Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Freaka]

Hi everyone, I'm new to these forums and I had a few questions on how to go about obtaining the F4 Visa. I'm a 31-year old female Korean American who was born in the U.S. to parents of Korean descent (I suppose this makes me a "gyopo?"), and I currently reside in Los Angeles. My parents immigrated to the States in the early Seventies and became U.S. citizens about 8 years ago - at that time, I believe they also renounced their Korean citizenship because according to my mother, they would not have been granted U.S. citizenship without having renounced their Korean citizenship. Is this true? (My mother's great, but she's not always a stickler for details.)

Currently, my plan is to get on a plane on July 29th and travel to Seoul to teach English for a year, possibly even two years. I have relatives who live in Seoul who I will be staying with. I plan on doing some private tutoring as well as working with a broker who will send me out on jobs to teach employee training classes at some of the local businesses. Now, here are my questions:

1) Will it be easier and/or faster to obtain my F4 here in LA, or should I wait until I arrive in Seoul? If I were to obtain my F4 before leaving, would I go to the Korean Embassy here in LA to have them process the paperwork?

2) What paperwork will they require? So far, I was able to come up with this list based on the posts from these forums:

my U.S. passport
2 copies of my passport
2 passport photos
2 copies of my family registry - How would I go about obtaining this? Is this what is called a "hojok?"
my parents' Immigration certificate
my parents' Naturalization certificate - Is this the same thing as the above certificate? (please excuse my ignorance)
my parents' U.S. passports
my parents' old Korean passports

3) How quickly will I receive my F4 after my application and paperwork have been submitted? Since I'm leaving in less than two months, should I be concerned about time restraints or is this plenty of time to get everything in order and receive my F4 before I leave the country?

4) And last but not least, is there any reason why a gyopo such as myself would be denied an F4 visa?

Thank you!

[Yaya]

[plzbnyce]

[quote="ghostshadow"]So does anyone know what you need to renew the F4 visa after the 2 years?[/quote]

Hi there *^^* I'm a newbee "post-er" on this Daves Esl Cafe thing, though I'm not quite so new at trolling the site. hahhaa Anyway, here goes:

It's true that you can *renew* the F4 for another 2 years! And it's super swift! You can get it renewed in one day, and you don't need all of those crazy materials you scrambled to get in order to get the F4 in the first place. (Shew!)

Location: Immigration Office at the infamous Omokgyo Station on the Purple Line

You do NOT need:
-your passport
-passport photos, perhaps
-hojok (of course, you'll want to have a copy anyway, as a historical family record for yourself~ something all gyopos in korea should have! tsk.)

What you DO need:
-you may replace your photo (which in case, one would have to take some time to get some passport photos..keke)
-your current F4
-those silly stamps (30,000 won worth)
-the "Renewal/Report Lost F4 form"; and a permanent address in Korea listed on this form (therefore, one must have someone living in Korea for this visa, it seems)

BUT there might be some slight confusion when you fill out the form that's in all Korean as to whether you're reporting your F4 visa as "lost" or being "renewed". See, the thing is, my Korean isn't *so* great, though I can get by. And at the office, of course there are a few forms to fill out with the F4. *If you are renewing the visa, or just reporting it lost and therefore you need a new one, it's all on the same form, but the person behind the counter should clarify that for you, and nicely, I should hope! Like I listed above, it costs 30,000 won to renew, and you don't even have to give them a new photo, if you don't want to. And, in fact, they pretty much just give you the same ARC back, but with the *new* 2 year time period extension on the back of the card! Woohoo! I got my renewed! =D Me so happy~

[Yaya]

I think Freaka is getting the F-4 for the first time, so my post is more relevant to her case.

[gyopogirlfromtexas]

If I were you, I'd get it before I leave, just so I don't have to worry about them not wanting to let me fly to Korea. You're taking a 50/50 chance. They might check it or not.

Since the airline pays a fine to fly you one way with a tourist's visa and have to bring you back on the first flight back to the states, I would think they would check it. You're supposed to have a roundtrip or onward ticket. I don't think you want to be forced to buy a roundtrip just for that.

It took them 3 days to do the f4 for me. You can apply to any of the Korean consulates in the U.S. I think Los Angeles takes the longest, NY takes 1 day, and Houston takes 3 days.

Just because your parents have US citizenship doesn't really mean they already officially denounced it. I was naturalized, but to my surprise, the Koreans still considered me a citizen, so I had to fill out this form saying I don't want to be Korean, although I got my US citizenship in the 80's. I found out by looking at the hojuk, it didn't say jaejuk in parenthesis next to my name like my brothers.

[kyoponomad]

I let my F-4 expire a month ago when I was in America. I returned to Korea with a one-way ticket and re-entered with no problem on a tourist visa. But they took my old F-4 card at immigration. Do I have to submit the original forms all over again? Also, how do you get an updated hojuk, especially for an overseas adopted? 2 years ago, the clerk sent me across the street to get a hojuk for 1. But I can't remember how exactly I got it. This year, I also have my own housing but no hagwon. Will this effect my chances?

[gyopogirlfromtexas]

I'm arriving in Korea soon and I got the f4 visa from the Houston Korean consulate(it's just something they stuck in my passport taking up one page), but they told me I have to report myself to immigration to do a few more things.

Well, I know I have to go to immigration. I don't know what for, because they were using all these Korean words. So, I guess it's like I did half of the process in the states, and I have to complete it in Korea? I will be working soon, so is it a problem?

[little L]

[quote="zealotnyc"]

[gyopogirlfromtexas]

[quote="little L"]

[NYCMD]

does anybody know how much is the fine if you apply for an F4 Visa past your allowed initial 1-month stay??

[little L]

[quote="gyopogirlfromtexas"]

[Yaya]

[quote="gyopogirlfromtexas"]

[little L]

[quote="Yaya"]

[Yaya]

Proof positive that Texas has one of the three lowest, if not THE lowest, high school graduation rates in the United States.

[arpeggi]

My parents never officially renounced when they became U.S. citizens (early-1980s) so I need for them to fill out a form which has them renounce their Korean citizenship before I can proceed forth w/ my F4.

My question: does their renouncing have any substantive legal effect on them or is this just procedural? (correct me if i'm wrong, but Korea doesn't recognize dual citizenships; thus my parents are solely U.S. citizens).