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Suwoner10
Joined: 10 Dec 2007
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 Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 9:23 am Post subject: US EMBASSY ADVOCATING ILLEGAL ACTS IN KOREA!!! |
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The Korean government continues to confront a major challenge following the large oil spill off the coast of Taean County. So far more than 9,000 soldiers, policemen, and volunteers have been mobilized to mop up the oil and contain the environmental damage.
Members of the expatriate community who wish to contribute to the effort to combat the oil spill can do so in several ways:
1) Donations of goods: Authorities and volunteers need any of the following items you can donate:
-- used winter clothing
-- old towels or any other old cloth that can help absorb oil
-- personal protective gear such as face masks, rain coats, rubber boots, and gloves.
To send donated goods, address them to:
The County Disaster Relief Center
96, Nammoon-ri, Taean-eup, Taean-gun, South Chungcheong Province
Tel: 041-670-2645 through 2653
2) Volunteering:
The Taean County Relief Center is receiving applications from individual volunteers or organizations via telephone (042-670-2645 through 2653) or through its website at www.taean.go.kr.
Applications should be made at least one day in advance so that the relief center can assign volunteers to the most-needed area.
Please note that volunteers are required to bring with them their own protective gear including raincoats, boots, and gloves. Please note also that there is no interpretation service available for foreigners, so a basic command of the Korean language is needed.
3) Donation of Money:
Donations of money to assist in the clean-up operation are being received by the South Choongcheong Provincial Government at the following account:
Nonghyup Bank, Account No.: 471-01-002107, held in the name of: The Governor of South Choongcheong Province.
The U.S. Embassy thanks you for considering these assistance measures.
End text of message. |
Should you do any work outside of your E2 Visa, you will be deported. Volunteer activitites such as seeing children at orphanages, and helping environmental disasters are ILLEGAL. my Co-worker was DEPORTED for singing songs to orphans each Saturday morning.
The US embassy is promoting ILLEGAL activity. |
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Khyron
Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 10:31 am Post subject: |
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| my Co-worker was DEPORTED for singing songs to orphans each Saturday morning. |
WTF?
How did they prove he violated his E2?
$#@* like this makes me glad I left Korea for Japan. At least I don't feel like a prisoner in the country where I live and work! |
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Real Reality
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 11:13 am Post subject: |
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| Khyron wrote: |
| Quote: |
| my Co-worker was DEPORTED for singing songs to orphans each Saturday morning. |
WTF?
How did they prove he violated his E2?
$#@* like this makes me glad I left Korea for Japan. At least I don't feel like a prisoner in the country where I live and work! |
Volunteering Isn't So Simple in Korea
By Carli Brosseau, Korea Times (January 9, 2007)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/news_view.asp?newsIdx=3051302
| Quote: |
If you are a foreigner working in Korea and volunteering on the side could you be fined, even deported? Don't laugh. Volunteering may put you in danger.
The law governing these matters is the Immigration Control Act of Korea. The law stipulates that a foreigner must obtain, in advance, permission from the Ministry of Justice for "activities corresponding to a status of sojourn different from his own."
To register an activity, you must apply to a local or district immigration office with jurisdiction over the area in which you live. The application should be made in person, but could be made by proxy in special cases. You must have your passport, alien registration card, downloadable application forms, and other documents that pertain to your visa category, which are detailed on the Web site. You also have to pay a 60,000-won fee. If your application is accepted, you will receive a stamp in your passport and amendments on the back of your alien registration card.
The process is required for each activity that may go "beyond the current visa status." |
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MiniMoonks
Joined: 30 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 11:21 am Post subject: |
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This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. Volunteering is done on a person's own free time, by their choice.
So from reading the above article from the Korean Times, one would have to pay 60,000 won and apply each time you wanted to volunteer. And that's if your application gets accepted.
I'm assuming this is for safety reasons. |
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cdninkorea
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 11:45 am Post subject: |
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| Real Reality wrote: |
| Khyron wrote: |
| Quote: |
| my Co-worker was DEPORTED for singing songs to orphans each Saturday morning. |
WTF?
How did they prove he violated his E2?
$#@* like this makes me glad I left Korea for Japan. At least I don't feel like a prisoner in the country where I live and work! |
Volunteering Isn't So Simple in Korea
By Carli Brosseau, Korea Times (January 9, 2007)
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/news_view.asp?newsIdx=3051302
| Quote: |
If you are a foreigner working in Korea and volunteering on the side could you be fined, even deported? Don't laugh. Volunteering may put you in danger.
The law governing these matters is the Immigration Control Act of Korea. The law stipulates that a foreigner must obtain, in advance, permission from the Ministry of Justice for "activities corresponding to a status of sojourn different from his own."
To register an activity, you must apply to a local or district immigration office with jurisdiction over the area in which you live. The application should be made in person, but could be made by proxy in special cases. You must have your passport, alien registration card, downloadable application forms, and other documents that pertain to your visa category, which are detailed on the Web site. You also have to pay a 60,000-won fee. If your application is accepted, you will receive a stamp in your passport and amendments on the back of your alien registration card.
The process is required for each activity that may go "beyond the current visa status." |
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RR's link didn't work for me. Anyone else? |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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| cdninkorea wrote: |
| RR's link didn't work for me. Anyone else? |
The article was moved or removed. But you can read it here:
http://news.empas.com/show.tsp/cp_kt/20070109n11184/?kw=stamp%20%3Cb%3E%26%3C%2Fb%3E
| MiniMoonks wrote: |
| This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. |
You just haven't been here long enough, that's all. Give yourself a little while to acclimate and pretty soon that rule will seem as normal as rice with kimchi. |
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livinseoul
Joined: 28 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:32 pm Post subject: |
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| I was in Thailand when the Tsunami hit. Many foreigners were deported for helping to mop up. |
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aaabank
Joined: 27 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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I call BS on all of this "deportation for volunteering" nonsense. There had to be other factors at play in these cases. Does anyone really believe that Immigration officials are going to be going to the beach and checking passports of foreigners who are there for the good of the country (and the good of the world) and taking down names for future deportation? Call me a risktaker  but I will be down there on the beach this weekend. |
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Suwoner10
Joined: 10 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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US Embassy response to my e-mail:
We recommend you contact the Korean Immigration Bureau directly at http://www.immigration.go.kr/indeximmeng.html for the information you require.
