Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lille]

I'm hoping to go to Fukuoka next Sunday, submit my papers Monday, collect my visa Tuesday at 1:30pm and then boot it to the beetle to take the hydrofoil back to Busan at 2:30. What dyou think? Is this cutting it too close? If I show up at the consulate to wait early, will I get the visa promptly at 1:30 and make it to the ferry in time? Has anyone else managed to get their visa without too much of a wait?

I'm deciding whether or not to just suck it up and stay an extra night, but I'd rather not. Fukuoka's boooooring and I wanna get back to Seoul and enjoy Seollal.

What dyou say? I'd really appreciate the advice of anyone who's managed this or done a visa run in the past.

[R. S. Refugee]

[lille]

Thanks for the advice, it sounds like a good package. I've got a place to stay, though, so all I need really is to know if I'll have enough time to make it to the 2:30 ferry if I'm getting my papers at 1:30. Do you know how long it takes to get a bus to the ferry terminal from the consulate by any chance?

[Skippy]

You are cutting it close. I would consider taking a taxi , but remember you will be paying top price - think maybe 4000 or 5000 yen. Maybe you can split the taxi with some people. Still getting thru the line and that does take some time. Can you not change your time.

Also consider asking if the visa can be picked up earlier.

Good Luck thru.

[R. S. Refugee]

[happiness]

take the 1st boat to fukuoka from busan
hand in your documents, make sure you have enough money, the addresses and etc
spend the night, dont be a cheapskate, fukuoka kicks ass in every kind of way
you can get the documents the next am after 10:30 I think , verfiy this.

take the lateest boat back to korea, maybe 2:30 or 4:00

you wont be able to grab a taxi like in Korea, they are less sporadic there
and you can take a bus (dont remember the number, ask the info booth in tenjin, they speak eng), there to the embassy and back.

[michelle_andrews]

I had to make a visa run recently, and decided to try the high-speed ferry method. It worked well. It arrived on schedule, cleared customs in minutes, and arrived at the consulate less than an hour after the boat arrived at the dock.

I booked a round-trip + hotel package deal through a service called KoreaNow! Travel. From what I can tell, package seems identical to the one offered by Kangsan (they even put me up at the same hotel, Central Hotel in Tenjin) but it was a lot less expensive. The total cost just under 200.000W in all, which seemed good since the tickets alone cost about that much on the Beetle website, and Kangsan would have charged more than 250.000 for the same dates.
http://koreanowconsultation.com/fukuokavisaruntour/

The one issue was that I didn't know to bring an extra copy of my passport. After I dropped off my passport at the consulate, I tried to check into the hotel, and realized that I didn't have any identification. They gave me some trouble at first but luckily I remembered that I had a PDF of the document stored on my email, so the receptionist at the hotel helped me find a computer and check (200Y), and I got my room.

The other issue is that if you want to get to the consulate before it closes, you have to take the 10AM ferry, which means that if you live in Seoul you need to take a KTX really early (like 6, on the first train) to insure enough time to get to the ferry terminal, pick up your ticket, etc. Or, you could do it like a friend of mine recommend, and go to Busan the day before and make a little vacation out of it, which sounds much more relaxed.

Hope this helps
Michelle

[PeteJB]

I've done a visa run to Fukuoka a couple of times from Incheon (by plane..). I've never done the ferry route - I'm kind of put off by the long journey time down to Busan and then the boat journey itself. The plane gets there in 1 hour and costs 400,000 return. I guess I could save 100,000 if I took the train+boat option or does it work out about the same?

[Skippy]