Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nate1983]

Okay, so I am supposed to begin at a university starting two weeks from today, and per the request of the school I booked my flight over a month ago (for this coming Sunday). They had asked for a list of stuff for me to send over, and they let me know on May 1 that they had received everything. On May 22 (while I am on vacation halfway around the world), I get an email that my CBC needs to be apostilled so they can't process anything at Immigration. I heard nothing from them about this the first time, and why it took 3 weeks after receipt of my documents to figure this out is beyond me (was everything sitting on a shelf during that time?)...so I emailed my dad and had him order a new CBC and get it apostilled ASAP, then I express mailed it to Korea which they received just over a week ago. I am still waiting on my visa issuance number which I have been assured is probably coming tonight or tomorrow night at the latest. If I get it tonight, I will drive to the consulate (3hrs away) and try to get an interview there, which apparently they only do on Tuesdays which tomorrow is. If I don't get the number tonight I'm not sure what to do.

So my questions are, will the consulate need to take my passport while I wait for the visa? How long should this take? Is it possible for me to enter the country as a "tourist," then have the visa mailed to me and I can affix it to my passport in Korea? If not, could I have it mailed to the embassy or somewhere in Japan then fly over to Korea as a tourist then do a visa run to Japan to have it attached then enter Korea again on an E2 visa? I have followed every instruction to the letter and still I am in this mess which I'm rather pissed about...anyone got any advice?

[Zaria32]

Every consulate seems to be different...some will put the visa in your passport the same day, some require 3 or 4 days.

The mess you are in is a very typical one...be very polite, and hide your understandably short-temperedness with everyone at the Consulate, but if your visa number doesn't arrive in time the for the interview, ask for an exception, ask over and over, very, very politely.

Find out from the airline what the change fee is on the ticket (most non-refundable tickets can be changed for a fee) and if you have to change the ticket, add the change cost to the amount you expect to be reimbursed by the university.

ERxplain to the university (again, very politely) that had you known about the apostille, none of this would have happened.

Having said that, information about the apostille process is all over this website, and you do have some responsibility yourself in finding out what is required to teach here.

[nate1983]

Thanks for the helpful reply, I think that sounds like a good way to approach things. If I do get the number tonight I think things should work out okay, but recently with each stroke of the clock I've been getting a bit more anxious. I think I will go to the embassy in DC tomorrow regardless of whether I receive the number tonight...easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission for showing up without the number I reckon. I was up there for a language test a couple months ago and spoke with some of the people for a little, maybe they would remember me (being the only non-kyopo) and be able to help a bit. In any case I will just try to be very polite but also make sure they understand the urgency. And either things will work out all right or I'll have a good "when I first wanted to work in Korea" story.