Sincerely,
American Citizen Services
U.S. Embassy Seoul
32 Sejong-no, Jongno-gu
Seoul, Korea 110-710
Address for U.S. military or U.S. postage:
American Citizen Services
U.S. Embassy Seoul
Unit 15550
APO AP 96205-5550
Tel: 82-2-397-4114 DSN: 721-4114
Fax: 82-2-397-4101 DSN: 721-4101
For information about passports, registration, and other services for U.S. citizens, please check our websites www.asktheconsul.org or http://seoul.usembassy.gov/american_citizen_services.html.
Please be sure to sign up for our warden messages and monthly newsletter -- you need to supply only your e-mail address: www.asktheconsul.org
See the Consular Information Sheet for Korea and other current travel information for Korea and other countries on www.travel.state.gov.
Hours of operation:
M, T, W, Th, F, 9:00 - 11:30 am and M, T, Th, F, 1:30 - 3:30 pm. Closed Wednesday afternoons and Korean and U.S. holidays. Please note that we do not schedule appointments; service is on a first come, first serve basis.
This email is unclassified based on the definitions provided in E.O. 12958.
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From: Suwoner10
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 2:59 AM
To: Seoul_ACS, Seoul
Subject: Re: How to Assist with the Oil Spill Disaster
Will I be deported for violating my e2 VISA, which forbids me from working outside of my workplace, including volunteering for orphanages and also environmental cleanups? |
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hubba bubba
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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This is a real law. It is a result of the hagwon cartels influence.
Basically, E-2's aren't allowed to give their precious English away without giving money to the wongjangnim. Volunteer to sing at orphanages??? That's free English lessons! No Way! Volunteer to clean up a natural disaster? Some adjummas may get free conversational English pracice when you ask, "Oil, where?" That's not what you are here for. You are here to make a Korean person rich my speaking English with his approval. I'm honestly surprised it isn't illegal to go to church.
Sad but true. |
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aaabank
Joined: 27 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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Well then, this country is lost then.
While I lived in Taiwan, I volunteered in a week-long English camp in an aboriginal village and participated in two beach clean-ups (which were also favorably written about in the local newspapers). These experiences are some of my favorite memories of my time there. If this is true that the major corporations here are forbidding volunteer work out of pure greed, then I am happy that my time here is limited (leaving in January {or sooner if I am 'caught volunteering'}).
Last edited by aaabank on Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:29 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Bibbitybop
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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This is a link for how to engage in acts, like volunteering, outside of the the E-2 visa parameters:
http://www.immigration.go.kr/HP/IMM80/imm_04/imm_0404/sm9.jsp
Last year, a friend paid the 60,000 won fee. A couple weeks ago, another friend and some Korean buddies called immigration and were told since volunteering didn't involve making money, paying the fee wasn't necessary.
Typical Korea: No set guidelines or solid answers.
Play it safe and register.
Once again, I call for a FAQ or sticky about volunteering. |
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kiwiduncan
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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| aaabank wrote: |
Well then, this country is lost then.
While I lived in Taiwan, I volunteered in a week-long English camp in an aboriginal village and participated in two beach clean-ups (which were also favorably written about in the local newspapers). These experiences are some of my favorite memories of my time there. If this is true that the major corporations here are forbidding volunteer work out of pure greed, then I am happy that my time here is limited (leaving in January {or sooner if I am 'caught volunteering'}). |
Getting involved in volunteer work in Korea is one of the most fulfilling things you can do here. It's a refreshing change from teaching over-indulged kiddies and generally vacuous young university students, and you get to meet a whole range of people you would not normally encounter.
After five years in Korea I've had more than enough of the shallow, tasteless materialism that seems to pass for mainstream culture here (and could be said for NZ too I might add). I sometimes go through week-long bouts of nihilistic cynicism, when I find myself painting all Koreans with the same brush and I'm at risk of becoming one of those very bitter little people who spend far too much time on Daves ESL cafe (hello Evilboweevil).
I've found that such negativity can only been shaken free from by actively going out and meeting some of the very cool, very open-minded and socially conscious Koreans out there involved in the social welfare and environmental groups.
If, this weekend, immigration officials turn up at the beach and start asking for our volunteering permission slips I will politely tell them to bugger off. If someone got fined or thrown out of the country for helping with the clean-up, I imagine about 90% of Koreans will be as shocked, dismayed and pissed off as the rest of us. |
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marlow
Joined: 06 Feb 2005
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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| kiwiduncan wrote: |
| If someone got fined or thrown out of the country for helping with the clean-up, I imagine about 90% of Koreans will be as shocked, dismayed and pissed off as the rest of us. |
Yes, the anger of 90% of Koreans would make someone on a plane out of here feel good, or put 5M won in their bank account, I'm sure.
Don't volunteer. The government can pay for clean up. |
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anyangoldboy
Joined: 28 Sep 2007
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| Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2007 6:35 pm Post subject: |
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Not every American is here on a E2 visa...
What about the families of people who work at the embassy or people who are here on tourism???
Does a spoucal(spl) visa affect what you can and can't do???
What about the teenagers who are here at an international school??? They not allowed to help out??? |
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