>GO!!! OR TO BE PRECISE I HAVE TO GO!!!

I think that this is the thing I am most concerned about, GETTING IT
TO FIT INTO PLACE- the timing of it all!

--
Sent from my mobile device

A post about sales and online conveyancing

Conveyancing.
--------------------------------------------
After accepting an offer, the sales process starts!

In the UK it is necessary to use a solicitor or conveyance specialist
to transact the sale. With the later being cheaper!

Cheaper still is to use an online conveyance company, of which there are many!

2 years ago i successfully used an online company for the sale of my
property. There are risks associated with this (company goes bankrupt
etc) especially with the economy in downturn and a stagnated housing
market.

If you don't have the time to call them often and chase for completion
or if you don't feel comfortable doing everything online such as
scanning and emailing documents then i wouldn't recommend it!  
Normally i couldn't handle this extra hassle, however an example of
the savings that can be made;

1. Solicitor (Estate agency partner)

£900

2. online conveyance company

£254

To break it down further for the legal work:
 company 1 charged

£599

company 2 charged

£175
and gave me a £50 discount for liking their Facebook page!

Everyone loves a bargain, but you have to consider that you get what you pay for. 
But how much hassle is worth £646 !!! Ji Gong always views these things as making the saving, 
almost as an income so for my work; a few phone calls and the occasional strongly worded email -
I will be paid £646 - as an hourly rate, probably not bad!

Just a bit of fun - But maybe a use later

A QR Code for this blog to use later

And one for my website Online-English

leaving the uk and indefinate leave to remain visa status

There is so much confusion about visa status and finding the information is quite difficult.

I am a British citizen, my wife is a Korean national with indefinite leave to remain in the UK. 

THIS means she came on a spousal visa and applied after 2 years (and a great deal of expense) to stay.

With our move to Korea i was interested how this would affect her visa status when (IF) we decide to return to the UK.

After searching the internet I found a lot of conflicting stories about the status being revoked!

I rang the UKBA and they confirmed that:

1. After 2 years absence from the UK the visa is revoked. 

(so come back for a holiday within 2 years, even for 1 day)

2. If absence is longer than 2 years you need to apply as a returning resident. 
Which will be easier if you have strong family ties here.

The process varies depending on which country you are returning from.

The UKBA says:

You may return to the UK as a resident if:

• you were settled in the UK when you last left; and
• you have been away for 2 years or less; and
• you are returning to live here permanently; and
• you were not given public funds to pay the costs of leaving the UK.

THERE ARE SOME HORROR STORIES ABOUT VISA REVOCATION ON THE WEB BUT YOU
CAN FIND THESE OUT YOURSELF.

some other blogs

I have been searching
for some good blogs about teaching in Korea. I will post some links
here of any that I enjoy.

The first is lovinlife1902 visit:

http://lovinlife1902.blogspot.com/

This is Angela's blog! Angela is not your usual gap year backpacker
teacher. A plus point for me in my search for a blog that is relevant.
she has advanced her career in an amazing way after one year in Korea
from hagwon to university.

I have yet to find out what her job was before she left the US. But if
it was anything other than English teacher then this gs really great
going!!! well done Angela!

advice!

m.direct.gov.uk/syndicationController?action=view&st=0&utn=9f885d4bbcd648819652201112020703¶m=DG_4000018

some advice... can't help thinking that the content is a bit light!

WhAt'S nExT?

Even though it has only been 2 years since I went through the process of selling a property...  I am a bit confused as to what is happening!! 


So I put it on the market... F  i  n  a  l  l  y  someone came to view it and liked it as much as I do.
they made an offer
I REJECTED IT
They increased
I REJECTED
They increased
I ACCEPTED
...
THEN
...


Er....  Hello Hello!


This is where we have stopped - i know its only been a couple of days but shouldn't there be a letter, or a form... or something.... I rang the agency.. which incidentally is the same agency we bought the house from 
2 years ago and the Same GUY... ADAM...  I joked to him he must  be pleased at getting .. Y E T another bite of the cherry!!!!


Everything seems to be in order so we are just waiting...  I need some time... anyway...

Update!

Wow some great news!
After a bit of too-ing and fro-ing (no idea how to spell that!!!) we
seem to have finally found a buyer for our UK property and i just may
have (fingers crossed) made a profit on a property in a plummeting
market!
I hope to be able to confirm this tomorrow with the agent but we have
in principle accepted an offer on the house.
Started looking at what we can afford in Seoul and defined our
requirements and location for an apartment.
Hopefully soon i can publish this blog to my friends and family and
get into the habit of some more regular updates. I know also that i
need to brush up on my writing style and pace to keep it interesting
for you guys. My main aim for this blog has always been to bring you
with me on this journey to share my lows and highs.... Preparing for
lift off!
--
Sent from my mobile device

Getting fit.

Still nothing happening with the house sale/move yet so the "Seoul Ambition" is still a way off.  But we have just returned from a great week in North Wales, what a beautiful country. So, I have decided that I will blog my fitness/weight loss progress here to aid my motivation.

Tonight I am going to start with the belly blaster exercises and tomorrow I plan to walk to work and RUN home from work!

Stage 1 some light reading... How to run! Will probably be following the rather wimpy sounding Run/Walk method.  This explained my painful shins whenever I try to run... apparently I need to keep my foot flat and not land on my toes.  Hopefully I will survive it.

Update: Reality Dawns

I am still here, here in the UK and here on Seoul Ambition.

What with the recent riots and the uncertainty of international markets there has been a lot of doom and gloom about and unfortunately I have yet to generate any interest in my property. The price is now at £169,990 to hopefully get it appearing in more search results.

On a more positive note, we are off to North Wales soon for a well earned break!

I still want the blog to remain fairly secret and it is still unpublicised and therefore still has no followers, even among the intended audience (my friends and family),  The reason for this is that in this socially connected world the Six degrees of separation I believe has been reduced to one or  two degrees and I still don't want my employer to know my plans, yet.  I am blogging (to myself) less frequently than I intended.   But the anticipation is there, when things start moving, when I start moving.  An usual story of British Teen undergoing tongue operation to better pronounce Korean left me feeling even more ashamed than usual about my poor Korean, especially upon hearing she had been studying for 2 years and is nearly fluent. Oh the shame!

The waiting is, as I have said getting to me now, especially with selling the house and the move to korea, but also (less importantly) I am waiting with this blog also.  The plan I have for it is to Blog during the moving an planning stages, where hopefully the experiences and information I gain will be of use to other people in similar situations. The blog will, hopefully, then develop into an account of my time spent in Korea.  At this stage there is also a possibility or extending the blog to include a personal homepage.

3 bedroom semi detached house in Peterborough £172,995

I have dropped the price of the house and it is now being marketed by several agents... Estate agents really annoy me.  They appear to be completely lacking in any natural ability to sell anything and really on chance that someone will enter their establishment enquiring about a property they may have on their books if they can be bothered to look for it.  However, if it is not on the top of their pile of marketed properties then  the chance may just pass them by.  And in the event they do this small amount of effort that want what amounts to 2% of the value of the house.  2% !!!! - chancer's... I intend to make them work for it too!

Floor plan looks ok - come on who wants to buy???...  3 Bedroom Semi detached House, Peterborough £172,995