Korean Job Discussion Forums

[denverdeath]

[Wangja]

OK, I am in a foul mood until I have my first beer today but the amount of garbage written on this thread (and others) astonishes me.

Can you not see? If you visa expires on 31 July and you are still in the country on 1 August, you have overstayed. You are an illegal immigrant, just as I would be in USA if stayed 91 days instead of 90. Jeeeeeez.

Ker-iste, what level of English has to be written in a passport for a teacher of Englsih to be able to understand?

[astroboyfan]

[Wangja]

It wasn't.

[joe_doufu]

What do you mean? Don't you want to stick around for a few weeks after your contract is up, to travel and savor the Korean culture that you're going to remember fondly and miss for the rest of your life???

[stumptown]

[Wangja]

[JongnoGuru]

[Qinella]

[Wangja]

[fusionbarnone]

I almost lost 3 years severance and a plane ticket because of an expired visa. I've heard "grace period" theories before and if you want to avoid the bs that can eventuate, get your boss to apply for an extension.

Me arguing with the imo guy than the imo's manager, who I than unleashed on my boss'(had the phone nos) actually forced my boss to pay up before I got back to town.

He's(your boss) claiming ignorance because you'll have to either take time off work or he'll have to pay for your bus/taxi/fee. This sort of feigned ignorance could cost you dearly.

If you overstay, you will be ushered over to immigration at Incheon airport. A real hassle if you are strapped for time. If you'r unlucky, they'll fine you(50/60,000won according to the imo I argued with). I bleated to my girlfriend about the ungrateful #&$%s who almost ripped me off with a new law of their own creation. I said this loud enough so all could hear. Money saved meant more BurgerKing for us.

Get your extension.

[Qinella]

Can anyone explain why my ARC card expiration date is 3/19/06, while my visa expiry is 03/15/06? Is the visa the last day I'm allowed to work and the ARC is the last day I'm allowed to be in Korea?

I asked my boss about this and he has not responded at all after a week. Why would there be a discrepancy between the two government documents?

Thanks, Qinella

[denverdeath]

Quinella,

I'm not exactly sure how things are done nowadays as I'm on an F-2 visa and all extensions and add-ons I've gotten have always ended at the end of the month for the places I worked and the dates immi put on the back of my card matched the contract date. I do not work one day past that date for any place unless I have an extension. When I first started getting my visas in Canada, they had "TWELVE MONTHS" written or "1-year" stamped on them. No exact dates. Is that how they're doing them now? My current card(3rd) has a place where I started working at back in 2002 on it. The two dates which are on the front of it are 2002.04.13(top) and 2003.02.28(bottom). The first is when immigration actually issued the card. Unless this has changed, Canadians are required to have their visa/ARC processed within 90 days after entering Korea. The second is the last day I could legally work and it coincided with the last day of work at the hakwon. From what I recall, I began work on the first Monday of March in 2002. Remember I mentioned previously in this post that immigration sometimes gives you a couple of extra days? In your case 3/19/6 should be the day that you can work until and have to exit the country. It's a Sunday. Again, a little strange as to why your boss starting you working in the middle of the month, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Did you start work on a Tuesday? If so, stop work 365 days after that, on a Wednesday. Better yet, get a two-week extension if immi allows it, finish work to the end of the week if that's what the boss wants, and stick around to get your money and see some sights. Don't worry too much about a couple of dollars. If you were paid a full month's salary in April for your March work even though you didn't work a full month, you can work a couple of extra days and get a full month's salary in April next year too, right? The only problem there is that you MUST have an extension as you will be illegal after the 19th. Your director should also not be trying to weasel out of paying you your airfare and severance. If so, definitely get the extension and have him write it out that he agrees to give you what you're entitled to. The way I see it, a year is a year and I'm sure the labour board will see it the same way.

[denverdeath]

Uh. Now I'm confused. If you started work on March 1st, 2005, which was a Tuesday, twelve months would finish you on February 28th, 2006, a Tuesday. If this assumption is correct, you will be fine with immigration based upon the date you noted. Your boss should've pro-rated your salary for this past March and paid/pay you the full amount for the rest of the months of your contract. I think your contract is finished at the end of February regardless of the dates on your card. Run that by your boss please. Damn! I have a headache now.

[denverdeath]

Your situation is a bit confusing because I don't know exactly when you began work or what the dates on your contract are or whether your first month's salary was pro-rated or not. I also don't know whether that should be blamed on the recruiter or your boss or a foreigner who ran in the middle of the month. I have it clear in my head now though.

1. They shouldn't have started you mid-month.
2. You should finish work one year after you began and the director should not argue about it. If you started teaching on January 1st this year, your last day of work should be December 31st this year.
3. The stupid recruiters/directors should have the next teacher come a few days early so s/he is comfortable and ready to work on the FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH.

Headache subsiding...