Korean Job Discussion Forums

adzee1 · Joined: 22 Jul 2010

I had suspected that about the visa run and doing it too many times so we decided yesterday that we are gonna get married !! Hopefully this will deal with any housing and morality issues Smile

Do schools prefer people to be married at my kind of age of twenty eight ? Its just i read on another forum that people had been asked by their colleagues why they were not married and other similar questions.

So should she apply for a E2 visa before going to Korea or enter on a tourist visa and get it when she is there ?

defaultusername · Joined: 15 Apr 2009

I've not heard of the tourist visa run being quite so iffy. Places like this make it seem like cake:

http://www.jetsetzero.tv/2009/06/24/tsushima-island-visa-run/

Also, what is meant by "too many" tourist visa runs? 3, 10?

Is the run more iffy if one arrives on a Japanese island and takes the same ferry back 45 minutes later? Is the safe thing to spend a couple of days somewhere, so the purpose of renewing doesn't seem so obvious?

I'm about to be doing this, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

salgichawa · Joined: 18 Mar 2010

Troglodyte · Joined: 06 Dec 2009

I haven't heard of people doing a visa run to Tsushima before but this story doesn't sound much different from the standard visa run to Fukuoka (via ferry or airplane).

Some countries have a limit or they say that you can spend a maximum number of days per calendar year, or a maximum number of days out of the previous X days (e.g. 120 days out of the previous 360 days). I really don't know if Korea officially has one of these limits. From experience and from what I've heard, I think it does not. BUT even if there is no official set limit on the number of times you can do a visa run, it's not something set in stone. The immigration officials at the airport (or the ferry docks) who stamp your passport, are pretty much allowed to use their judgement about whether to let you in or not. If they suspect that you are doing something illegal, then they can (and sometimes do) turn you away. Then you have to buy a plane ticket onwards.

If they see a 20 year old Brit or Aussie, they'll probably stamp his passport quite a few times before someone gets suspicious or even cares. They will eventually say "no". After someone has been in Korea for half a year, supposedly as a tourist they are going to at least suspect something. If you're young and from an English speaking country then they'll guess that you're teaching English without a proper visa. If you come from what they consider a poor country, then they will suspect you of something more serious.

If you have a legitimate sounding excuse made up, then they might let you though more often. If you said that you're taking a language course or something else, then they might believe it and stamp your passport. There's a limit though. Eventually you'll get some guy that senses something wrong, hasn't had his coffee, just got reamed by his boss, read some unflattering article in the newspaper about a foreigner.... And he says "Sorry. Your story doesn't add up. You can't enter." And that's it.

Most people that I've met who have done a visa run just to extend their visa-free time as a tourist, only did it a few times before either moving on to another country or getting a work permit.

To answer your question, YES, the visa run (to extend a tourist visa or visa free period) is definitely more iffy if you only spend 45minutes in Japan. In that case it's becomes blatantly obvious what you're doing, and there's a good chance that the customs guy will remember you - especially if you're going to a more obscure destination in Japan. LOTS of people go to Fukuoka every day. Even more go to Tokyo and Osaka. Better to stay somewhere for the weekend.

At this time of year, you can hang out on the beach in Fukuoka. Many travel agents even offer cheap package trips to Fukuoka - 1 or 2 nights in a business hotel and return transport (ferry or plane). If you've never been to Japan before, it's worth seeing. If nothing else, you can see how it compares to Korea. (You might decide to stay there.)

curiousaboutkorea · Joined: 21 Jan 2009

I know someone in your situation working at a public school. As far as I can tell, it's not an issue. The apartment is a little small for 2 people, but they make do. I think everyone knows about them living together and so on.