Korean Job Discussion Forums

dl2011 · Joined: 05 Jun 2011

My contract at this current school ends on August 1. I'm planning to stay and work in Korea at a different school, but I'm still searching for a job. My ARC expires on September 7, so I was planning to use the plane ticket provided by my school to take a trip to my home country during the beginning of August and then start the new job in mid to late August.

I'm looking at several jobs that want E2 visa transfer, but now I'm starting to get worried that my visa could get cancelled while I'm in the US, even though I've got time left on my ARC. Is this a real concern? Since I was elligible for the transfer, I haven't started collecting my visa documents, so this would be a huge setback for me.

I've read probably thirty threads on the visa issue, and to be honest, my eyes are starting to swim and I'm getting a major headache, so I figured it'd be better to ask directly.

Should I...

1) Just go on the trip overseas anyway, and transfer my E2 to the new job when I come back. In the event that I haven't found a job before leaving or in the meantime, come back within fourteen days of my ARC expiration and apply for the D10.

2) Scramble to find a job as soon as possible (risking potentially ending up in a less than ideal school), so that I can transfer the E2 visa before my trip starts.

3) Apply for the D10 at the end of my contract and try to convince my current school to let me take the flight out two weeks later (assuming they haven't already bought the plane ticket; I kind of doubt they have...); just take a later start date.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Troglodyte · Joined: 06 Dec 2009

It doesn't matter how much time is left on your visa. Once your job ends you are obligated to inform immi and get an extension if needed. If you don't, it's possible that your employer will.

Best to apply for a D10 before you contract finishes (apply for it 2 weeks in advance). Once you have the D10, you can travel out of the country and then come back, find a job, and transfer.

dl2011 · Joined: 05 Jun 2011

Ah, okay, I see. Well, I doubt my school's going to think to notify immi (I'm their first ever FT, so I pretty much had to hand-hold my boss through everything this year), but I'll do the D10 switch anyway; I don't want to take any chances, here. From what I've read on the forums, it seems like transferring from E2-D10-E2 is pretty much the same as E2-E2 for practical purposes, so it should be fine.

Thanks for your help!!

tideout · Joined: 12 Dec 2010

Related question. Apologies if this is too off subject.

I vaguely remember posts or information that, last year, immigration had changed it's way of dating E-2 visas so they did not expire before the school contract (public) did. It has seemed obvious enough to many that a visa ending prior to the end of the contract was a problem right?

Apparently, I missed the ball last year or was thinking it wasn't an issue. Unfortunately, my visa does expire about a week before my contract which ends on 8/24.

Any chance of me getting immigration to just fix the dates instead of applying for an extension? They obviously had the school contract and end date when they issued the visa.

Thoughts, work-arounds?

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

Troglodyte · Joined: 06 Dec 2009

If you do get caught over staying, then it's supposed to be 100,000Won per day. It's not always enforced, but considering how cheap it is to extend, I wouldn't risk it.

tideout · Joined: 12 Dec 2010

ibeattheborg · Joined: 17 Dec 2010 Location: the deep blue sea

dl2011 · Joined: 05 Jun 2011

So, update on my situation: I called immi to confirm when I could apply for the D10 (some sources said two weeks before the end of the contract; some said only once it has ended) and was informed that I could not apply until the contract ended.

I then asked if I could travel while the D10 was being processed, and I was informed that, no, I'd have to wait two weeks or so for my new card to be issued. (She mentioned the certificate and receipt thing but then added that I would still have to wait two weeks before traveling . . . then what's the point, I wonder?) But it turns out my school's already purchased my ticket -- trust them to be on time for the first time since I've worked here -- so that's going to be really prohibitive.

So, I explained the situation and asked them what they'd recommend, and she put me on hold for about ten minutes and.... *drum roll*

I was informed that it was okay to leave on my E2 as long as I returned before it expired and didn't hand in my ARC at the airport.

This was so different from what I'd heard that I repeated the whole thing two or three times. ("So, I can finish my contract" - "mmm" -
and then visit the USA for two weeks" - "mmm" - "and then come back and transfer my visa?" - "Yes." "And my E2 won't be cancelled even though I've finished the contract?" "Not if you don't hand in your ARC card at the airport.")

...Okay?

This is from the immigration helpline, by the way, and the representative said she even called my local immigration office (Omokyo) while I was on hold to confirm.

So, this would be good news, but now I'm having trouble trusting it. I got the representative's information in case I had an issue later, but it probably won't do me any good if they cancel the visa while I'm overseas to point fingers at who gave me bad info. Her English seemed fine, but I'm aware it could be a translation issue, too, or just a case of government employees getting confused, something I'm very familiar with. I think I'll call Omokyo and see if they tell me the same thing tomorrow... (If I get shuffled back to the helpline, I can at least see if another representative says the same.) Am I being paranoid?

ibeattheborg · Joined: 17 Dec 2010 Location: the deep blue sea

Here's another update on the D10 visa. After calling the immigration helpline and going to the actual immigration office in Busan, I was told that I should apply for the D10 when I finished work(today) and it would be 3 weeks before I got my ARC back with the D10 addition. Thus I could not leave before then. That was a few weeks ago. The recruiter was pushing me to set a departure date as she was dealing with my flight home. So I told her I would leave 3 weeks after I finished work when I would get my ARC back.

Today I went to Immigration to apply for a D10 and I got it straight away!!!!!!!!!!!! WTH/F, I could be home in Ireland cursing the rain instead of melting here in Korea and living it up in a goshitel for the next 3 weeks.