Korean Job Discussion Forums

[earthbound14]

I got a good job, and was offered a credit card....nice (seems they do this for people working in universities)
I got my F-2...nice.
My phone is still in my wife's name....not nice.
The kids will be under her name because a foreigner cannot be the head of a household in Korea...not nice.
Whatever the case, I like Korea enough to stay longer and be with the Korean family.

Now how do I go about getting loans?

Permanent residency? Citizenship? or can I actually get a loan with a good work record, or a longer contract, a letter from an employer, using my wife as a co-signer, using my parents in law as co-signers, getting loans through my home bank recognized by Korean banks? What's the deal?

Any one out there manage to get a loan?

[Typhoon]

Korean co-signer is pretty much the only way to go. They will need to have a house/apt/land that doesn't have any money borrowed against it. They will loan you up to the value of the house/apt/land that is being put against the loan. If you can get someone to sign you are good to go.

[earthbound14]

[Typhoon]

I hear you, but sometimes it is the only way. I had to swallow my pride to and go to the in-laws. Not fun, but it worked out ok in the end.

[Trevor]

If it is possible, I would purchase disability insurance for both you and your wife. It is a little expensive, but it sure beats not being able to pay back the loan if you should not be able to work for any reason.

[sistersarah]

To get our loan to get our place, my husband got the loan and I was the co-signer. This wasn't easy. He had to go to several banks and several bank employees until he found someone who was willing to let me co-sign. Took a lot of patience...

[Typhoon]

Is your husband Korean? Does he have a job? I would love some more details about how you swung it so if I need to go back into a bank here for a loan (I hope I never do) that I can have something to come back at them with. I hated hearing the same line again and again.

[sistersarah]

Yeah, he's Korean and he has a job, but he still met with opposition. His salary was much lower at the time, and with me as a co-signer, we were eligible for much more money. Some banks didn't want to deal with our case, and finally Woori bank came through. From what I understand, you can't get a loan yourself unless you're a Korean citizen, but you can co-sign for one if you find a bank employee who's willing to help. That's the tough part.

[Typhoon]

Good info,thanks. Actually, Woori was the one of only two banks that we had any hope of getting a loan at. Everything looked good to go, but a manager came in and refused to give a loan to my wife based on my job and salary. It is good to know that people have gotten it done.

[bigscott]

My (Korean) wife and I went looking for a loan to buy an apartment last year. Although I had an F-5 visa and plenty of time here with a stable job, the banks would not lend money in my name. They would, however, lend money to my wife if I co-signed. They did this even though my wife did not have a job, hadn't for 3 years previously, and had no plan to get one in the future.

[bassexpander]

I just walked into the bank and said, "Mee-gook saram imnidia. Don Juse-yo!"

Immediately, I was whisked away to a private finance room for VIP's, while beautiful young bank employees fed me grapes and massaged my feet. Two of them kept calling me and bugging me for dates, but my wife called and got them fired later.

All I had to do was sign on the dotted line, and I was given a 150,000,000 won small business loan. I wired it to a friend under a fake name, gave him 5,000,000 won, and he wired it to me in the USA. Now I'm building my business in the US, and I'll never visit Korea again.

I'll be wiring the money back to my friend so we can get another cut off of the exchange rate now that it tanked this week. (I'm bored, can you tell?)

[Ya-ta Boy]

Are Korean banks giving loans in the present situation?