Korean Job Discussion Forums

[shawner88]

Seems especially odd since youre supposed to get your visa before you even come to Korea and that you have to stay exactly one year to be legally eligible for severence pay. That means it's impossible, since you'd be coming at least a few days after the visa was issued.

[blujeanguy]

The date on your ARC is the final date you're allowed to be in Korea.

[Catt]

If you want to clarify all this confusion check www.g4f.go.kr it is the immigration website for foreigners. You can in fact extend your visa for travel purposes on this site too without having to go to the immigration office. They law states that you must be out within 24 hours. Don't believe anything else. I know a few people who believed this whole 2 weeks grace period garbage, one of which is teaching in Japan now, because he is banned from teaching here for visa violations. It is crap. There is no 2 week grace period. Your visa is from one year from the day you got off that plane and stepped onto Korean soil, not from the day you got it issued at the embassy. If you look at that paper in you passport it gives you three months to enter Korea before it expires. Then when your passport is stamped there is a date on the stamp and it is one year from that date that your visa expires. I got a letter from Immmigration a few weeks ago, and if you read that letter it tells you that you need to make arrangements for your flight or to extend your visa before that date. It also had that website on it, so I went there, and extended my visa in a matter of an hour and am done.

[megz]

i'm sorry if this is clearly posted somewhere...i can't seem to find it. i saw lots of posts about the 24 hour period to leave the country....but my school is telling me i have to go to immigration to extend my visa from february 29th (last day of contract) to march 1st (the day i leave). i don't want to pay a fine, and i don't want to make an unnecessary trip to immigration either! can somebody link me to exactly where it says 24 hours on an official korean website? please???

thanks

m

[ttompatz]

[Lola]

Because I arrived in Korea a month before my contract actually started, my ARC expired about a month before I was due to leave.

I was told by coworkers and by people on this board that whatever the date on my ARC, it actually expired the same day my contract ended.

This information made me uneasy, so I went to immigration anyway and got an extension. I didn't have a plane ticket home yet but I showed them my contract with its expiry date and they were fine with that. The extension cost 30,000 won. I left the Incheon Airport with no problems.

I spent about half an hour at the immigration office getting my extension, and I really think that it's worth it to avoid hassles at the airport.

A question out of curiosity: if you do overstay your visa, does that bar you from getting a new one later?

[ttompatz]

[bettyspaghetti]

I was under the impression that with the new E-2 restrictions an interview with the consulate in your home country was necessary regardless. My job starts June 1st, I sent all my paperwork March 31st and I have yet to receive my visa number. Given that there is no consulate here in Denver, I would have to fly to San Francisco. I hope they are relaxing on this detail.

[ttompatz]

[bettyspaghetti]

That is great news. Well, not that I must interview- but that I might be able to do it via webcam-which I have.

[pear_thumb]

I wanted to clarify something because a persual of the immigration website and a call to the immigration office didn't clarify for me...and only served to cause me panic.

As stated above in this thread, is it correct that your visa expires not from the date issued, but from the date of entry? I've searched the gov. website, but am having trouble finding something stating this specific fact. What I have found seems to indicate to me that the "expiry date" on the visa itself, not the stamp, is the date it goes null and void.

Here's my info:

American Citizen
E-2 Visa Expires: July 17th (per the date on the paper visa, not the 8/13 entry stamp)
Public School Contract Ends: August 12th
ARC Card Expires: August 13th
Departure Date from Korea: August 15th (Plane tickets already purchased back when I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that a few weeks extension was simple)

When I called immigration to ask about getting an extension and whether I qualified for the free under 30-day "travel and other business" extension, they said no since I will be working from July 17th-August 12th. I was told I need to apply for the regular extension of stay.

The only (major!) problem is that I came to Korea prior to the new visa regulations (health check, criminal check). I'm being told that I need to get a criminal check and full health check even though I will only be in the country less than a month before I depart. To me, this seem counter-intuitive and will require not only forking over of funds, but a serious effort of time as I live outside of Seoul. I'm especially annoyed because I'm leaving the country for sure in a few months--at this point, these checks seem a little too late!

Since the visa rules changed not too long ago, I'm sure other people have been in my position. I'm wondering what others have done or if I'm not understanding this issue correctly...and could qualify for the easier under 30-day extension? Someone in this thread seems to have done it quite easily...maybe the immigration person I spoke to was wrong/didn't understand my issue?

Thanks.

[ttompatz]

Your ARC expires on the 13th. You MAY work until that time.

You NEED an extension from the 13th to the 15th.
IT is free. Show your ticket, ARC and passport to get the extension.
There is no paperwork required other than filling in the application form.

.

[pear_thumb]

This is the answer I was seriously hoping to hear. Thank you.

[glimmer]

[broken76]

Listen to Guest on this one. If you plan on staying longer than what is stated on your Visa/ARC get an extension. Don't listen to what immigration officers say since they can be wrong. Even if you could prove this is what you were told the rules are still the rules.
For teachers that came into Korea before the change in Visa laws (background, health checks) in order to get an extension you have to submit both a background and health check even when it is for extending your Visa to fulfill the time left on your contract.