Korean Job Discussion Forums

[naturegirl321]

Anyone done this? I know that for tourist visas you have to go through an agency and don't have to go to the embassy. Is the same true for work visas?

To get a tourist visa you have to have 6 months left on your ARC. how about a work visa? I won't have 6 months left when I apply. Will that be an issue since I'm going to work rather than be a tourist?

[CP]

From my understanding you would go to China on a tourist visa and then when you arrive you and employer will change it to a work visa.

[naturegirl321]

[naturegirl321]

Ok! After a couple of funny phone calls, being hung up on and other things, I found a place that will help. The reqs are different for TOURIST visas and WORK visas.

chinavisa8.com has info

TOURIST visas: you need more than 6 months on your ARC.
WORK visas: no such req. Just need the docs.

So yea! I can apply in KOrea! Still need to use an agent for the baby's birth cert back in the US, but everything else can be done here.

[wenchstalker]

I worked in China last year and I got my visa while in Korea. If you go in on a tourist visa, you can no longer transfer to a work visa in country. You will have to leave (Taiwan or Hong Kong) and many jobs will not pay for this.

I tried to go through the process in Korea but it was expensive and the health check can only be done at specific hospitals (even if your Chinese employer tells you otherwise). You can not go to the Chinese embassy or consulate directly, you need to go through a visa filing service. I spent a few weeks trying to do this and ultimately was not able to do so even though I had all of my working papers in order.

I ended up using a visa service in my home country (USA). I used http://visarite.com/ for mine and it was EASY. By that point, I only had two weeks to get my visa (since I'd spent nearly a month trying to get it in Korea) so I paid for the expedited service. My husband was in the states to get his process and used it and it also worked really well.

I would check for a visa process system in your home country and just mail out for it because all I got here was screwed around by getting different information from the embassy, from the immigration service in China, from my Chinese employer, from the visa agency in Korea etc.

Good luck

[naturegirl321]

Funnily enough only CTS says taht I can get it while having less than 6 months on my ARC. I'm hoping they're right since they are the official travel agent. I want to go in on a Z visa.

How much was the medical? And where did you get the list of where you could go? I've tried calling the embassy and that certainly didn't work at all.

I called another 5 agents yesterday and 2 of them said that China JUST changed the reqs again on Monday. So I'm worried that they'll change them and I won't get the visa. I might just send the docs back home anyways.

Going thorugh a filing agency, doesn't matter to me. I have to use two if I send our passports back home. One for WDC and another for Chicago.

Thanks for the tip on the visa service. I'll look them up.

[The Sultan of Seoul]

To get the tourist visa you DO NEED 6 months on your Korean arc. One way round it is to stop over in Hong Kong overnight and get a one day process time mainalnd tourist visa there.

At least this was as of February this year which is when I came here to PRC.

[naturegirl321]

[The Sultan of Seoul]

[naturegirl321]

Send stuff home would be far less of a hassle than going to HK. Cheaper as well.