Korean Job Discussion Forums

[brento1138]

I just recently was issued an E-2 visa in my passport from the Vancouver consulate. The weird thing is, it says that it is a 1YR sojourn yet the expiry date is 2005/03/06. So March 6, 2005. Why would that be? Is this normal? I searched the FAQ & there doesn't seem to be any answers for this question. I suppose it is not legal for me to teach if my E-2 expires then. If anyone knows of an answer to this, let me know.

[the eye]

the 3month period is the time you are allowed to register for your alien card. it has nothing to do with the length of your one year visa.

[brento1138]

[the eye]

yeah, foreign residents are required to register at the local immigration office within the deadline.
you will need to take (2) or (3) passport sized photos, your passport, and some info from your school.

they will issue you an alien registration card.

[kprrok]

You better get it checked out. Go back to the consulate and ask them. Or call them. If you VISA is expired, I'm pretty sure you'll get fined if and when you try to leave. You have to be out of the country before your VISA expires, that's the point of the VISA. It must be valid for the duration of your visit.

You do have to get an ARC once you get here, and you have 90 days to do it, but your VISA should be valid for the entire year.

Also, make sure it says that it is in fact an E-2. Perhaps they made a mistake and gave you a tourist VISA or something.

Check it out before you get here. I see that you have time. And to be honest, you should probably do it ASAP as you don't want to have your departure delayed because of VISA issues.

KPRROK

[trevorcollins]

It expires on that date if you haven't entered the country by that point.
They word it badly on the visa. It catches a lot of people out.
It should say something like "Period of Sojourn - 1year". That's the amount of time you are actually allowed to stay in the country from when you enter.

[David76]

(I added this paragraph later as an edit) It seems I had misunderstood some of what was written when I wrote the two following paragraphs, but this thread still raised a question for me -- are you sure the E-2 visa is valid for one year after entering South Korea, or one year from when it was issued? I was pretty sure it was valid for one year from the time it was issued. Am I wrong?

My visa is good for one year from the date it was issued, which was about five weeks before I arrived in South Korea. The immigration office seems to be disorganized! It would be simpler for us if this stuff were standardized.

If a visa is not due to expire for over one year, why would there be trouble if the first poster left just before it expired? Would an official at the airport bother challenge the date on the visa even if the visa is legitimate?

[PolyChronic Time Girl]

I was confused last year too by mine...the way I did it was I showed my passport to my boss and told him that my visa was going to expire before I finished my contract. He then called immigration and had it extended for one month...if you contact immigration, I believe you can have it extended for one month so you can finish your job and leave

[d503]

Yeah your visa should be good for one year (from the issue date) Also the guy I replaced got slapped with a fine cause he didn't extend his. So be sure you do. Just checked out mine and it has a full year marked off from entry time to exit time. I would say someone messed up your visa. But it shouldnt be a big deal to extend it if you are already here.

[brento1138]

[brento1138]

[trevorcollins]