Korean Job Discussion Forums

charpet · Joined: 16 Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I was told that you should never hand your passport over to anyone....now I'm confused

Is it possible to work 2 positions and not give them your passport? I'd be very leary of this practice. Correct me if I'm wrong?

Mody Ba · Joined: 22 May 2003

If you hand over your passport, they have you by the old"you know whats". Do NOT hand it over. There are some places where you HAVE to hand it over, like Saudi.But NOT in Korea. That passport is your most important possession over here,even more important than money.Oh, by the way,please be sure to have at least one copy.In the unfortunate event that you lose the passport, it makes it much easier to replace it if you have a copy.

charpet · Joined: 16 Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Thanks for the reply. That's exactly what I thought and you just confirmed it. Hopefully, noone else does this. Good lord, just think of the horrible consequences.

rudyflyer · Joined: 26 Feb 2003 Location: pacing the cage

you will though need to hand it over to immigration for about a week when you get your ARC. They give you a receipt and I haven't had any problems. Thing is DO NOT have your school say "oh we'll go get it for you" as they may lie and keep it so you can't leave, I've heard this story many times. Get it back from immigration yourself

charpet · Joined: 16 Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The learning never stops. Thanks for that invaluable piece of advice. I'll remember that.

waterbaby · Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Location: Baking Gord a Cheescake pie

If your school says they want your passport to take care some business, such as going to Immigration on your behalf, tell them that YOU'd be more than happy to accompany your passport... where your passport goes, you go.

It's one thing to leave your passport at Immigration for the processing of your Alien Registration Card, but NEVER hand it over to your boss.

PatrickSiheung · Joined: 21 May 2003

When I first got here I decided to let my boss hold onto my passport. There was a safe at the school so I thought it would be a good place to keep. Fortunately for me my boss isn't a thief and when I did start to feel uncomfortable with the arrangement, I got it back without a problem.
Of course, not everyone can be so lucky.

Morning Calm · Joined: 28 Jan 2003

There really isn't any reason for you to give your passport to your employer unless they have true intentions of helping you out and you completely trust them. A clear copy of your passport is suffice for visa insurance purposes, but as someone has alreayd mentioned, for the ARC you will need to hand over your passport directly to the immigration. In this case, it is not your employer is going to be doing this, this should be done by one and only, YOU.

Skippy · Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: Daejeon

As other people have commented. The only times you should ever give out your passport is:

1. Getting your Alien Registration Card (ARC). How long can be from a few minutes to a couple of hours.

2. Sometimes when you want to buy a airplane tickets but that would be for only a few minutes.

3. Banking - opening, transfering to another country,etc. Once again only for a few minutes.

4. I Think when processing for a contract and getting paperwork reading for your visa. But you should only give if you are positive you are signing the contract and going to work with the school. Some school really like to just jump the gun and forget foreplay. You give a little interest in the school and they say OK give us your passport, degree, transcripts, money.

Some advice again with your passport is do not ever let your boss hold your passport. So where it goes you go.

My girlfriend once had a boss tried to hold her passport. Well she simply sat down and said "I am not working, until my passport is in my hand". Got it a about an hour later.

As to should a school hold your "Plane Ticket" is another matter.

Skippy the eviltwin Twisted Evil

Son Deureo! · Joined: 30 Apr 2003

rapier · Joined: 16 Feb 2003

Charpet: by asking to keep your passport, they know that they're" trying it on." You only have to refuse and its not a problem.
I went through this. My boss wanted to keep hold of my original degree certificate and CELTA certificate. In fact he framed them and hung them in the office to show off to the parents... I wasn't amused but he insisted he needed them. One day I removed them and put photocopies in their place. He was livid but has finally given up hope of getting them back.
Likewise, he wanted to be the one to keep hold of my passport, and was unusually keen to go and collect it from inmmigration for me. I managed to con the reciept papers off him ( iwon't go into details) and got to immigration to pick it up first.
Now, all my valuable, important documents are in my own possession- I feel a lot more confident and secure. When he had hold of them before he was quite happy to mess me around on little things. Now he knows I can leave if and when I want, and he has no hold over me, his attitude has dramatically improved.

No H in Wales · Joined: 30 Apr 2003

Hi

I was working in Taiwan a couple of years ago and I had the same thing with a school there. They told me they needed to have my passport for 'official business', I couldnt work out what this was for as I had my ARC card and everything. Being a dumbass i gave it to them anyway, they then turned round and told me I owed them X amount of money for training and that I would not get my passport back unless I paid. The training was meant to be for free in the first place - GITS!!

DO NOT GIVE IT TO THEM!!!!

TheUrbanMyth · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Retired

Most people know this or should. The problem here is that very few of them have the courage to stand up to the director. There should be no problem handing over the passport. If he does not give it back, threaten to call the embassy. Sadly many people here will go to great lengths and jump through all hoops trying to get their passport back rather than face down their director.

The King of Kwangju · Joined: 10 Feb 2003 Location: New York City

Mody Ba · Joined: 22 May 2003

The King of Kwangju?( Laughing

)Such modesty! Anyway, sure ,you can get a new passport, but it is a hassle.I am not saying you should NOT guard your money....but of course you should not keep large sums of cash in your flat or on your person,obviously. What I am saying is that it is much easier to replace a small sum of cash than to replace your passport.Obviously,you should not walk around Itaewon or somewhere like that with 500,000 won in your pocket, although I am sure there are people out there that actually do that. It is not such a good idea to carry large sums of cash around with you ANYWHERE in the world, or to keep large sums at your home,either.That is what they have banks for.