What Drives Koreans To Immigrate?
Often we, the practitioners of U.S. immigration law, do not try to delve too deeply into our clients' personal reasons for wanting to immigrate or obtain particular visas. There are various reasons for this, such as not having sufficient time or trying quickly to get to the pertinent facts, or not being fluent in the clients' own languages (of course, I have advantage with Korean clients in this aspect since I speak fluent Korean), but I found from having given immigration-related consultations to over several thousands Korean clients, I am certain that listening carefully to clients explain why they wish to immigrate or obtain particular visas allows me to provide more tailored and productive consultations and legal services. In fact, I start most consultations with one question: "Why do you wish to immigrate or obtain a particular visa?" Starting consultations with this question allows me to more accurately point out certain fallacies or misconceptions they have about particular visas and the processes involved in obtaining such visas. In addition, asking this question at the beginning gives the clients an impression that I care about them as human beings and also gives them an opportunity to eagerly reveal their own, particular personal reasons to want to immigrate or obtain particular visas. [1] Each national of each country has her own unique reason(s), but I would like to generalize here and list and discuss what I believe are the top reasons why Koreans wish to immigrate.
1. Educational reasons of their children. It's extremely competitive in Korea to get into good colleges. The process of getting into good colleges is so competitive in Korea that once they get into good colleges, they do not study too much. The main goal of college students in Korea is not so much to learn and get a degree but just get a degree. As a result, the students do not demand that their professors be good professors - which makes being professors at Korean universities very non-pressuring job. Most Korean parents, having gone through this same educational system themselves, do realize that this system is wrong and not conducive to learning. Also, most Korean parents spend extremely high portions of their monthly incomes in what they perceive as helping their children do well on the national college entrance examinations [2] that immigrating to the U.S. or particularly to Canada is actually a cheaper way to educate their children. In other words, because of relatively high educational expenses for their children, the parents end up actually saving money by immigrating. In certain situations, the parents know already that their children are not so academically gifted to get into good colleges in Korea, so that they feel their children would not do well in Korea anyway.
2. The parents want the kids to learn English at an earliest age as possible, because they realize that English has become de facto the international language. They believe that to speak, read and write fluent English is only possible if the children are immersed in the English educational systems early. In fact, it is not uncommon for Korean parents to pay anywhere from $300 USD to $900 USD per month to put their young children aged 4 to 7 in English classes, now taught mostly by Canadian and Korean-American English teachers. [3]
3. Young, Korean professional workers are disillusioned with the system that they perceive as awarding illegal or unethical ways of doing business. In Korea, too many times, it's not people with the best abilities who rise to the top of the ladder. Rather, the rise to the top has more to do with whether you graduated from certain schools or family connections you possess. A case in point is a definite tendency for the owners of Korean conglomerate companies to want to leave their siblings in control of the companies, even though in some or most cases, the siblings are not very capable businessmen or possess leadership qualities. To the young, Korean professionals, this creates a justifiable impression that connection, rather than the hard work, is the key to advancing up the organizational ladder.
4. Rich people want to diversify their assets. South Korea still has both political and economic exposures from the ever-threatening North Korea, and they do not want to leave all their financial eggs in one basket. By immigrating to other Western countries, where the political and economic climates are more stable, they can also legally take out some of their assets abroad and protect themselves in this potentially nasty political and economic scenario.
5. Korea's economy is still very bad for average people. For all the economic achievements, it's important to remember that the average GNP is approximately $10,000 USD per annum, and there are not many jobs available. Korea must rank as one of top countries where people invest so much in their education and the return on their educational investment is so low. There are many people pursuing their Ph.D. programs just to use the time to get decent jobs, and the situation is not likely to improve. In short, there are too many overqualified people and not enough jobs. These people need to find jobs - even if it means immigrating abroad. In fact, I have concluded that one way for South Korea to dramatically improve its economy and create jobs is to make English a mandatory language starting with the first grade at elementary school. That way, Koreans will have highly educated English speaking work force that will be very attractive to foreign employers. Also, being able to converse in English will help them immigrate more easily. As an example, there are many qualified Korean nurses and teacher who wish to immigrate to Western countries, but their English level is too poor. As a result, Filipinos, due to their better English speaking abilities, are more attractive to immigration recruiters for nurse and teacher positions.
In conclusion, the better immigration practitioners understand the motives that drive nationals from a particular country to immigrate, the better they can tailor their legal services and become a more effective marketer of their legal services.
[1] Actually, I start consultations with this question because I am just plain sick of talking too much and just want to listen and think of some intelligent comments.
[2]In fact, it is not uncommon for Korean parents to spend 40% of their monthly income on various extracurricular study classes that help them score high on national college entrance examinations.
[3] This fact gives said author a definite sense of financial security, knowing that I can possibly make more money teaching English to rich Korean kids than practicing law, if it were not for the vague sense of guilt at the hypocrisy of a person who hated to study trying to inspire kids to study hard.
About The Author
Young H. Noh is an expat U.S. attorney working and residing in Korea. He is co-author of the Chapter on American Embassy in Seoul in Visa Processing Guide published annually by AILA. Young Noh represents Korean clients with their immigration and visa cases and also works with Korean-licensed attorneys to represent non-Korean clients with business and litigation cases involving Korean law. Mr. Noh can be reached at: webattorney@yahoo.com.
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ILW.COM.
Copyright © 1999-2002 American Immigration LLC, ILW.COM
|
Add to del.icio.us