Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gnawbert]

I didn't find any threads about this consulate, so I thought I'd write up my experiences as a first time E-2 applicant.

The consulate itself is at 3500 Clay Street, tucked away in rather nice looking typical Presidio Heights mansion on the corner of Clay and Laurel so it's easy to miss. The only sign I spotted was a small plaque stating it was the consulate. Parking's a pain and it's residential, so plan on spending about 20 minutes doing laps and parking on slopes wheels inward.

They *ONLY* do the E-2 visa interview from 9-10 am every Wednesday, and pick it up on friday morning, however if you ask them nicely, they will let you pick it up Thursday afternoon, as is the case with my girlfriend, since we fly out friday morning.

The man in charge of E-2's is Yongil Kim, or simply Yong-kim. He answers the phone pretty regularly to and wears his Tech Support headset while doing paperwork behind the bulletproof glass window that made me feel like I was in a pawn shop. He's obviously over worked and terrible at answering emails with any specifics, so plan on speaking to him in person, even if you have to go in on a day where they don't do the E-2 interview. Otherwise, he was a nice, funny fellow with a missing tooth who apparently loves the coffee from the coffee shop down the street. I offered to pick him some up but apparently that would be considered a bribe and he shoo'd me off with a chuckle.

The "interview" itself was mindblowingly absurd. After arriving at 9:30, I was one of about 20 people applying for their E-2s. The line took about 30 minutes, and when we were all clear he told us to go wait in another room til about 10:30.

We all sat in a large room, most of us having never gone to Korea and excited, trading horror stories about apostille procedures and where we're all living while reading Korea Sparking brochures. Everyone was for the most part between straight-out-of-college to mid 30's with one or two older looking folks. Some people showed up in suits and ties. I wore ripped jeans and a jacket and got extremely worried that I wouldn't pass the style inspection.

Eventually a bunch of us traded emails and the clock ticked to around 11:30, by which time NO ONE had even been taken out of the room to be interviewed, let alone acknowledged we existed.

Then, Mr. Kim walks in with a clipboard and a smile and announces: "Congratulations, you have all passed interview! Come back on friday for visa."

And that was that.

I just picked up my Visa this afternoon. No additional requirements, no DNA swab, subcutaneous microchip implant or oath of good behavior required. It was absurdly simple, and frankly, the interview portion was little more than just sitting in a large dining-type room with a bunch of other E-2 applicants for an hour and a half until they probably realized it'd take forever and lunch time was rolling around so we were all approved en-masse. Whatever the case, I just wanted to post this for any future San Francisco folks wondering what it'll be like.

Cheers!

[Leslie Cheswyck]

Cool! Sometimes beaurocratic lazinesss works in your favor.