If you are ESL teaching and you current school insists that you give notice based on contractual agreement, but they won’t give you a letter of release or a reference then there is no need to stay if you have a new job lined up. While it is true that if you don't have a letter of release then you need to be with the school at immigration to cancel your own visa, the school must cancel it on their own if you don't show up for work.
So here is what you need to do to get the letter of release. First, tell them you won’t stay unless they give you one. If that doesn’t work then don’t show up the next day and call them again to ask one more time. There are two outcomes that could happen if you decide to try this method. The first will be the ideal outcome and the second is the unfavorable, but still workable outcome. Bear in mind, schools will call your bluff if you do not act. This means most likely even if you say you won’t return, they might think you are bluffing.
The best outcome is for you get the letter of release. Why will they give this to you? Because it takes time to find a new teacher and when they do find someone suitable to replace you it takes 2 to 4 weeks to reprocess your old visa. Moreover schools are allotted only a certain number of visas and they will need to start the cancelation process immediately in order to use your allotted visa for a new teacher. Unless they have the resources to cover all your old teaching hours, they will have no other option than to give you this letter. Otherwise they will owe big money to their customers for not having a foreign teacher.
The worst case scenario is that your employer still does not agree to give you the letter of release after you decide not to return to work. Here your employer will be required to cancel your visa and you will be required to do a visa run. You will be given a 30 day window from the day your old job cancels the visa to either find a new job or leave the country. You will not be blacklisted, but rather the Korean government will give you a 30 day window. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I suggest having a job lined up because it will take this new job two weeks to process a visa number before you can go to Japan. Additionally, without the letter of release you won’t need a new criminal check or health check from the hospital. But you must not leave the country until your new visa confirmation number is processed at your new school.
I have tried this method before. I changed from a private to a public school and my private school initially refused my letter of release. So I didn’t show up the next day, called them and told them I would not come back unless they gave one to me. This method can seem kind of harsh, but it works. They gave me the letter of release, provided I would work another month until they could find a replacement. This method has also worked for other teachers I know. Don’t show up for a day; let them feel the heat and they will write out the letter for you provided you come back until they find a replacement.
