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How to Get an F-4 Visa
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Alpha



Joined: 24 Jul 2004

PostPosted: Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:24 am    Post subject: How to Get an F-4 Visa Reply with quote

I decided to write this because there seems to be some confusion as to how to go about getting an F-4 Visa, and not to mention because I ran around like a chicken without a head trying to get an F-4 Visa.

A. First, you need to obtain these documents, and must be at least 22 years old (American age) in order to apply for the F-4 Visa.

2 copies of your Naturalization/Citizenship certificate (if you don't have the certificate, go to the American embassy to fill out a form to obtain the number, and the date that you became a citizen. Type a simple letter stating the information, and if your name changed when you became a U.S citizen, state that you are the same person from the Family registry, e.g My korean name is xxxx, and my American name is xxxx, and I am the same person, and take it to American Citizen Service at the embassy to have it notarized. Need two copies. You can use this instead of the copies of the certificate if you don't have it)

2 copies of your passport

2 copies of your family registry (if you were adopted, contact G.O.A.L, http://www.goal.or.kr/, they are a non-profit organization that aids adoptees, and will be able to tell you which adoption agency you went through, and give you their contact number to obtain copies of your family registry)

2 passport photos (you can get them at the subway photo booths, and will cost 5,000 won. The machines only take 1,000 wons, and will give six passport sized photos)

61,000 won

B. Second, take the documents, and go to Korean Immigration office in Seoul.
On the first floor, you will see information desk, ask to get a form in order to get a lost nationality certificate. Fill out the form, and go to the room on your left (from the entrance to the building), but before you go inside, take a number for lost nationality certificate from a small machine in front of the room.

Give the civil servant 1 copy of your Naturalization/Citizenship certificate, 1 copy of passport, 1 copy of your family registry, and the completed form. Then give c.s 1,000 won for a revenue stamp.

After receiving the lost nationality certificate, stop by the revenue stamp room on the same floor to buy 60,000 won in revenue stamps (right from the entrance of the building.) Go to the second floor, and turn right for Visa issuance room. Take a number for Visa, and fill out the two form to your left.

Give the civil servant 1 copy of your Naturalization/Citizenship certificate, 1 copy of passport, 1 copy of your family registry, the revenue stamps, 2 passport photos, lost nationality certificate, and two completed forms.

You should be able to pick up the F-4 Visa after five business days.

Disclaimer: This information is only up to date as of 8-19-2004. The required documents, procedures, regulations, and laws that govern acquiring an F-4 Visa may change, and you should contact the Immigration office, or Korean embassy if in U.S to find out the required documents, procedures, regulations, and laws governing the issuance of F-4 Visas.
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Drakoi



Joined: 26 Sep 2003
Location: The World

PostPosted: Wed Sep 22, 2004 8:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

also, be prepared to show any evidence of name changes,

Especially if you were adopted and there's nothing that has both your current name and your birth name on the same document. You probably will need to get something from the adoption agency. or maybe through the social services dept.
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Cacique



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Sep 26, 2004 5:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What is an F-4 Visa, and who are they for?
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Drakoi



Joined: 26 Sep 2003
Location: The World

PostPosted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cacique wrote:
What is an F-4 Visa, and who are they for?


Well, I know what it was. It was a visa for people from foriegn countries who are of korean ethnicity. Commonly called Overseas Koreans or 'gyopo's

An F-4 gives more rights than a typical work visa, and if you have they option, you should get it. It allows up to two years.

But I think they were declared unconstitutional because they discriminated against chinese and russian gyopo's. I haven't heard how things turned out, but I think there was going to be some kind of modification or another type of visa issued.
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Yaya



Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 9:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Never knew you needed copies of your naturalization papers. I had my F-4 visa for four years and never submitted it.
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bilbo202



Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Nov 10, 2004 6:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll write up what I did also, just went through it this past week. My mother is Korean, and is now a US citizen. My father is American...half-gyopos can get F-4's too! I streamlined my instructions a bit....it took a large amount of running around to figure out exactly what I needed...but in the end the process is pretty simple provided you have the right documents.

