Korean Job Discussion Forums

[milesmik]

Hi,

I am an american in korea right now on a 30-day tourist visa. I just got a job the other day but they are telling me that i dont have enough time on my tourist visa to stay until i get my e-2 visa letter for my visa run. Is there a simple way that i can get an extension? if not, can i just leave the country and come back the next day and get another 30 days? any help would be greatly appreciated.

thank you

[turtlepi1]

Yes, you can leave and come back and get another 30 days.

BUT you will have to leave AGAIN to get your E-2 processed.
Unless your school is paying for BOTH trips I wouldn't do that as my first choice.

I don't think overstaying your tourist visa right now is a good idea. Immigration sort of has a pickle up their bum(s) these days about following the rules. (Not a bad thing if it were to last but by next month they will have made the rules recommendations once again.)

I'm pretty sure that you can get an extension on your tourist visa.
Just speak with immigration. Maybe the truth will work. (I would suspect)

Good luck,

And if you know anyone that wants my job, I am looking for a replacement in Anyang.

[Grotto]

you can usually get up to a month extension on a visa if you have a valid reason(dont teach until you get the visa run, that will probably speed up matters)

Just make sure you go to immigration with plenty of time before you visa runs out.

[lastat06513]

That's why it is always good to get a C-3 visa because it will give you 90-days stays over a 5-year period.

Anyway, you will have to leave Korea and come back again to be able to be here another 30 days. There is absolutely no extensions on an entry visa (regardless of what many people say)

I know of a package for a round-trip KTX from YongSan Station to Busan station in leiu of a round-trip boat ticket from Busan to Tzushima, Japan (A small hick town in Japan), all this for 190,000 won

If you're gonna make a trip out of the country, you might as well make it interesting.

[turtlepi1]

[J.B. Clamence]

turtlepi1, that quotation from the MOJ is in reference to foreign workers. A work visa can easily be extended with a plane ticket. A 30-day tourist stay cannot be extended without a very good (and documented) reason, like there was some kind of medical emergency, for example.

[turtlepi1]

[cheeky monkey]

[J.B. Clamence]

Tsushima is an island in the Korea Strait about halfway between Korea and Japan. Actually, the north end is much closer to Busan than it is to the Japanese mainland. It's a cheap place to get to if you want to go somewhere in Japan and don't really care where, but since it's an island, it's not a practical port of entry if you want to travel elsewhere in Japan.

[lastat06513]

Turtlepi1~~ I know this because I tried to do that and I was flatly rejected because I had to have a REALLY good reason (IE- injury, criminal offense, or family emergency [and that has to be documented by the chief physician caring for the family member]). So, I had to go to japan for a night. Hence, the travel package.

Cheeky Monkey~~ There is a travel agency in Sinsa Dong that specializes in this package (along with a package to go from Inchon to Tiantsin) or you can contact the information desk at Seoul Station about that. It was tricky because the ticket changed from weekend to weekday (it was 180,000 for a day during the weekday, except thursday-no ferry, and 190,000 for a saturday-returning sunday).
Tzushima is so tiny you can walk through and around the main town in about 2 hours! They don't have any movie theater or anything remotely foreign, but they do have a kickass Korean restuarant and the sushi is kinds cheap too. CHEAP??? my arze!!!!!! I spent $150 in one night (beer is the same as anywhere else and lodging is anywhere from $300 to $55 a night).

[J.B. Clamence]

[lastat06513]

[J.B. Clamence]

No harm done. It's easy to misread it I suppose.