Changing Employers, documentation

So I am changing employers. I am an NET teacher and I work for a company that I wont name but the initials AEW. It's a very basic tutoring center kind of job. I am changing employers and my new employer sent me a list of documents I will need including an SCRC (Sexual Conviction Record Check) record. Before I arrived in January I asked my current employer (AEW) if I would be needing a background check for my work visa as it is required for Korea and Budapest, the other two places I have taught. My agent said no. Also in my contract it says I need to give one month notice and pay $10,000 hkd to receive my employee release letter so I can transfer my visa to another employer, BUT that was not listed as a required document by new employer. I find my current company to be quite shady so I am worried that something strange is going on if I have been working in the country on a work visa for several months and now I need a SCRC to start a new job. Is that really a requirement? If so, my current employer has some explaining to do. And if they lied about that, did they also lie about the employment release letter being necessary?

An employment release letter is required. Without that your new employer can not apply for a working visa. However, the Immigration Department usually accepts other documents that provides similar content as the release letter is simply a confirmation that your end your employment relationship. There is no specific form required.

Just write a letter to your current employer telling them you want to quite and your last working day will be x. Ask them to sign or chop the document to confirm they received the notice.

I submitted once a visa application where I only had such a document and the visa got approved.

With the 10k... I am not so sure. No employer can force you to pay that amount for an release letter. That is silly and they count on silly people who pay that... They may want the fee back they paid for an consultant who applied for your visa so they basically ask you to compensate. But if the contract specifically ask for the 10k for issuing the release letter I would stick to the document I mentioned above and attache the paragraph of your contract to show the immigration / new employer why you can not provide a release letter.

Regarding the SCRC I assume that is something specific from your new employer due to recent cases mentioned in the media. Schools who ask for that seems to be more trustworthy than those schools who hire everybody without checking their background.