Korean Job Discussion Forums

[myothercarisabackpack]

Hi Everyone,

My U.S. passport will expire in the Spring of next year, but I want to renew it early, that way I have no problems signing a new contract in 2010. The only problem is if I renew my passport early, my visa obviously becomes invalid.

Does anyone know how I get my present visa transferred to my new passport?

Thanks,

Bryan

[tired of LA]

I don't think your visa becomes invalid if you renew your passport. I'm not too sure if Korean visas are any different, but a US tourist visa is still valid even if the person receives a new passport. They only need to bring the old passport with them to show that they have a valid visa.

[myothercarisabackpack]

Thank you for the information and response.

In case any one else runs into this situation, all US citizens who receive new passports simply need to visit their local Korean immigration office within 14 days to have their visa transferred.

Americans should present their old passport, new passport, and alien registration card to the immigration officer. Surprisingly, there is no fee for this service.

For questions, you can dial 1345 (from any area code) and speak to a representative that's fluent in English. I hope this helps some of you.

[OculisOrbis]

The visa in your passport became invalid as soon as you received your alien resident card which replaces the sticker on your passport. Get your new passport. You have nothing to worry about as long as you have your ARC. If your passport number changes, you could go to immi to inform them of the new passport, but they wont put a new visa in it.

How could they require your old passport? What if you had lost it and your new passport was a replacement? That's what happened to me. I didnt go to immi after i got my new passport until i needed a re-entry permit for my vacation. They looked at the new one and my ARC with confused looks on their faces and i told them its a replacement for a lost one. They gave me a reentry permit, updated my new number in their system and i was on my way.

Same with banks, you might also want to update with them, too.

[vagabondhoosier54]

This happened to me a couple of years ago. Since I had a multiple entry stamp in my passport I had paid for, I went to immigration to get another one when I received my new passport. The multiple entry re-stamp was free of charge.