1. I took my mother's old Korean passport(not valid anymore) and a copy of an old ȣ��� to the local �������� office. For under 2000 won I got 2 updated copies of my family ȣ���.

2. Got my paperwork together. 2 copies of everything...ȣ���, Mother's current US passport copies, Mother's INS naturalization document copies, my birth certificate copies, parents marriage certificate copies, 4 passport sized photos, and my passport - 2 copies.

3. Went to the Seoul Immigration Office...take the purple subway line to to ���� and walk straight out of subway exit 7...go past the first SK gas station for 5-10 minutes. You'll see another SK gas station and the road will curve to the right. Follow the curve to the end of the street and you'll see the big Immigration building to your left. You can't miss it.

4. As soon as you walk in the door there is a cashier to your right. I bought 60,000 won worth of revenue stamps, then bought one 1,000 won revenue stamp.

5. On the first floor, I then went to the office on the left. Took a number, filled out the form gotten from the desk in front of the glass window. When my number came up I requested a certificate renouncing my Mother's nationality. The official will take 1 copy of most of your documents and the 1000 won revenue stamp. Keep the form that they give you.

6. I then went to the second floor, up the stairs, to the office all the way to the right...took a number and waited. When my number was called I requested an F-4 visa...after about 5 minutes of looking over my paperwork I was given a receit and told to come back in 5 days to pick it up. They also kept my passport for that week. Went back in 5 days to the 2nd floor office, took a "pick up" number, waited....all done!

There's also a fax machine and computer on the 1st floor that you can use for free, and a copy machine in the basement rest area that you can use for 100 won a copy....hope this helps, PM me if you have any questions.
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ghostshadow



Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 6:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So does anyone know what you need to renew the F4 visa after the 2 years?
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Yaya



Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Jan 30, 2005 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Probably the same documents. I submitted my family registry again (as if it changed during the two years -- NOT) and the same fees and photos. I'm not sure how much the process has changed thanks to that idiot Yoo Seung-joon.
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OCOKA Dude



Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:37 pm    Post subject: F-4 Visas have NOT been overturned or overruled on any basis Reply with quote

Cacique wrote:
What is an F-4 Visa, and who are they for?


Drakoi wrote:
Well, I know what it was. It was a visa for people from foriegn countries who are of korean ethnicity. Commonly called Overseas Koreans or 'gyopo's

Specifically, the F-4 visa IS a permanent residency visa for Korean Americans and Korean Canadians only. It doesn't matter whether they be 1st- 1.5- 2nd-generation Korean Americans or OAKs (Overseas Adopted Koreans), or half-gyopos; they simply must be citizens of either the U.S. or Canada and not Korean citizens.

Drakoi wrote:
An F-4 gives more rights than a typical work visa, and if you have they option, you should get it. It allows up to two years.

Ahh, duhh! It's a permanent residency visa, so it doesn't even compare with an E-2 or E-7 work visa. It doesn't even compare with a F-2-1 spousal visa either. Also, that "it allows up to two years" is a misstatement and incorrect. It is RENEWABLE EVERY 2 years, INDEFINITELY, for a measly renewal fee of like 12,000 won.

Drakoi wrote:
But I think they were declared unconstitutional because they discriminated against chinese and russian gyopo's. I haven't heard how things turned out, but I think there was going to be some kind of modification or another type of visa issued.

Drakoi's statement is totally false and incorrect, if not completely and blatantly mendacious and misleading. F-4 visas, to date, have NOT been declared unconstitutinal by any governmental or judicial entity.

To give you some background about this anti-F-4 petition nonsense, in 2003, some uppity foreign national from an English-speaking country, with a rudimentary understanding of the Korean legal system -- whom I can only assume possessed either extreme antipathy or jealousy toward F-4 holders, a.k.a., "Gyopos" -- filed a petition on his own accord with the Supreme Court ALLEGING that F-4s were unconstitutional b/c they allegedly discriminated again non-western Gyopos. (Pro-gyopo bleeding heart, or another white-trash foreigner with an axe to grind against Gyopos?)

