Needed documents to apply from Canada and where to get them .

   As I stated in my last post, this application process is expensive. Here's a brief list of what documents I needed to get to apply to teach in South Korea, and the cost in Canadian dollars:

Completed Application Form

$0.00

   This cost $0 to print... but it took a while to fill out. Mostly because of the 3 part essay question and then mock lesson plan at the end. 

Apostilled Copy of a Bachelor's Degree

$19.80 total

   This is a bit tricky for Canadians. We didn't sign on to the Hague Convention for Apostilles or whatever, so we don't have apostilles in Canada. "But Christine, what do I do?" you may ask. The answer is easy, but it has a few steps. In Canada, we need to get the copy of our Bachelor's Degree notarised by a notary public and then a simple Google search for your area should yield a few results. In Ottawa I got my documents notarised by Valu Notary. They were quite prompt in answering my emails and were great value for the price. I brought the original and the copy with me to my appointment. It only costed me $15.00 to notarise. Then I went to the Korean Embassy in Ottawa to get it further notarised by the Consular Office. This cost $4.80 and I had to come back to pick up the documents in about 3 days. 

   Note: I was able to take a bus to my consulate office. If you are too far from your office (i.e. you live in Alberta, so your nearest consular office is in Vancouver), you'll have to mail everything in with the money and a pre-paid express envelope. This will take a bit longer.

Apostilled National Level Criminal Background Check (CRC)

$79.80 total 

   After much research and confusion, I found out that I can't just go to the Ottawa Police Service for this. I needed an RCMP CRC. In Ottawa, this is only done through third party entities. I used Commissionaires for this service. You may or may not need an appointment for this. I went to their office downtown Ottawa, and brought 2 pieces of ID.  I told the clerk that I was using the background check to obtain a visa and paid $75.00 for them to run the background check. Three days later I received my CRC in the mail directly from the RCMP office in Ottawa. I then took it to the Korean Embassy at the same time as my Bachelor's Degree, and paid another $4.80.

2 Original Sealed Transcripts

$0.00

   I went to Carleton University, and they don't charge you for official transcripts. I ordered 5 or 6 copies, and got them to mail it to my house. EPIK requires that you send two sealed official transcripts. I recommend looking into if you have to pay to get transcripts from your university.

2 Letters of Recommendation (LoR)

$0.00

   For this one, you obviously don't have to pay. However, you have to suck up to some of your university professors to get them to write a favourable letter. I asked two of my university professors that I had multiple classes with each. I also got an additional LoR from my current work place, so I sent EPIK 3 LoRs in total. Better to be safe than sorry! 

Photocopy of TESOL/TEFL/CELTA Certificate

$1000.00

   So obviously the photocopy of my certification didn't cost anything. The certificate itself however cost me $1000 to complete. You don't need to get this notarised, just send in the copy and make sure to bring the original document with you to South Korea. 

6 Passport Size Photos (3.5cm x 4.5cm)

$21.00

   I went to Costco for these pictures. It costs about $7 for a set of two. Costco is probably the cheapest place for passport photos that I could find. However, if you don't have a membership, you can't get photos there. I recommend going with friends or family that have a membership card so you can take advantage of the prices. other studios seem to charge double this amount, so it's worth saving the money. 

   Also, request them to be 3.5cm x 4.5cm. Most of the time Canadian passport places will give you 5.5cm x 7.5cm photos, which isn't what you want. Be specific!