Korean Job Discussion Forums

[fezmond]

Hi guys

any advice would be appreciated as i'm confused as hell so far.

i'm about to complete my contract on jan 4th, though i've taken all my holidays so i can head home for xmas (leaving xmas eve).

i'll be returning on the 7th jan and hope to quickly jump into a job. my question is whether it's possible for me to extend my visa by a week with immigration, and then try and get signed over to a new employer with a LOR from my current job.

i guess this is bypassing the system of having to get all my documents in order (waiting on some right now), but is it possible? or should i just start afresh in seoul with all my required visa things?

apologies if any of that is confusing, i hope someone can give some help.

cheers

[OculisOrbis]

if you have an outgoing plane ticket and want to spend a little more time here, all you have to do is go to immigration and they will give you a tourist extension of up to 30 days from the expiry date on your ARC. you have to do it before your ARC expires and they usually want to see the outgoing ticket and will normally only extend to the date of the ticket (up to 30 days from your ARC expiration). you can't work during that extension period, but you could look for a job (although you're not really supposed to do that as a tourist). there is no charge for this extension. you will need apply for a new visa this way when you find a new job and do a visa run to japan.

the way that youre talking about would require a contract extension with your current employer and a request at immi to extend your period of sojourn. 30 000 won fee. then you need to find a new employer and get the LOR to transfer the visa without going through the whole process again.

if you try to go that complicated route, and your current employer agrees to extend you (and gives you an LOR), make sure you have a multi-entry permit in your passport for when you return - otherwise you'll be a tourist and will have to go through the whole visa process again, anyway. 50 000 won for multi-entry permit.

[fezmond]

thanks for the reply.

i'm got a round trip booked to london and back so i'd be returning on a tourist visa already i guess - as my ARC expires 2 days before i land back in seoul.

i guess i'll have to land and just try and find something and start from scratch - not a major problem, just takes a little longer.

[OculisOrbis]

like i said, if your current employer agrees and is willing to extend your contract to help you out, you can come back under the same visa after extending your period of sojourn, find a job, and then transfer to the new job with an LOR.

you just have to do the extension before you leave korea for your vacation. extension of sojourns can be done anytime during the last 30 days of your original period of sojourn. and you need a multi-entry permit to return under the same visa.

i just have my doubts if there are many korean employers who would do that for you...if, on the off chance they would, make sure you get the LOR before you leave.