Of course, as everybody knows, any whiner and their dog with an axe to grind can file a petition with the Supreme Court alleging any manner of things. This is the primary venue of citizens' groups, pro-Northern student orgs, and other antigovernment or grassroots' movement in Korea who have something to BI about.

I also haven't heard what the final disposition was or is on this petition. However, it is well known that the success rate of any petition -- especially a request by a single individual to overturn a particular pubic policy -- i.e., the Korean gov't's decision to grant F-4 visas to qualified individuals, is extremely low and almost never happens.

To the petitioner, whomever you are, all I have to say to you is "nice try." Basically, that kind of motion, in my opinion, is nothing more than a flimsily disguised racially motivated vendetta and vindictive action that smacks of bigotry and jealousy. Such bigotted actions should've stayed behind on his side of the pond and have no place here in Korea.


Last edited by OCOKA Dude on Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:54 pm; edited 3 times in total
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OCOKA Dude



Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ghostshadow wrote:
So does anyone know what you need to renew the F4 visa after the 2 years?


absolutely nothing. Just go to immigration with your card, fill out some form, and pay 12,000 won. All done and good for another two years! F-4 visas are renewable every two years, INDEFINITELY.
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The Great Wall of Whiner



Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: Middle Land

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:58 pm    Post subject: Re: F-4 Visas have NOT been overturned or overruled on any b Reply with quote

OCOKA Dude wrote:

Quote:
they simply must be citizens of either the U.S. or Canada and not Korean citizens.


Ok, so my girlfriend is ethnical Korean (but born in China). So I suppose in theory if I married her and she became a Canadian citizen, she would then be eligible? I wonder how that would work out?


Quote:
To the petitioner, whomever you are, all I have to say to you is "nice try." Basically, that kind of motion, in my opinion, is nothing more than a flimsily disguised racially motivated vendetta and vindictive action that smacks of bigotry and jealousy. Such bigotted actions should've stayed behind on his side of the pond and have no place here in Korea.


Racism can go both ways.

Quote:
(.... or another white-trash foreigner with an axe to grind against Gyopos?)


Please don't point your finger at people screaming "Hey! No pointing!" as it looks rather silly.
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Yaya



Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If your gf is an ethnic Korean from China, I'm not sure if she is eligible for the F-4. The Korean gov't made the F-1 visa for ethnic Koreans hailing from the former Soviet Union or China.

I could be wrong on this so I'd check with immigration.
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OCOKA Dude



Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:04 pm    Post subject: Korean Chinese and Russian Gyopos usually have F-2-1 Reply with quote

Yaya wrote:
If your gf is an ethnic Korean from China, I'm not sure if she is eligible for the F-4. The Korean gov't made the F-1 visa for ethnic Koreans hailing from the former Soviet Union or China.

I could be wrong on this so I'd check with immigration.


Chosunjok (Korean Chinese) and Russian gyopos are not eligible for the F-1. For a description of all visa types, click here:
http://www.moj.go.kr/immi/08_english/02_business/service_01_f.html
In most cases, they're not eligible for F-4. Korean Chinese and Korean Russians are inbetween a rock and a hard place in terms of getting permanent residency on their own in Korea (with the exception of marrying a Korean citizen) for the following reasons:

1) Most Korean Chinese emigrated to China from Korea prior to the formation of the Republic of Korea (1948). They would be eligible for F-4 if only they registered their Korean citizenship with a Korean Embassy before 1948. However, most Korean Chinese (ChosunJok) were not farsighted enough to do so, as many did not intend on staying in China long term, as there was a belief at the time that they would be able to pass freely between borders. The end of WW2 in 1945 and the subsequent implementation of the MDL/DMZ put an end to all that.

