Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dani81]

This is a question about immigration. Does anyone have any experience themselves, or know of any couples who live together but only one is employed as a teacher?
I'm planning to do this, where I will be teaching, and the boyfriend will not. He will not be employed by a Korean business but will be working for his current American employer remotely. He will not be staying with me my entire year in Korea, but will be staying longer than 90 days, which is the allotted time given for the visa waiver agreement with the U.S. I have researched some Korean immigration requirements and I know he would be able to apply for a tempory visitor visa, then apply for extension when that time is up, but I really can't find any concrete information beyond this. There may be other options to staying legal in Korea as a visitor, but I don't know about them. Before I did deeper, I wanted to see if anyone has first hand experience with a similar situation, or maybe just knows Korean immigration law as a hobby?
One important thing to add- my boyfriend was convicted of a DUI 4 years ago. He had it expunged but as far as federal records go, nothing is ever really "cleared" from your record. I know he could not qualify for a visa to teach, but I don't know if immigration would run his criminal background check just as a visitor.
thanks!

[ttompatz]

If you are not married then his ONLY option (other than to become a "student") is to do a visa run every 90 days.

He can repeat this process multiple times without issue OTHER THAN:

i) the airline check-in where he (probably) will have to show passage out of Korea (cheap ticket to Japan, Guam or the Philippines will suffice since he will need to make the visa run anyway) before they let him board the plane. (visa waiver requirement).

ii) he MAY need to justify his stay in Korea without working for an extended period of time (living with a working G/F will suffice).

The DUI is a non issue for people on a tourist stamp.

The "working holiday visa is not an option for Americans in case someone happens to suggest it.

.

[Dani81]

Darn. I was hoping he wouldn't have to leave the country but it's nice to know he doesn't have to go his home country and then return. For some silly reason I was thinking that had to happen but I guess you do just have to show you left Korea to come back in as a tourist.
thanks for your help!!

[wings]

My Husband and I lived in Korea for a year and a half, before we got married, in a situation similar to yours. He had to leave the country every 3 months. I had a good job with decent vacation, so usually we would go for a 5 or 6 day trip to nearby countries. It took a chunk out of our savings, but now that there are budget airlines it wouldn't be as expensive. The only problem we had was with immigration; any time he would leave and come back alone he would be detained at immigration and questioned (they assumed that he was working illegally). The last time he came back (before we got married and he got a visa) they detained him for a long time, wrote something in Korean in his passport and told him it was the last time he could come into the country.

[Paddycakes]

You can get dirt cheap flights to Clark, PI from Incheon.

Clark is only 20 minutes away from Angeles City, the cultural capital of Asia.

Just watch your BF closely though... he might try to get some Boom-Boom on the side.

[Dani81]

thanks for sharing your experience! This is exactly what I was hoping to hear!
I figure we can go on a mini vacation so that I can be with him when he returns. He will prob be staying for only 6 months anyway, so I don't see one return being too big problem with immigration.
thanks again.