Korean Job Discussion Forums

[waterbaby]

[phaedrus]

That's what happens to what you hear....

I wonder if immigration actually knows the answer?

[kangnamdragon]

maybe there is no "F2" just F-2-1

[peppergirl]

[phaedrus]

[jazblanc77]

Some people have got it wrong here. F-2 is the basic visa for family members. As it pertains to most on this board, it is for those married to a Korean spouse. You are not actually allowed to work on this visa, however, you can add a working permit to it, hence giving it the F-2-1 designation.

E-2 is an actual visa and it cannot be added to another visa though the work permit has similar restrictions.

The F-2/F-2-1 is one year renewable the first time, valid for two years upon the next renewal, five upon the next, and you become a permanent resident on the subsequent one.

The working permit must be renewed upon resuming employment under a new contractor.

[jaykimf]

It occurred to me that the F-2-1 visa is an F-2 visa that is valid for 1 year. That is just a guess but it seems reasonable. Even though my visa has now been renewed for 3 years, my visa was for one year when my ARC was printed.
As for those who insist that it is illegal to work without an additional E-2 (or E-7etc.), you had better tell that to the Masan Immigration office because they insist otherwise. What I have is "permission for engaging in activities not covered by the status of sojourn". If I did have an additional E-2 visa (without my even knowing it) obviously my work would be covered by the status of sojourn and I wouldn't need this permission. To get the permission to teach English you need the same qualifications as would be required for the E-2, but that doesn't mean that you have to have the visa. It's possible that Immigration has an option of which way they want to do it and certain offices do it one way and other offices do it another. If you insist that you actually have 2 visas, who am I to say you don't. All I can tell you is that I don't. (and that I am working and immigration approved it.)

[phaedrus]

[jazblanc77]

This site should really have a specific help link for visa realated issues. I know that when I was getting my F-2 last year, getting/finding information was very problematic.

The Korean government websites are inaccurate and unhelpful. They have Q&A forums but they are largely ignored, especially the English ones. To get someone on the phone isn't impossible but highly unlikely and when you do, they are to busy, incompetent, or both to be of any help.

[kangnamdragon]

[jazblanc77]

Trust me, we went through a lot of hoops to get my F-2 visa. The FAQ would say one thing, the official immigration site would say another, and the question forums would say another while the immigration officer at the Ku office would say something completely different (then change his mind once we actually arrived there to process the visa).

Gotta love bureaucracy!!!

Anyways, I wasn't commenting on sourcing a bunch of forum threads. I meant an actual page on this site with compact, digestible, and reliable information on the issue since the Korean Immigration offices can't seem to get their act together.

[prosodic]

[jazblanc77]

Who was complaining?

Registerig a marriage, processing family registers, and getting visas and work permits are a little more complicated than certifying a degree!

[prosodic]

[jazblanc77]

I would associate it more with incompetence in the case of the Dept. of Immigration. In my case, they couldn't even figure out which supporting documents they needed. This can be a big problem since, in Korea, there are something like four different types of family registers so not having the right one is a problem. We were also told to bring the id cards and stamps of three notorietors and proof of valuable assets to the amount of 30,000,000. Neither were necessary!