Visa requirements vary from country to country and often one of the basic requirements to getting a working visa is having a college degree, notes Sharon Couzens de Hinojosa in her latest monthly column.
Other than fulfilling visa requirements, degrees often give you the extra push to get a better job, salary or position. That’s not to say that if you don’t have a degree, you can’t teach English.
Where can I work?
There are countries out there that don’t require a degree to get a visa (such as Cambodia, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and Russia). Some of these countries will allow you to get a work visa even if you don’t have a degree, others will put you on a different visa, such as a cultural exchange visa. Often you will have to prove that you have a couple years of work experience to get the visa. Also, in general, areas like Latin America and South East Asia (but not Thailand or Vietnam) are pretty flexible on the degree issue.
One thing has to be said about Asia in general, the government is now making it much harder for foreigners without a degree to get work and also cracking down on (deporting/fining/jailing) illegal workers when they catch them.
Your options
You might also want to consider looking at Working Holiday Visa Schemes. Your best bet is to narrow down your country choice and start doing a bit of research. If a degree isn’t required for the country that you want to teach in, you should still try to get some training before you go. First you’ll have to decide whether to study at home or abroad. There are plenty of TEFL courses out there. The one you choose depends on many factors.
Types of people
People without degree usually fall into two categories, younger teachers and more mature teachers. The more mature teachers often have an easier out. If you can claim life experience, such as 10 or 15 years in a certain field, government officials might be willing to let bend the rules so that you can teach English. However, if you’re fresh out of high school or have recently left college without finishing, you’ll find that you’ll have fewer options. You’ll have to find countries that don’t require degree or those where you can casually work on a tourist visa.
If you’re only planning on teaching English for a couple of years or if you’re planning on living in country with a low cost of living for the rest of your career, then you might not need a degree.
That being said, if you plan to make teaching English your career and would like to be able to save for retirement, sooner or later, you will probably need a higher qualification. Distance study and courses for mature students are making it easier for everyone to get a college education. Here are some distance options. You could also go through a community college for two years, then transfer.
Sharon’s websites
www.tefltips.blogspot.com
www.theultimateperulist.blogspot.com
www.thelajoblist.blogspot.com
[...] As this blogger points out, a TEFL certification will help in areas like getting a work visa and landing the position and country you desire. Basically, it can’t hurt. [...]