2) Korean Russians are another unusual case. Most of them are second and third generation descendants of Korean pro-japanese laborers who voluntarily went to work for the Imperial Japanese military industrial complex during WW2. Since many of Japan's munitions plants were located on Sakhalin Island, 99,99% of all Russian Gyopos come from there, as Sakhalin was a Japanese possession from 1905-1945 (a spoil of war from the Russo-Japanese conflict). However, the end of WW2 and the Japanese surrender paved the way for Sakhalin reverting to Soviet control after August 7, 1945, which was most unfortunate for the Korean laborers trapped there (Korean Russians on Sakhalin weren't able to return to Korea until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991).

So you can see how both of these groups are up S*** creek as far as getting permanent residency in Korea is concerned. The only way they could qualify for an F-4 visa, which is the most flexible permanent residency visa available for Overseas Koreans, would be if they are either U.S. or Canadian citizens who emigrated to North America after the formation of the ROK government (after 1948), or for ChosunJok and Russian Gyopos, those who registered their Korean citizenship with a Korean Embassy prior to 1948 when the ROK government was formed.

Of course, the problem is that very few ethnic Koreans abroad at the time (either in China or Sakhalin), were farsighted enough to do so. In all fairness though, these two groups prior to 1945 couldn't have forseen the tumultuous events that would change the geopolitical gestalt of NE Asia (i.e., the separation of Korea and the formation of two inimical Korean governments and the rise of the Soviet sphere with the reverting of Sakhalin to Soviet control).

So even though something in the order of 99% of all permanet residents in Korea are ChosunJok (Korean Chinese gyopos) according to the Ministry of Justice's statistics, they are overwhelmingly Korean permanent residents who've been sponsored on F-2-1 spousal visa, i.e., they are married to Korean citizens. Also, practically every Russian Gyopo I've met in Korea is also married to a Korean citizen. They invariably also have F-2-1 spousal visas, and are usually itching to acquire Korean citizenship after meeting the two-year residency and marriage requirement, after which they can apply for, and take a test to become a bonafide Korean citizen.
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OCOKA Dude



Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:25 pm    Post subject: Re: F-4 Visas have NOT been overturned or overruled on any b Reply with quote

The Great Wall of Whiner wrote:
Ok, so my girlfriend is ethnical Korean (but born in China). So I suppose in theory if I married her and she became a Canadian citizen, she would then be eligible? I wonder how that would work out?

Nice try. But unfortunately, if she wasn't able to prove that either her or her parents registered their Korean citizenship with a Korean Embassy prior to 1948 (the formation of the ROK government), simply being a Candian citizen would not entitle her to F-4 in the same way that Gary Trudeau is not eligible for an F-4 either.

In order to be eligible for F-4, there has to be a 'gateway' parent and supporting documentation (i.e., a family register or "Hojok" and the parent's ROK passport) to certify that this individual did register his/her Korean citizenship with a Korean Embassy prior to 1948.

If she cannot prove this, as most Korean Chinese Gyopos (Chosunjok) can't, she is not eligible for F-4. Incidentally, if your Korean Chinese girlfriend was really intent on acquiring permanent residency in Korea, she would be better advised to hook up with a Korean citizen or a current F-4 holder (Korean American or Korean Canadian) -- no offense.

However, if she wants to go non-Korean Canadian, that's her perogative, but she shouldn't think -- nor be lead to believe -- that under any circumstance simply by marrying a non-Korean Canadian would make her eligible for Korean permanent residency under F-4. It doesn't work that way.

The Great Wall of Whiner wrote:
Racism can go both ways.

Not really. You need power to effuse racism, otherwise, it's just being ethnocentric.

The Great Wall of Whiner wrote:
Please don't point your finger at people screaming "Hey! No pointing!" as it looks rather silly.

...as does your aforementioned comment. Care to elaborate? Your statement makes no sense.
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Yaya



Joined: 25 Feb 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Fri Feb 18, 2005 2:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I got a new F-4 visa since I had gotten a new passport to replaced my old one. I was told by the official handling my case that nowadays, more and more gyopos are being denied the F-4 visa due to a variety of reasons. I asked him why and he said the reasons were too numerous to name.
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