Korean Job Discussion Forums

[urion43]

Hi, im going to Korea in August and I want to stay for 1 year. (not working) As a Canadain i can stay 6 months on a tourist visa. I plan to do visa runs to stay the full year. Anyhting I should know first??

Will i be granted a tourist visa if i only have one way ticket? Or do i need to pay for an open eneded ticket?

[D.D.]

Most countries will not let you fly out unless you have a ticket back to a place where you are a resident. Some places will ignore this. Maybe get a ticket with a stopover in Korea and then they will not bother you in Korea.

You get 6 months and then you need to leave and come back in. For example you can go to Japan on the boat and come back.

[urion43]

sorry, i don't fully understand. could you expand a bit? Thanks so much.

[urion43]

Most countries will not let you fly out unless you have a ticket back to a place where you are a resident.

You mean Canada probably won't let me buy one way ticket to Korea right?

Maybe get a ticket with a stopover in Korea and then they will not bother you in Korea.

- Not sure what this means, could u explain? thanks!



sorry for pestering

[losing_touch]

Ok, I will do my best to explain it to you. Here is the deal. It is not Canada that is going to be the cause of any possible problem. The problem comes from the airlines. The airline is responsible for ensuring that you comply with visa regulations for the country you are traveling to. For most countries the official regulation is that you will be admitted to the country for whatever period of time. One of the conditions to qualify for this entry is proof of onward travel within the legal timeframe. For may countries, this proof of onward travel is in the form of an airline ticket out of the country. Many countries do not care about such a requirement when it comes down to getting your passport stamped upon entry. However, the airline cares because they would be responsible for you if you were denied entry for whatever reason.

So, it all comes down to the policy of the airline and the person that is checking you in for your flight. You may be asked to provide proof of onward travel due to their interpretation of the regulations for entry into Korea that they are seeing on their computer screen.

There are ways around this:

1) Call the airline and determine their policy. Ask if there is a waiver that you can sign stating that you will assume responsibility for return passage provided you are denied entry. This is what my wife had to do when she was arriving on a one-way with me. We changed her visa status here after I obtained my ARC.

2) http://travelvice.com/archive/2006/03/faux-onward-tickets.php
-This is NOT recommended! However, some people do it!

[moosehead]

if you play it cool and tell them you have a contract offer, and will go later for your visa run, you should be fine on a 1 way. am sure they see it all the time, just don't offer up any info unless asked, then just answer the q, be cool. it's really not the business of the airline anyway, they just get pressured by immi etc.

now, if a 1 way is your ONLY option and you do get cornered, you can always ask to sign a waiver which will exempt the airline from all liability. I signed one once going to S.A. during a stopover in HK - unbelievable - I was traveling and had no concrete plans as to when I planned to leave or even if I would leave S.A. or travel to other African countries and leave from there - anyway - the waiver is there, airlines just don't advertise them.

now, if Immigration gets antsy, that's another issue, but to my knowledge they could care less, again, just say you have a contract offer and the school will fly you for your visa, and sorry, you don't have their phone number it's in your bags (checked) - just be prepared to have some kind of address to write down for where you are staying - hotel, something, ok? you'll need it for the little card you fill out (all foreigners fill them out and give it to immigration at the airport).

good luck!

[ttompatz]

If you have an actual VISA of any kind (like a real C-3 tourist visa) then the airline couldn't care less if you have onward passage.

IF you are talking about entering on a tourist waiver stamp (B2 - not an actual C3 - tourist visa) then the AIRLINE (in Canada) WILL give you grief if you do not have onward or return passage.

You can accomplish this in a number of ways.
1) 1 year - open return ticket.
2) one way ticket to Korea and a REFUNDABLE one way ticket to anywhere outside of Korea as your onward passage..
(simply cash it back in when you get to Korea).

It is the airline who will deny boarding if you are not in compliance of the visa waiver requirements because it is the airline who gets fined and has to pay to return you if there is any problem at immigration.

Airlines leaving Canada are absolutely ANAL about this (unlike many other places on the planet).

.