Korean Job Discussion Forums

[twentynine]

Being new in town and having just gone on my visa run, I have not yet received my ARC, which means I cannot yet open a bank account and have been paid in cash. I would like to send some of this money to my bank in the US - any thoughts on how to go about doing this? Obviously security and reliability are issues as I am dealing with cash.

Also - a minor question - but what is the difference between regular posts and those that have orange-ish "document" icon next to the title? How does one make a post of this type rather than a regular post?

[kat2]

Just take your passport to the bank and you can wire the cash. No problem.

The orange posts are new posts (not viewed by you). The orange thing disappears after you've looked at them

[spliff]

Don't open an account w/ your PP as you'll want to do that w/ your ARC because getting your bank id through your ARC has its advantages for obtaining money cards and the like. Just do a transfer w/ your PP for now as pointed out above.

[gerald.in.korea]

I did a stint as a paralegal for a law firm in Seoul and had to help foreign clients with this before.

Being paid in cash is not illegal, the income not being reported by your employer to the tax office is illegal.

You can transfer any amount of money out of Korea as long as the tax office has a record of your receipt of the income. Your money transfers are tracked digitally and you will be red flagged if your transfers exceed your taxable income as registered by the tax office. Many bank employees will tell you cannot exceed a transfer of 10K but that is not true you simply need to get a statement from the tax office stating your registered taxable income and you can transfer up to that amount.

You can use your passport to transfer the cash funds at this time but you must make sure that your employer has registered you with the local tax office. If you do not have an Alien Registration Card by this time, it would be advisable that you double check your status with Immigration.

A big red flag is if your employer has you teaching at a private institution and at a public school or at private classes.

Before you transfer the funds ensure your status is legal or you will face the real possibility of forcible deportation with little or no recourse. During the deportation you will more than likely have to pay a fine of up to 5,000,000 WON. The average is about 2,000,000 WON.

Cheers,