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taobenli
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
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 Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:26 am Post subject: sigh...cell phone with student visa |
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I REALLY don't want to do the prepaid phone route this time. But I'm on a D-4 visa now, and it expires on March 1st, just short of 6 months. I walked into SK Telecom, and they said that with a deposit I could get a phone but ONLY if it was good for 6 months from the application date.
Should I try LG or will the length of time on my alien card be a problem? I can't have a longer period because I am only studying for 6 months, and then will be switching to an even more useful scholar visa (A-3, in which you are not even allowed to carry an alien card). My husband's alien card time period is even shorter, since he only paid for one quarter of language study up front.
Sigh... |
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Bryan
Joined: 29 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:45 am Post subject: |
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Date on the card won't matter. Tell them you're staying for longer, but don't bring it up unless asked/denied.
You've been to Korea before and don't have a friend who would trust you to pay them $30 per month? |
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taobenli
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:08 am Post subject: |
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| I do have friends who would set it up for me, I just see it as an indignity that an adult staying here legally and contributing to the economy can't set up something as basic as this one their own. |
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taobenli
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:09 am Post subject: |
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| And the date on the card DID matter, as that was the basis on which I was denied by SK. |
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PeteJB
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:45 am Post subject: |
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| Go LG, they only require 3 months contract. |
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taobenli
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:04 am Post subject: |
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But I want a longer contract with better rates, as I'll be here for 3 years! My alien card is only good until March, but I have letters to prove I'll be here for longer on fellowships. I am worried about waiting until then to sign a longer contract, as then (on an A-3) I won't even have an alien card, by law.
A friend stopped in an LG store to ask for me, and they said that they could indeed give me a contract without a deposit, but only had one option of a (not so great) phone.
I want to have a longer contract and pay more money for a halfway decent plan. Why is my money not good enough for them?
Should I just get a Korean friend to do this for me? It's so demoralizing. |
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taobenli
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:18 am Post subject: |
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| Anyway, I think I'm just going to give up and go to the Seoul Global Center, since I'm so tired of this. |
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Bryan
Joined: 29 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 11:24 am Post subject: |
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| taobenli wrote: |
| I do have friends who would set it up for me, I just see it as an indignity that an adult staying here legally and contributing to the economy can't set up something as basic as this one their own. |
Yeah, what an "indignity" that telecom companies want to protect themselves from fraud.
I'm in Canada and I just set my girlfriend up with a Canadian phone. Why? Because rightly, telecom companies don't want to give a free or discounted phone and contract to someone who could leave the country at any moment without a cosigner.
I think that if you're using a Korean credit card though, you might not have a problem. Are you using a Korean credit card? Or do you also want to be spared the "indignity" of having a reliable source of payment for the company?
By the way, what exactly are you contributing to the economy as a student? As a student you are a consumer, not a producer. Production is what makes an economy grow. |
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strange_brew
Joined: 12 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Bryan wrote: |
| taobenli wrote: |
| I do have friends who would set it up for me, I just see it as an indignity that an adult staying here legally and contributing to the economy can't set up something as basic as this one their own. |
Yeah, what an "indignity" that telecom companies want to protect themselves from fraud.
I'm in Canada and I just set my girlfriend up with a Canadian phone. Why? Because rightly, telecom companies don't want to give a free or discounted phone and contract to someone who could leave the country at any moment without a cosigner.
I think that if you're using a Korean credit card though, you might not have a problem. Are you using a Korean credit card? Or do you also want to be spared the "indignity" of having a reliable source of payment for the company?
By the way, what exactly are you contributing to the economy as a student? As a student you are a consumer, not a producer. Production is what makes an economy grow. |
And anyways, if your girlfriend screwed around with the phone contract, you could just stab her with that knife you unnessarily carry around (please see silly other thread.)
On a more serious note, it seems international students in Canada do not have any problems procuring a cell phone. But alas, they don't contribute anything either, they don't eat, pay rent, or go out at all. Those damn sponges on the economy. |
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typo
Joined: 16 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:54 pm Post subject: |
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yea, this bryan fellow doesn't seem to be the sharpest (HO!) guy around. which, around here......  |
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taobenli
Joined: 26 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:15 am Post subject: |
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| I went to LG today and just got too frustrated. So, Global Center it is tomorrow. My Korean is decent (studied for several years) but it seemed with a student visa I could only get a 6-month contract with pretty miserable rates, and no free phone included in the plan, but a SKY phone in white or black (the only option) for 130,000 won. I had no idea whether this was my best option so I chickened out and left. How much do foreigners (not on F visas) have to pay for phones (the units themselves)? Is the SKY phone okay? I just have no idea and am so tired today... |
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