Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Jrich]

On December 7th, I went to the Ilsan Immi and handed in my application for the F2 visa. My friend had recently stated he went to the Immi in Seoul and it took about 1 week. After I handed in my application, the woman said it should take a max of 4 months, and I couldn't leave the country until then.
My wife called the office about 3 weeks ago and they said that the woman who took the application looks it over and verifies a few things and usually hands them off to another man about 1 month later. He then checks a few things and a week later I would have the visa. He said he would call when he receives the application.

However, after waiting 6 plus weeks, my wife called again today. They told her that the woman has not even looked at the file and they were very busy(when I went there, there was 2 people waiting in the middle of the day). They also added that we will have to wait between 3-5 months to get the visa.

I asked if we could at least take our application from them and give it to another Immi that wasn't as busy and they said we could not do that.


Does this sound absolutely ridiculous to you? Is this normal? Does anyone have any advice or experience on this matter?
There doesn't seem to be any info on this on websites...

[r122925]

[jrwhite82]

Mine took 3 weeks. Applied in August of 2010 though. So not sure if it is still the same.

What country are you from? I know they are more strict with people from SE Asia and Africa.

But 6 months sounds absolutely ridiculous.

[T-J]

It does sound extreme. The norm lately is 3~6 weeks.

It could be you are applying for a spouse visa at the second worst possible time, right in the midst of the F-6 transition. They are also probably swamped with the administrative task involved in collecting biometric data as well. Best thing, read only thing, I can think to do is have your wife be polite but persistent. Have her keep checking. Sqweaky wheel gets the grease.

I applied at THE worst time by the way. Before they issued spouse visas to foreign males. Keep your chin up it could be a lot worse. You could be trying to get her a visa for your country. Now that is a pain in the arse.

[Jrich]

I'm Canadian. Apparently we can take it to another office if we change our address to one in Seoul. I will call them tomorrow and see how long the average wait time for a visa is in their office.

However, I do agree that it is in a transition period and may take a little longer. But I figure the process is exactly the same for them.

Thanks for your input!