Korean Job Discussion Forums

jackson7 · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Location: Kim Jong Il's Future Fireball

I recently re-signed with my current school. They got everything taken care of regarding extending my ARC, and I now have a nice little stamp that says I will be staying for another year.

HOWEVER...

I talked to them about getting an actual new visa or stamp in my passport, and they called the immi office and told me it is not needed. I don't have plans for an out-of-country vacation this year, but if I do, will I need documentation in my passport because they take our ARCs upon leaving the country?

Our assistant said I should still be okay because I will have a re-entry permit even though it is not stamped in my passport. (A single re-entry, that is) Anyone have experience re-signing? What happened with your visas/ARCs?

Thanks for the input!!

cruisemonkey · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:39 am Post subject:

I re-signed last year.

You do not need a new visa - your ARC will be extended for a year (the new date will be noted it the little box on the back of the card in the bottom left corner).

If you leave Korea on vacation, Immigration does NOT take your ARC. You do not have to fill out departure or entry cards - you just give them your passport and ARC.

buster brown · Joined: 26 Aug 2005 Location: Seoul

If you go out of Korea, you'll have to get a Re-Entry Permit. You can get a single-entry at the airport or if you want a multiple-entry you'll have to go to your local immigration office.

jellobean · Joined: 14 Mar 2006

As the previous poster said, just make sure you get the reentry permit if you go anywhere, it is not included in the new stamp.... Also, check the date on the back of your ARC to find out the date by which you must leave.... They sometimes screw this one up and it doesn't match the contract..... The one on the ARC is the one you need to go by....

cruisemonkey · Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:16 am Post subject:

Yes, one can get an extension of stay online at the Immigration website.

However, nothing is a simple as it seems -
My latest ARC expired July 31 (same as my contract). I applied for, and was granted an extension of stay online because my air tickets were for Aug. 1. When I checked in at Incheon International, the airline agent wouldn't give me a boarding pass until I went to the Immigration Affairs Office and got a notation on my ARC (to the effect it had been extended). The clerk at Immigration Affairs at first told me it was impossible to get an extension of stay online, and that because I had 'overstayed' by one day, I had to pay a W500,000 fine. When I produced copies of the confirmation of the extension of stay email from Immigration, she started making phone calls. In the end, she put a sticky on my ARC saying it had been extended. Fine... so I go back and get my boarding pass, go through security and get to Immigration where the officer takes my passport and ARC, looks at the date on the ARC and informs me I have overstayed by a day and will have to go back to the Immigration Affairs Office and pay W500,000 to get out of the country! Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh! I tell her to read the sticky attached to my ARC. She does, and starts making phone calls. In the end I was allowed to leave Korea without paying a fine, but only because I had physical proof I had extended my period of stay.

Make hard copies of everything and take them with you. Never assume that because something is done online that it's in the computer system.