I don't know the cost, sorry,   but I can say that I'm still using mine from 2010 thats been at immi for the whole time. Hopefully you can use yours. When i did it in 2010 its cost was "we'd greatly appreciate a donation of $20 to Big Brothers".

I still don't understand why we need to keep showing these documents all the time. I've been here 10 years.

Do you know what the odds are of me becoming a criminal in absentia while I'm here in Korea? It's 0.00001%. It simply isn't possible.

And guess what? Once you graduate university? You're done. Congrats, you are a graduate. Again, do you know the possibility of someone UNgraduating in absentia while in Korea? It's ZERO.

Once I prove I graduated and that I'm not a criminal, provided that I live here continuously, then it's done. Why does this need to be refreshed all the time? Why can't immigration and the national MOE have this info as two tick boxes on our file? Then, even if a new employer wants to check, we sign an A4 form that's downloaded form Hi Korea, they fax it to immigration, then immigration faxes it back?

Kevin Grabb

Uni Grad YES
Criminal NO


DONE. Why is this process necessary after all this time? I'm stil using the same notarised copy of the Uni degree and the CRC that I entered the country with, so why do they need it everytime? Make a national database and if I don't break my visa, then leave me alone. I go to SEA once in a while, how do they know I didn't rob a bank there and murder a bunch of women? If I'm a wanted criminal anywhere on Earth, I'm trackable by passport and flight records and then an extradition notice will be sent out by Interpol. I'm not going to magically become a criminal in Canada on my sixth year out of ten here having visited home twice.

MAKES NO SENSE.

Serious question: does this process actually stop people from using degrees that are... less than legitimate? It's not like your back alley notary has the means to verify every degree ever issued.

Well, if the lawyer is willing to put his name on a fake degree then I guess it could go through.  But most lawyers won't.  As for the US, their state government has to put their own stamp on it or something like that.  (Seems like a real pain from what I can tell.) 

But the point of a fake degree is that people, including lawyers and notaries， don't know that it's fake

They are suppose to check.  If they don't, it can come back on them or on you for fraud?  But I suppose you have a point there.  I doubt many fakes get through though. 

Back when I was looking into working in Korea, my alcoholic uncle notarized mine without checking.

Most probably don't.  But we didn't sign the apostle treaty or whatever it is.  So, Korea has no choice. 

The irony is they started requiring notarization because of people coming here with fake degrees and background checks, lol.

Pretty sure it's just for the show of it so that they can turn around and say they've done everything they can.

You could always start a survey.

China verifies education credentials themselves. They actually do call your university to check. They don't ask you to get them verified manually with notaries and embassies. They don't usually ask for criminal background checks to be authenticated because those come from your own government, and the Chinese embassy/consular staff can probably do a better job at identifying fakes than your back alley notary ever could.