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rojees
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
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 Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 5:15 am Post subject: E-2 visa, when is it activated? |
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I will start work on the 1st March, but I must be in Korea a few days before that - for training purposes.
I am assuming that it is activated once i set foot in korea. So for example, if i go on the 25th february 2007, it will expire around 27th February 2008.
But teaching starts on march 1st 2007, so doesnt that mean the E-2 visa will expire before the teaching contracts end? |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 5:36 am Post subject: Re: E-2 visa, when is it activated? |
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| rojees wrote: |
I will start work on the 1st March, but I must be in Korea a few days before that - for training purposes.
I am assuming that it is activated once i set foot in korea. So for example, if i go on the 25th february 2007, it will expire around 27th February 2008.
But teaching starts on march 1st 2007, so doesnt that mean the E-2 visa will expire before the teaching contracts end? |
That is exactly what it means... If you enter on Feb 25 it will expire on Feb25 of the following year... so you will have to get a short extension before Feb25 or more likely your contract will end on the last day of your visa and you will fly out that day.
If you are in the public system there are no scheduled classes in the last week of Feb anyway so that is NOT a problem.
If you are in a hakwon then you may have to get the extension to keep your boss happy.
BTW, for the record, there are NO classes on March 1 - it is a national holiday. Classes will begin on March 2. |
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Fresh Prince
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: The glorious nation of Korea
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| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 7:07 am Post subject: |
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| Don't worry about it right now. You'll have plenty of time to figure it all out later. |
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Samantha
Joined: 20 Jul 2006
Location: Jinan-dong Hwaseong
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| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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Your visa is effective as soon as you get a stamp at the airport. So if you never go through the little immigration/customs counter and live in the airport your visa will be valid almost indefinately.  |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 3:57 am Post subject: |
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| Samantha wrote: |
| if you never go through the little immigration/customs counter and live in the airport your visa will be valid almost indefinately. |
Nope.
The visa sticker in your passport is valid for 90 days only. Don't use it in those 90 days? The visa is void, and you must apply for another one (including another set of sealed transcripts and the whole deal). |
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Samantha
Joined: 20 Jul 2006
Location: Jinan-dong Hwaseong
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| Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 4:45 am Post subject: |
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My Visa says: (in order)
Surname: Given name:
Birthdate Sex: (Visa number stamped in red)
Status: E-2 Period of Sojourn: 01Y Entries: M
Issue Date: 2007/01/22 Final Entry date: 2008/01/22 Issued at: SF
So based on that I had a year to enter the country on this Visa. I had to have the entry stamp done sometime within that year. I was admitted at Incheon on 2007/Jan 29 so it was a week later but still. My original logic should be valid in theory based on what is stamped in my passport, it may not be the reality though. |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 4:55 am Post subject: |
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| Samantha wrote: |
Issue Date: 2007/01/22 Final Entry date: 2008/01/22 Issued at: SF
So based on that I had a year to enter the country on this Visa. I had to have the entry stamp done sometime within that year. |
Maybe a new policy starting in 2007? The visas I saw/know about in 2006 only had a 3-month validity. Or maybe it's a difference in WHERE you got the visa. The ones with 3 months were all from Japan. |
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Samantha
Joined: 20 Jul 2006
Location: Jinan-dong Hwaseong
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| Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 6:42 am Post subject: |
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| Young FRANKenstein wrote: |
| Samantha wrote: |
Issue Date: 2007/01/22 Final Entry date: 2008/01/22 Issued at: SF
So based on that I had a year to enter the country on this Visa. I had to have the entry stamp done sometime within that year. |
Maybe a new policy starting in 2007? The visas I saw/know about in 2006 only had a 3-month validity. Or maybe it's a difference in WHERE you got the visa. The ones with 3 months were all from Japan. |
That's possible
My first visa in 2003, was a simple block stamp on one page in a mutli-colored predominately pink ink. It had the Visa number handwritten in ink on top and the name of the school handwritten on the bottom. The new visa is an actual sticker that has everything written by a computer. So, maybe when they switched the way the Visa is made they switched some of the rules/regulations. |
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J.B. Clamence
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:03 am Post subject: |
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The clock on your 1 year visa E-2 does not start when you set foot in Korea. It starts when the visa is issued (ie - when the Korean embassy or consulate outside Korea puts the visa in your passport).
However, that isn't really relevant because your visa expiration date simply says when you can enter Korea. You don't actually have to leave until your ARC expires (which may or may not be the same date as your visa).
But even if your ARC expires too early, don't fret. When the time comes, you can easily get an extension to finish your contract. You don't need to worry about that until next February, so don't sweat it now. Everything will be fine. |
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Young FRANKenstein
Joined: 02 Oct 2006
Location: Castle Frankenstein (that's FRONKensteen)
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| Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:54 am Post subject: |
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| J.B. Clamence wrote: |
| The clock on your 1 year visa E-2 does not start when you set foot in Korea. |
Of course it does. Otherwise, according to you, (for example) if I get my visa put into my passport but don't actually come to Korea for 10 months, then when I finally do enter, my visa is going to expire in 2 months? Nonsense.
When the embassy puts the visa in your passport, you have a timelimit in which to USE the visa before the visa expires (supposedly increased lately from 3 months to 1 year), but that timelimit has nothing to do with the length of the visa once it has been activated. Once you step foot in Korea, you can stay for exactly one year (if it is a one-year visa). How long you've had the visa stamp in your passport is irrelevant.
| Samantha wrote: |
a) My first visa in 2003, was a simple block stamp on one page in a mutli-colored predominately pink ink. It had the Visa number handwritten in ink on top and the name of the school handwritten on the bottom.
b) The new visa is an actual sticker that has everything written by a computer. So, maybe when they switched the way the Visa is made they switched some of the rules/regulations. |
a) my visas have been the exact same, going back all the way to '96.
b) my current visa was stickered last September, and at the time I was given only a 3-month validation period. If the rules have changed, they have been very recent, unless of course, it is a difference of embassy not a change of policy. |
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J.B. Clamence
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 8:19 am Post subject: |
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| Young FRANKenstein wrote: |
| J.B. Clamence wrote: |
| The clock on your 1 year visa E-2 does not start when you set foot in Korea. |
Of course it does. Otherwise, according to you, (for example) if I get my visa put into my passport but don't actually come to Korea for 10 months, then when I finally do enter, my visa is going to expire in 2 months? Nonsense. |
I was talking about the period of your visa, not your sojourn. They are not the same thing.
The issue date and expiration dates on your visa are printed on the visa. When were they printed there? At the airport when you arrived? No. They were printed there by the consulate when they issued the visa. Thus the clock starts when the visa was issued, not when you arrive. However, as I said, it doesn't really matter because your sojourn doesn't end until your ARC expires, not your visa.
Samantha was good enough to provide us an example. Her visa issue date is 2007/01/22 and the visa expires 2008/01/22 (exactly one year later). She said she arrived at Incheon on 2007/01/29. According to your argument, her visa should expire on 2008/01/29. But it doesn't -- look again -- the expiration date is on the visa: 2008/01/22! Thus, clearly, the clock starts when your visa is issued, not when you arrive.
But, once again, it's your ARC expiration date which matters more than your visa expiration date. And the ARC does not necessarily end at the same time as the visa. In fact, my most recent visa expired almost one year ago. How am I still here? My ARC is still valid. In other words, my visa has expired, but my sojourn has not. Again, not the same thing. |
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