Foreign Teacher Caught Working At School With No Work Permit.

[bismarck]

A friend of mine in process of obtaining her APRC has this problem. Here is what she has to say on the matter.

Hello everyone,

I am sending the following as a mass email to you all as many of you have been asking about what has been happening to me recently. Some of you know the details, some of you know the back story.

Here is what has been happening and the potential consequences.

On February 17th I was apprehended covering a class in a school which was not officially listed on my work visa.

A group of government inspectors including members of the Labour Affairs Bureau, Immigration Office and Police Force came to the school following an official letter of complaint they had received.

After a recorded interview at the school, which was conducted in Chinese I was requested to sign a document, written entirely in Chinese. None of the officials were willing to translate for me and when someone did try to assist they were told to stop interfering.

I later discovered that this document was an admission to having been caught illegally teaching.

I then went to the Immigration Office to give a formal statement. Again, all the questions were in Chinese, and although there was an English translator present, the friend who accompanied me often had to intervene as my responses where not being translated accurately.

No one could or would give me any time frame as to what the legal proceedings would be, who I could appeal to, who would be contacting me or when I might be asked to attend a hearing. All I was told was that I would be deported and blacklisted from teaching in Taiwan in the future.

I sought advice from many friends and agencies both in Taiwan and in England.

Today - March 23rd - I attended what might be seen as an arbitration meeting between the different agencies.

There are many difficulties in my case, as I was voluntarily working at the school for that day, receiving no pay. The school officials did not know about my presence there. (This is a very common practice in Taiwan).

Some months earlier I had visited the school to submit my CV form, as the school was advertising for new staff. One of the requirements was to possess and APRC - which is a permanent residency visa. I am currently in the process of applying for mine. I wanted the school to be aware of me as a potential future teacher once all my paperwork had been cleared. My personal details were stored on one of the office computers.

The school was experiencing a lot of difficulties with three of its staff. They had all been denied contract renewals due to poor performance and unprofessional behaviour. They were very bitter towards the school and had been seeking ways to retaliate for some time. I was unaware of this at the time.

The day I visited the office, one of them was present. Two days later, an official letter of complaint was sent containing all of my personal details to various authorities, informing them that I was being illegally employed. Again, I knew nothing of this.

In February I was requested to help supervise a class at the school as they were facing an emergency. The teacher who should have been working could not come in. I later learnt that this teacher was close friends with the three other teachers.

So the one day that I was assisting in a classroom, two and a half months after the authorities were sent this letter, I was apprehended.

Naturally there is no absolute proof (yet) that any of the above were involved, but the coincidences are overwhelming.

This, also then, is affecting whether or not I will be being deported.

Following today's meeting, the Labour Affairs Office will be filing a report to Taipei giving their recommendations. And then Taipei will make a formal decision. There is no set time frame for any of this.

All of this, as you can imagine, has been highly stressful for myself and all those who I love. I have been overwhelmed by the amount of support I have received from so many people, in so many different walks of life. I have met more politicians and legal advisers in the past week than I ever thought possible.

I would like to thank everybody who has helped me so far - I am deeply touched and very much humbled.

I would also like to warn anyone teaching in Taiwan that there are some very, very, malicious, vindictive and self-serving individuals living and working amongst us who care for no-one but themselves. I hope that you do not have the misfortune of becoming their sacrificial goats in the way that they would have me be.

So, fingers crossed - I may or may not be here in six months time.
I will keep anyone posted who wants to find out what happens next.

With much love to all of you,

Ok, I and you know she should never have signed anything. I don't want to get into that.
Basically, she was caught working at a school that wasn't listed on her ARC. A big no-no (like the kindy thing that we have argued ad neauseum, and although people here always think we can get away with it, here is an instance where someone has not).
However, in her favour, she was volunteering and didn't get paid. However, I'm thinking this won't make a difference, as you aren't allowed to volunteer either. However, I didn't want to tell her this.

Personally, I think the situation is grim and she will be fined and deported. Sad, but true. But, to those who know the law and this situation better, is there anything she can do? Is there a way out of this for this girl. She is an awesome person, and it would be a pity if she was booted from the island. She really is one of the good ones.

Any constructive advice? Is there anyone who can help her, at Eiger Law or elsewhere? Please advise.

[tomthorne]

I recall someone posting on forumosa a few years back who was caught teaching illegally and the school liked her so much that they took the flak for it. Basically said that they had misled her and sucked up a massive fine, but she didn't get deported. Unfortunately, I can't remember which poster it was other than it was a she. Your friend might want to try that line.

Not constructive but; here long enough to apply for an APRC and still making so many elementary mistakes . I hope that you let all the guys in Tainan know about this so they can pinpoint which little shit stitched her up.

[*monkey*]

Yawn. When you take out all the drama, it's just another Engrish teacher caught working illegally. I want my 2 minutes back.

