Advice Needed: Teaching/filipina Gf/immigration

[caulfield2]

I am finishing one year of teaching at a university here in Thailand...but really would like to have my g/f (Filipina) with me. And, of course, she doesn't like me being in Thailand all by myself, lol. But I have to select a country where she could reasonably work as a teacher as well, or she would be bored to death.

She's 23, but has 3+ years of ESL teaching experience (certification, etc.) in the Philippines, mostly with South Korean and Japanese students. Are there any OTHER countries besides Thailand where she would be able to work?

B4 someone asks why I just don't marry her, it's because I am currently separated (in June it will be four years) from my Russian wife, who is back in the US. She's still waiting on her Adjustment of Status that we are applied for when we were still together. The government has asked me to withdraw my petition, but then she would have to go back to Russia, wait at least one year to come back to the US, and there's no guarantee her current boyfriend would be able to successfully bring her back to the States, in which case I'd be on the hook for her car (payments), credit cards and student loans. So if we get divorced first, that will give the government the final reason to expel her, even though we made a "good faith" effort at our marriage. (Half of this is immigration related, the other half just the best country to live and work in, based on the situation...complicated).

I'm the only child (39) and my mom (almost 80 years old) is back in the US...and my father passed away in 1999. (No, my mom can't come to live with us...she doesn't even have a passport, she MIGHT come to VISIT if I had a child overseas!!!). She's still living in the house I grew up in, gets around well enough to walk her dog twice a day in the cold Iowa winter, drives a new Ford Focus and goes to church and grocery shopping once a week at least.

So I'm trying to find 1) the best country that both of us can live in together without being married or "pretending" to be married for that country's immigration purposes, or 2) the best country to work in as a teacher just to make money with the goal of doing a K-3 visa to bring her to the US, or 3) going back to Philippines where I was working b4 but the pay sucks and a decent lifestyle is not sustainable (even with her working as a teacher) unless you're at an international school that pays top salary.

I've thought about Singapore, China/Taiwan, South Korea (not sure I could handle the food and culture there) or Japan. However, from what I've heard, it would be really difficult to bring her with me or for her to stay there for more than a month as a visitor/tourist. Of course, the money would be better than in Thailand, but then we wouldn't be together and would only be able to see each other every 3-4 months.

Are there any countries that you can think of that pay better than Thailand/Philippines but have "easier" immigration policies for girlfriends or fiances...hopefully for her to work, but maybe to stay with me if I was earning a good enough salary to support two people (maybe she would have a baby, if this divorce/immigration situation with my ex can get settled). I don't like the idea of her making "visa runs" every month or so by herself.

Any advice/ideas/hints/thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I've worked in China, and my experience has been that it's VERY difficult for NON-native speakers (it's all about a white face, as long as you can stand up and put a sentence together and are American/British/Canadian, etc.) of English to get a job there, and Filipinas that are able to get a job are paid less and treated with less respect.

Edited February 7, 2009 by caulfield2