Korean Job Discussion Forums

[creeper1]

I am due to get my GEPIK letter of invitation within 2 weeks and then I'll be all ready to send my passport to London for the visa.

I called the Korean embassy in London today about the time frame it would take to do this in person. They said it would take 5 working days i.e. a week. This seems excessive. I can't hang around in London that long (I'm in Scotland).

My question is if you apply for the visa by post (special delivery Royal Mail there and back), how long will it take to get your passport back? Anyone done this?

Secondly is it a good idea to maybe send it by post and collect it in person? It could possibly be a good idea since I'll have to fly from London anyway. However I don't want to arrive there and find it's not ready or they've sent it to Scotland or some other infuriating mistake.

[husky]

I would say 7 days.

If you hand in your passport and pick it up again, you may get it in 5 working days if you're lucky.

Last year I ended up in a big mess trying to get the visa from London. My school had booked flights from Edinburgh on the Friday, so I went to London on the MOnday expecting to get my visa and passort back on Wednesday at the latest. They said I wouldn't be able to collect it until the following Monday!!!

After frantic calls to my school (public school), my school called to the embassy in London and managed to get them to do for Friday morning as a special favour.

THe problem was, my flight was from Edinburgh in the afternoon...so I couldn't get from the city centre to Heathrow in time.

My school then asked me to book other flights, which didn't depart until Sunday which meant I was missing class on Monday. They then complained I didn't have permission to be off school on Monday. Also, they would be charging me a breach of contract fine because I they had to cancel the flights from Edinburgh.

In the end I told them to stick their job where the sun don't shine. It wasn't my fault that they booked the flights too early and from the wrong departure point.

Your best bet would be to post it, and track it online, then call them when they receive it and make sure they give a date when it will be ready. Pick it up on the way to Korea. From post office to hand (in London) I would think it would take 7 or 8 days.

[withnail]

Be very careful of the Korean staff at the UK embassy in London. They are very precious and exacting. They are really ticked off that people come to them with "I was told I had to..."

When I first came here I didn't know much about the visa situation so followed what my school had told me.

"If you want to know about visa rules, you ask us not your school!" she snapped at me.

I queued up with my passport etc and was abruptly dismissed to fill in a form. I queued up again and was again dismissed to get 2 identical photos from a shop across the road. I queued up again and was dismissed for the third time when I didn't have the fee in precise notes and coins so I had to leave again to fix that. I made a polite comment to her that it would have helped to know all this at the first dismissal since I clearly didn't know the procedure.

"Change your attitude when you come back or we will not process your visa at all" she barked. I had to laugh. I was being in no way rude or cheeky.

Finally at the 4th attempt they accepted the application. My school was indeed naive about the process. They'd sent me over on a Tuesday I think and the visa was required for Saturday. They first gave me a scare that it would not be done because they needed 5 days but in the end they had me show up just before closing time on the Friday to get it.

In short, rightly or wrongly, they are furious that people will not take the trouble to find out what it takes and how long it takes to get a visa.

Do not presume upon their cooperation without this.

[missty]

[expat_boy]

i am in a mad rush... i should receive my visa issuance number on the 25th from my university in Korea. They still have my original degree certificates. I cant see them arrviing here anytime soon. I need to go to London to get my visa asap as i need to fly on the 26 or 27th at latest for the start of term. i have had an E2 in 2005.

Can i get the visa issues on the same day as i physically go to the embassy?

HELP!