Korean Job Discussion Forums

[giraffe]

I have a question for other people on on F2s ( Is it the F6 now?) about the visa renewal process.

Anyone else here applied for a F2( f6?) RENEWAL with less than a month left on your passport expiry?

I know its stupid of me to leave it at the last minute. My original plan was to renew my passport in january or february before extending my stay in korea but life got in the way ( work, moving/finding new apt , dog's health problems etc...).

Now , I'm unfortunately in the situation where my passport will expire at the end of month And my Arc card will expire on the same day end of the month. 0_o.....

Sooo Will I run into any problems at immigrations for a renewal? Anyone experience something similar?

My wife called the local immigration office explaining the situation but they were soo unclear over the the phone. They just said to come in anyways....

I'm applying for my passport renewal next week ( earliest I can go to seoul).

Thanks for helpful replies in advance.

[alongway]

Getting your ARC renewal will probably be faster than getting your passport renewed. I would renew your ARC first, just go and sit there and take as long as it needs. You should get it back in less than 2 weeks. Then, go apply for your passport renewal. That can take 3 weeks or more. You can hang out here with an expired passport while you wait for its renewal, an expired F2/6 not so much.

[ttompatz]

You can only extend your stay (ARC) until the expiry date on your passport (probably why they both expire on the same date).

Get thee down to your embassy NOW and apply for the replacement.

The bad news is that, depending on your country of passport, the process takes from 3 weeks to 3 months (assuming you have all the required documents in hand for the visa application).

Kimmi is NOT very accommodating when it comes to invalid passports.

Worst cases:
i) you go home (you can get a travel document from your embassy in a day or so) and return on a new F6 when you get your new passport.

ii) you overstay and deal with it. (fine (typically 100k won for less than 30 days) and visa (re)application issues). This may complicate your F5 application should you wish to pursue it.

.

[giraffe]

ttompatz....

Thanks for info. No encouraging but thanks =).

Actually i lied ( a little) . My passport expires March 26th BUT my ARC card expires MArch 31st. So my arc is valid longer than my passport by 5 days.

I just called the foreigner english immigration line. Explained my situation that both my passport and ARC card expiring at the end of the month. The Girl said that as long as my passport is still valid. I can apply for an extension no problem. She put me on hold while she double checked/called my local immigration office to make sure.

HOWEVER my wife called the same number with korean service and they said i need to renew my passport First

Geez, talk about conflicting info....

Online they also only mention the passport being VALID!! No mention of a minimum validity date or anything for an extension.

I have a Canadian Passport so I assume it'll take 2-3 weeks to process a renewal.

Anyways , I have an appointment at the immigration office in 3 hours. I'll let you guys know what happen in case anyone else is in the same situation.

[giraffe]

Ok Just came back from immigration office with a 2 year extension to my Arc card...

All the info we got from phoning , looking on Hikorea ect.. was pretty much wrong except for the paper work needed. on all the immigration website it says to extend the f2 visa it Costs 30 000 won but I ended up paying 20 000 won instead. I booked a 2pm-2:10 pm appointment online and when i got there at 2pm no one was there to help us. WE waited 10 minutes and STILL no one showed up at the appointment window. Eventually some lady from the back decided to process our paperwork. They didn't even look at my passport or even checked anything. They stamped the paperwork , typed some stuff in the computer and wrote MArch 31st 2014 on the back of my card in the area for extension of stay. Took 5 minutes to process...

I'm still on an F2 visa from what i can tell. Unless this new F6 visa change is only in the computer.

Should I be concerned that I wasnt changed to an F6? or doesnt really matter? I dont want to worry about it . I did what they asked.. if they didnt do their job properly its not my problem... =).

I'm glad I dont have to worry about it for 2 years now! Just need to worry about my passport , now.