He is trying to apply a work permit at a school he’s been working at. He submitted all of his documents and a higher up informed him he may not be able to get it since his first language is Spanish. He is from Puerto Rico which makes him a US citizen and grew up speaking both Spanish and English.
I don’t know the law when it comes to these matters but it definitely seems fishy so I wanted to ask here.
They absolutely can. Same thing goes for the Quebecois in Canada.
The consensus among people on this forum is that anyone and their grandson should be able to teach English, it’s just the matter of finding the right loophole. But there’s also a reason for the law…
The procedure is based entirely on your passport–that’s how they judge what your native language is. I can’t imagine there would be a problem. If the school is actually processing the application, it wouldn’t seem that they have a problem either, so probably just speculation on the part of the employee.
What if your first/native lang is English, but you hold a Dutch, German, or French passport? I have a cousin who was born and raised, more or less, in the England, but holds Dutch citizenship. He spent the first decade of his life in England attending English schools.
I guess it depends on which school, but a long time ago, when I was in the:“Shit, I can only teach” stage of my life in Taiwan, a school didn’t even offer me an Interview because they only wanted people with AU/Canadian/USA/SA/NZ Passport. They sent me a message via email after they received my resume to tell me:“Sorry dawg, wrong passport”.
My experience here is that they people here and especially govt agencies want to check the boxes. They are looking for a reason not to approve rather than a reason to approve. They start with no then get to yes.
They have to hold a passport from a English speaking country like the USA/canada and other approved ones. It’s not literal in the sense that English must be your native language.
A passport that is good for at least six months from the entry date, from one of the following recognized English-speaking countries: Ireland, the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Don’t quote me but I think it’s ok if you have some sort of certificate in teaching in English. The passport is only for just for people with a bachelors in whatever.