Korean Job Discussion Forums

seanyboy · Joined: 12 Sep 2006

I worked in Korea for a year, have a Korean girlfriend who I've traveled SE Asia and Australia with... she's back in Korea now and I'm planning on going back, but I'm becoming less interested in working in ESL or working at all for that matter. I can support myself there on investments, work over the internet, etc....

... so my question is, could I just live in Korea without working? Just on a tourist visa? I can't find any other visa that would suit this situation, but somehow I doubt this would fly with immigration, who would be reasonably suspicious that I'd be teaching illegally, trying to dodge the new visa requirements, etc. Would I run into problems because of not having an alien registration card?

Anyone have some experience or thoughts? Thanks a bunch... Wink

peter07 · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Gwangmyeong

You could get a C-3 business visa, which works like a tourist visa but invites a lot less hassle from immigration.

You'd have to invest a lot of money, however, to qualify for the investor visa.

seanyboy · Joined: 12 Sep 2006

... ah, and I forgot to mention that I'm Canadian, which means a 180 day tourist visa... nice!

JamesFord · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Location: my personal playground

I've been going in and out on a tourist visa for 5 years. Never a problem.

littlelisa · Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Location: Seoul

If it'll just be for a year, then get a working holiday visa. That lasts a year, and you will be able to work if you want.

MissSeoul · Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Location: Somewhere in America

esetters21 · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Location: Seoul

Abuse the system as you will. That seems to be your intention. Good luck with that.

CPT · Joined: 25 Mar 2007

Are there any problems with getting a place to live, paying bills, etc, without an ARC?

agentX · Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Location: Jeolla province

Transferring money without an ARC is a pain from what I've heard. You might have to use some "outside the box" methods for that one.
Paying bills? You mean Korean Bills? Well, if you have a bank account, then you can just bring your bills to the bank branch that does billpay and either pass the bill to the teller or use the billpay atm. You don't need an ARC for that. I suppose you could also pay bills at the office with cash- I have heard of that before. I think there is a third option involving 7-11s, but I think that's only in Taiwan and the States. Might be worth asking about.
Housing....I suppose you could just room with someone who has an extra room or is subletting. That way, you won't even need to worry about an ARC or key money. Of course, if you don't know the person, an ARC might be the least of your problems.

JamesFord · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Location: my personal playground

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

I have been able to rent a room without any identification. Not saying it was nice.

ernie · Joined: 05 Aug 2006 Location: asdfghjk

how is it 'abusing the system' to come back and forth on tourist visas? he's not working, just spending all his money here... i wouldn't mind if i was the government!

esetters21 · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Location: Seoul

Atavistic · Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:34 pm Post subject:

You could marry her.

seanyboy · Joined: 12 Sep 2006

Thanks for all the advice and ideas.... yeah I wondered about not having an ARC, but probably there are workarounds...

LittleLisa, have you had a working visa, or known someone who has one? The conditions for H-1 as described seem hugely favorable compared with E-2, but all the websites I follow to learn how to get one are broken, or say "refer to the consulate." Sounds like a dead end, but I suppose it's worth a try.

Atavistic, you're quite right that would neatly solve the issue, and hopefully it'll happen but I wouldn't want to rush it for immigration purposes... call me a romantic... Wink

Do you officially need an ARC to rent an apartment? I guess the alternative is to sub-let, as suggested... probably simpler.

Cheers all...