Korean Job Discussion Forums

vox · Joined: 13 Feb 2005 Location: Jeollabukdo

I went to the bank to have my money converted to a money order and they wanted my passport to write in it! Of course I got in a fight with the server and the manager insisting that it is not the case and they are making an exception for me. I don't know what's what anymore. It is f**king ridiculous that some people want us to believe we come here only to be able to send 10million home on an E2 visa I'm just not convinced that it's really the true story.

I am getting desperate and I'm considering just taking it all home in a suitcase and converting it in Canada. Can anyone with any real knowledge tell me how I can legally get around this? My friend in another city sends his money home and never gets asked for his passport. WTF?! I can't ask him to do it for me because if he starts doubling the amount sent home the bank might start asking questions. I don't know what to do but it's really pissing me off.
Evil or Very Mad

Helpful PMs welcome.

jinju · Joined: 22 Jan 2006

If you think you will be able to take it home in a suitcase you are mistaken. This is not bank policy. By law you are not allowed to take over 10,000USD out of a country without declaring it.

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

You are allowed to take up to $10,000 USD out of the country. To take more, you need to take paycheque slips to a bank and have it transferred. You may transfer up to 2/3 of what you earn here.

vox · Joined: 13 Feb 2005 Location: Jeollabukdo

Declaring it is fine with me. I would be happy to report to my destination country that I'm putting more than 10K USD in my savings account. But that's not what happens here. They just cross their hands and say you can't do it.

Any helpful advice besides suck it up? Because I don't really believe that the majority of us are doing that.

vox · Joined: 13 Feb 2005 Location: Jeollabukdo

Tiberious aka Sparkles · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: I'm one cool cat!

Why are you so adverse to showing them your passport?

Sparkles*_*

dogbert · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Location: Killbox 90210

Where do you get that 2/3 figure?

VanIslander · Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:21 pm Post subject:

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

winnie · Joined: 08 May 2005 Location: the forest

You might wanna change banks. I send mine home through nong hyup...never had a problem.

When I used KEB to buy traveler's checks however, they wrote the amount in my passport. Nong hyup doesn't even ask for a passport, just ARC...but then they don't even know what a traveler's check is at that bank.

You need some special form from your school I was told, if you are sending home more than 10,000 in a year. Just have your school call the bank and ask them what they wanna see. It's just a measure some of them take to make sure you are earning legally I think. But I have never been questioned at the nong hyup.

huck · Joined: 19 Jan 2003

Or just withdraw the money in supyo's (checks) and take it to an itaewon curreny exchange window....Change it over to dollars and put it in your pocket if you're going home soon.

pest2 · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Location: Vancouver, Canada

It does seem like they're always asking you for passport here ... compared to other countries at least... "gotta have yer damn passport just to take a leak in this joint" my 50 year old former co-worker would say.

One thing to consider, maybe, is that if you renew your passport in the middle of the year, your embassy wont transfer that page with all the scribble the banks put on it over to the new passport.. so they have no way to know how much you sent before you renewed...

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004