[sandman]

Yawn. When you take out all the drama, it's just another Engrish teacher caught working illegally. I want my 2 minutes back.

Should of just read the red bits. That was like, 15 seconds. Wasted 15 seconds, true, but still... APRC? So she's been here long enough to know EXACTLY what she was doing when she decided to go for the cash, no? If it was a newbie I would have sympathy, or maybe empathy. But if the lady was in the process of applying for an APRC, then she MUST have known what she was doing and decided to take her chances in any case. I wouldn't have, personally, but that's just me. Me, personally , would be ALL over the idea of keeping a clean nose until the paperwork was done and dusted. Evidently, some are not of that persuasion. It IS kind of crap to have to reap the consequences, I know, but REALLY? Five years in the biz here, on the point of getting that APRC, and throwing it away for what? I sincerely hope that she got at least NT$250k for her efforts. That would help.

[monokuro]

So she's been here long enough to know EXACTLY what she was doing when she decided to go for the cash, no?

Unless I'm reading it wrongly, she wasn't going for any cash. She was simply helping out voluntarily at a school who had a small crisis..? (I guess to get some browny points so she could be employed in the future when her paperwork went through)

[Okami]

So close and to have screwed up so unnecessarily. First she worked at a job without a work permit, then she signed something.

She's gone unless that school goes all out to keep it from happening. She could get a good lawyer, but I don't even think that will work.

I don't care if she was "volunteering" as they made it illegal as well to keep people from claiming volunteering otherwise every Johnny Canuck(Chewdawg reference ) would be claiming it.

[Omniloquacious]

Poor girl, it sounds like she was very unlucky, and was caught up in something of a vortex where she simply wasn't able to protect herself as she should have (by refusing to sign the admission of guilt and so on). Since she's evidently put down deepish roots in Taiwan, has developed close and important connections here, and was on the verge of becoming a permanent resident, it will be an especially hard blow for her if she's deported.

But it does sound as if there may be a ray of hope for her. She mentioned that some politicians have become involved, which presumably means they've become involved on her side, or at least have given indication of having some sympathy for her. In that case, with appropriate intervention from them, there's quite a good chance that it could all be smoothed over and the powers concerned persuaded to exercise lenience, letting her off with no more than a small fine and/or a warning. The enforcement of laws here, as we all well know, always has some room for flexibility depending on the particular circumstances of each case, the party concerned, and the influence of the people who intervene on behalf of the party concerned.

Since Bismarck says she's a good sort and in no way deserves to have something like this happen to her, I'm well enough satisfied that it is so, and I wish her all the best for how this turns out.

[superking]

Poor girl, it sounds like she was very unlucky, and was caught up in something of a vortex where she simply wasn't able to protect herself as she should have (by refusing to sign the admission of guilt and so on). Since she's evidently put down deepish roots in Taiwan, has developed close and important connections here, and was on the verge of becoming a permanent resident, it will be an especially hard blow for her if she's deported.

But it does sound as if there may be a ray of hope for her. She mentioned that some politicians have become involved, which presumably means they've become involved on her side, or at least have given indication of having some sympathy for her. In that case, with appropriate intervention from them, there's quite a good chance that it could all be smoothed over and the powers concerned persuaded to exercise lenience, letting her off with no more than a small fine and/or a warning. The enforcement of laws here, as we all well know, always has some room for flexibility depending on the particular circumstances of each case, the party concerned, and the influence of the people who intervene on behalf of the party concerned.

Since Bismarck says she's a good sort and in no way deserves to have something like this happen to her, I'm well enough satisfied that it is so, and I wish her all the best for how this turns out.

You should get involved mate. I thought you wanted to live in a society where people don't stand idly by whilst injustices take place. You'd have saved that defenceless yoghurt, won't you do something to save this poor girl from deportation?

[Omniloquacious]

But I don't have any of the requisite guanxi to be of any use in a case like this. Even a minor local politician, such as a city councillor, would be able to do ten times more for her with a snap of his fingers than I'd be able to do with all the exertion under the sun. Since she apparently has at least one such person taking an interest in the case, it's a highly positive sign for her, and she needs me about as much as she needs a tattoo of Mao Zedong on her left butt cheek.

[ironlady]

Sadly, I think the foreign community does need to do something about the interpreting situation when these things happen. The CLA can sometimes be a very nice and helpful bunch (and other times not!), but the one thing I've seen consistently is that their translation sucks. Not surprising, since the people who end up doing it are just their staff who "are good at English" (read that as you wish). We had a similar experience when I accompanied Housecat to labor-related hearings in Kaohsiung a year or two ago.

I hope she has a good outcome. It's heartbreaking to have this happen when you're on the verge of permanent residency. I hope this will serve as a warning to others. People laugh at some of us who eternally caution against doing anything that might be seen as "illegal", but it can come back and bite you in the rear for causes that have nothing to do with you (disgruntled people, angry neighbors, whatever.)