Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Otherside]

Just two brief questions on this issue - for those who have recently completed the process.

1. How long does it take...(is it possible to rush the process of getting the check if I'm there in person?)
2. What sort of notarisation does the check need? Apostille (not sure about this,) or must it be taken to the Korean embassy, or is it fine as is?

Thanks.

[TeeBee]

1) It usually takes about 40 days to get a criminal record check. You might be able to get it quicker if you go straight to the Central Registry in Pretoria, though I'm not sure about that. In any case, you still need to get your fingerprints done at a police station first. I got mine all sorted out in about 40 days back in September/October last year, but I was in Cape Town and had to post it.

2) You need get your ORIGINAL criminal record check apostilled by the Department of Foreign Affairs' Legalisation Section in Hatfield, Pretoria. It takes about 45 minutes if you go in person, but I posted mine to them and got it back in a week.

FYI: an apostille is just an internationally recognised certificate to prove the authenticity of the document it is attached to. Fancy piece of paper with a ribbon and everything. BUT, they only accept ORIGINAL criminal record checks and NOT notarised copies.

For more info check out the following 2 links:

http://safkorea.wordpress.com/visas/

http://www.dfa.gov.za/consular/legalisation.htm

Good luck!

[Otherside]

Thanks alot for the excellent response.

Ill go in to the office in Pta to sort it out myself. (hopefully i can speed it up while I'm at it).

By the way, is that first link your site? I found very informative - Its very hard to find South African specific information out there amongst the myriad of stuff written about the other nationalities.

[TeeBee]

No problem. My pleasure. I had a hell of a time trying to find info on heading to Korea, so I like to help out where I can.

Yip, I've been putting together this website for a while now, for that very reason. Feel free to add comments or send me info you think should be included. You can use the contact page on the site or the comment function on each page.

Oh, and I forgot to mention. The criminal check will probably cost about R56. They promised me two copies, but I only got one. Try and get two if you can, though I'm not sure if they are actually meant to do that.

[14391988]

Hi

The information that TeeBee supplied is correct. You need to go to your nearest police station (just ask about police clearance) to start the application process. You must then send the relevant documents to Pretoria. You can obviously courier it there if you are in a hurry. The process begins in earnest when they load your information on to the system. Be warned, this could take a while. My advice to you would be to phone them regularly to find out if they have got around to loading it (this could involve listening to the first 10 seconds of eine kleine nacht musik on repeat for up to 20 min). Just keep pestering them until they load it.

Once your police clearance has been loaded onto the system, it is supposed to take 28 working days. There is NOTHING you can do to make this time period shorter. Believe me, I tried. In fact, 28 working days is more like the minimum amount of time it will take. To make matters worse, you are never told an exact date. Phoning to find out how far it is will involve the standard response, "not sure, try again next week". Be warned, this can be an extremely frustrating process, so the sooner you get started, the better.

As I understand it and I think I'm correct, you also need to have your police clearance apostilled. I arranged with my courier to have them pick up my police clearance at the police clearance office and take it to get Apostilled at the legalisation section of foreighn affairs (this can only be done in Pretoria). It only takes 30-60 min. I used Postnet in Stellenbosch and they were extremely efficient. The other option is to have it notarized at the Korean embassy, but unfortunately I'm not sure what this entails.

Thus, in summary:
Apply as soon as possible
Use a courier to send your application, take your certificate to get Apostilled and to bring it back (if you are not near Pretoria)

[marckot]

I did mine while in Korea. Was not much of a hassle but it did take a long time for them to finish. I applied for it at the end of November and I heard this week that they actually completed it. A family member went to pick it up for me.

[wylies99]

Handle it yourself and don't let any recruiter try to charge you fees to do it. You'll pay out the wazoo!