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The Good the bad and the ugly

Greetings ! Having spent the past two months in and around Bogota I have enjoyed the friendly Colombian people, the amazing food and the vibrant culture. I suspect there are very few places in the world where a westerner can live like a King on the reasonable prices. It is certainly a country that is getting a terrible reputation through western media.

The plan was to accept a English teacher position in the Coffee Region near Manizales. After some research, the DAS has changed the rules and a Education degree is now required for a work permit. No longer will a Bachelor Degree and TESL Certificate do the trick. Even if I had the qualifications the pay is unacceptable at about 800000 Colombianos a month. Crazy ! Appartently some IRA members got into the country as english teachers and since then, the controls have been tightened up. I am sure there is lots of work teaching English here in Colombia...from what I have seen the quality of instruction needs alot of work ! The main problem is a work visa. Schools insist that you pay the 205 USD to get the visa and will pay you back at the end of the contract. Call me skeptical, but here in Latin America it is likely that you will never see this. The same goes for airfare support back to your home country. It´s a bit of a nightmare !

I will travel back to my home in North America in the next few weeks with warm memories of this place. Would I visit again..for sure in a heartbeat. If it is to teach english, I would recommend that your efforts be focused elsewhere !

All the best in 2005

Cheers
Glacierdaz

By glacierdaz on Jan 4, 2005, 14:38 in Friendly Talkzone.

emilyh says on Jan 4, 2005, 21:23:

Work visa Hey Glacier,

Glad you had a great time, I absolutely loved Bogota also, even though I spent most of my time in Cali, which in just over a week I'll be returning to. YAY!

Anyhow, I've just been checking out the visa requirements and I also only have a bachelor degree and the TESL cert. I actually don't have the degree because I'm coming back in a year to do honours and thus don't graduate until I get that. Therefore I was planning on getting a letter from my uni as well as my statement of results to show that I have finished. So do you think I will still have trouble with that? I also got a police check done, however nothing has been translated or apostilled yet.

From your experience what do you think? I got my info off the American Colombian embassy website, did you speak to DAS in Bogota or Manizales?

Cheers, Em

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glacierdaz says on Jan 5, 2005, 06:53:

Work Permit Emily

From what I understood from the DAS in Bogota you need a teaching certification with specialization in Languages. I have been dealing with their offices in Bogota. Word on the street is that offices in different parts of the country may be able to bend the rules a bit, but that is just a rumor. When doing your Police Report make sure you get fingerprints from your home country...they will not accept anything else. Also be sure to get all your papers certified and authenticated before leaving your home country. I have all my papers here however they were not certified before leaving Canada, so i am pretty much stuck. I may try to teach in Asia for awhile for some experience and money and then return here later.

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toddanderson says on Jan 7, 2005, 09:17:

Get a fake Diploma and transcripts Just buy a fake Diploma and transcripts from the internet
buy a embossing stamp from the internet or ebay

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glacierdaz says on Jan 18, 2005, 14:31:

Not a bad thought I will do the responsible thing and return to North America. I will try to teach in Asia as the dinero is much much better. I certainly will return to Colombia in the future. It is a great place !

Daz

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