Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cfedora]

Hey folks,

Here's my situation:

I got a job in Anyang a few weeks ago, and they want me to start on Feb 20. I have been working with the school to get all my visa stuff taken care of, but I am in a bit of a pickle right now. I received the visa confirmation number and form from my school. They want me to fly to Vancouver (I am in Nova Scotia) and apply for the visa in person, on my way to Korea. They said it would only take 5 days to process, so I would be in Vancouver for 5 days. I called the Korean Consulate in Vancouver, and they said that because I am in Nova Scotia, I cannot apply to them, I have to apply to the one in Montreal. I don't know anyone in Montreal that I can stay with, so it would be a pretty expensive stop over. I haven't asked the school yet whether they would pay for a hotel, because they asked me to find a friend to stay with if I could, but I really don't want to stop over anywhere for 5 days. I would ideally like to send off my information to get processed and then pick it up on my way through, making it about a one night stop over.

So, my question is this:

Has anyone ever been in a similar situation? Or, does anyone have an idea if I can do the one night stop over thing to pick up the visa? Any input you might have would help a lot.

Thanks folks, I look forward to the replies.

[peppermint]

I'm from NF, and I always got my visa in Toronto on the way over. As well, I'd drop off the info on Monday, and go back to get the visa on Tuesday afternoon, but the last time I did that was in 2003. Best to call the consulate and ask if you can mail them your info though.

[khyber]

i'm from edmonton and would have had NO problems getting it in vancouver but i had to wait 3 days (unbeknownst to me): Last time I did it, it was a 24 hr thing.
(that was in 2005).
I would COUNT on it being 3 days. If they say five, count on that. I was told in the office that they no longer have 24hr service because of the abundance of applicants and such.

I was in a bit of a pickle flying into incheon...they pulled me into their little office and we had a chit chat but I had a card, phone number and my papers. Of course, i went 2 days later.

For what it's worth Vancovuer is a KICK ass town and you can easily fill up 5 days w/cool stuff.
Just go into a hostel for the five days:
http://www.cnnbackpackers.com/vancouver/index.html18$ a night? get a couple of hot dogs a day? buck a slice pizza...bring a bunch of books, walk around downtown.
you can do it man!

seems pretty reasonable to me (may even be able to get your school to help you out a bit.
Search around the interweb, i am CERTAIN you could find more around the same price.

If you are IN vancouver and you apply there in PERSON, what difference does it make where you ARE? was there some kind of rational? Perhaps they are reffering only to mail in services or something?

[J.B. Clamence]

[ajgeddes]

Just a heads up, but if you decide to go to Toronto, it takes 5 days now. In 2004 when I did it, it took 2 days. In 2005, it took 5 days and I asked them about it, and they said that 5 days was the new norm. It's a pain in the butt.

[nancy123]

Hi ...
Why don't you check out couchsurfing.com its a global community of individuals that offer their couch, bed, floorspace etc. to travellers for FREE!!!!

[Becka]

As Maritimers, we too were told we had to go through the Montreal consulate to do our visa applications. We managed to do it in Toronto, however, when we were visiting family over the holidays. But the people at the Toronto office said they don't usually deal with Maritime residents, that we should have gone through Montreal. Not sure why, exactly, since they were able to process them in Toronto in the final analysis...

My suggestion - see if the school will arrange your travel so that you stopover in Toronto instead and make sure it's at least five -seven days.