Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mari2121]

I’ll soon be going to Seoul for a 6 month stay. However, I’ll only be staying as a tourist, which means no ARC. From what I understand, no ARC means things will be a little more complicated for me, so I was wondering if anyone here had any tip/advice, mainly regarding banking, renting an apartment and possibly getting a cellphone.

Anyone knows of any bank that would let me open an account without an ARC? (Or knows of another (easier) way to transfer larger amount of money from my home country (Canada) to Korea?)

Also, concerning renting an apartment, does not having an ARC means I won’t have a contract?

Thank you
(I hope I posted this in the right section).

[modernseoul]

Bank Account - Basically no, you can open an account without an ARC but you need at least a visa in your passport.

Cell Phone - Officially they're linked to an ARC, it is possible (but expensive) to rent one. But there are places in Itaewon that deal with non-ARC phones, but it's at your own risk.

Apt Rental - This is possible, there are places that rent apartments to tourists as well as sub-lets, house shares and student accommodation like a GoShiWon. It can be expensive in Seoul depending on location, and unless you speak Korean difficult.

Good Luck

[Stan Rogers]

Transfering large sums of money into Korea is easy. Transfering large sums out might raise an eyebrow so keep your documents regarding that so you can prove the money wasn't illegally obtained.

[Wildbore]

There are ways to get a pre-paid SIM card.

Apartment rental is very easy with just a passport (cash is king here). The problem is most places want someone who will stay at least a year or two, and pay a modest deposit.

Bank account, I thought it was possible with KEB to open one with just a passport, but maybe someone else can come along and provide some more insight.

[wings]

You can open a bank account at KEB with just a passport. You won't get a debit card (one that you can use in stores) though, just a 'bank card' that you can use to withdraw money from an ATM, or to pay bills at the bank.

[Chaparrastique]

[ttompatz]

[sethzor]

Currently in Korea on a tourist visa.

Opening a bank account with KEB was no problem - don't know about other branches, but in Itaewon they spoke perfectly fine English and made a double account for me (one in KRW, one in USD, the KRW one has a debit card that works just fine both in local stores and for online shopping). I had to have my passport + alternative form of ID from my home country - pretty much anything works for that though, driver's license, student ID, even a credit card. I also needed a Korean phone number, so do this after you get your phone sorted out.

Prepaid SIM card from Olleh is very easy to get. Again, Itaewon branches all speak fine English, the only requirement is that you have a passport, and were in the country for at least 3 days before you go there. They also won't be able to register a SIM for you on weekends. The rates on prepaid SIMs are actually very good, unless you call a LOT - like, every day conversations or something kind of lot - it is actually cheaper than going with a monthly plan, anyway. There was also an event on Olleh's uSIM card where topping up for 50k won would get you a 100k balance, which is probably enough for a 6 month stay (would be enough for me with my calling habits, anyway).

Renting, not having an ARC shouldn't be a very big problem, however not being able to speak fluent Korean could be - best places to find apartments are local 부동산 places that are mostly ran by older Korean folks that don't speak any English at all. 'Some' of them do speak English, or you could also look on craigslist - tends to be a little more expensive, but eh. If you don't have any Korean contacts that could help you with this, you could just pay the extra 100k or whatever a month and get something off CL, or you could look into houseshares with other foreigners etc. Depends on what you're looking for really.


Also about transferring money from Canada... you could just do a remittance from your current bank to KEB, they let people do that and the fee is very small (similar to what you'd pay for transferring money to your own account) - but then again, having a Korean bank acc with a Korean card would be more convenient than lumping cash around everywhere anyway so might as well get it.


edit: more about housing.. it's true that USUALLY a 5-10mil KRW deposit is expected, however many landlords are kind of flexible about it - ie for a 6 month stay you might be able to just pay the whole rent upfront, or you'll be paying an extra 50k monthly without a deposit etc, also areas around major university hubs (Hongdae, Hoegi, Jegi etc) tend to have a good amount of onerooms and officetels (studios) that are mostly marketed towards student thus have lower deposits and often bundle up bills with the rent.
Also, internet and TV are almost always included in the building maintenance fee (or in the rent), so you shouldn't worry too much about having to sign contracts for that.

This is all of course assuming you're going to live in a studio apt; if you're looking for a larger apartment, well... good luck with that :p