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Missile Command Kid
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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 Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:43 am Post subject: "Passport Sized Photos" and F-3 visas? |
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First of all, this site is absolutely invaluable. I really appreciate all of the advice given by the many posters!
Having said that, I need some information that I simply cannot seem to find, despite copious amounts of time using the search feature. If these questions have been asked and answered, please forgive me.
1) I've accepted a position in South Korea and my hagwon needs two "passport-sized" photos from me for immigration, 3.5cm x 4.5cm. Now, do these need to exactly conform to international passport photo specifications (lighting, positioning, no smile, etc.) or do they simply need to be 3.5cm x 4.5cm? What I'm essentially asking is whether I can take some pictures myself for about $0.21 or whether I have to spend another $15.00 per person (see below) for real passport photos.
2) I'm bringing my wife and kids with me, but my hagwon has never hired somebody with a family before and they don't know what they need for immigration to get visa issuance numbers for them. I believe I need F-3 visas for all three of them, as my wife is not planning on working. What do I need to send to my school so that they can get visa issuance numbers for my family? Do I need photos of my family for their visa issuance numbers too?
Other info, in case it's relevant: I'm in Canada and the Korean embassy in Vancouver knows nothing (arrgh!). I'm sending all of the documents for my E-2 visa this week and want to make sure that I get it right the first time. The school has been extremely helpful, but they're as new at this as I am, and short of calling Korean Immigration, I'm not precisely sure how else I'll get this information. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks. |
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kat2
Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Location: Busan, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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They don't have to be perfect passport photos. I smiled in mine (gasp!). But they do want them on a white background. I would just have the wife take a picture of you standing next to a white wall. Just make sure yo ucan clearly be seen. Photo shop them, print them, voila.
As for you family, I would suggest doing the visa after you get here. its a lot easier to get answers after you are already here and after you already have a job and visa. Candians get a 6 month tourist visa so there should be plenty of time to get their visa sorted out. They can take a quick trip to Japan or anywhere to pick it up.
Sidenote: Are you homeschooling your kids? Education options for foreignesr are limited and expensive. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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| ksonnen wrote: |
They don't have to be perfect passport photos. I smiled in mine (gasp!). But they do want them on a white background. I would just have the wife take a picture of you standing next to a white wall. Just make sure yo ucan clearly be seen. Photo shop them, print them, voila.
As for you family, I would suggest doing the visa after you get here. its a lot easier to get answers after you are already here and after you already have a job and visa. Candians get a 6 month tourist visa so there should be plenty of time to get their visa sorted out. They can take a quick trip to Japan or anywhere to pick it up.
Sidenote: Are you homeschooling your kids? Education options for foreignesr are limited and expensive. |
They should be able to make a "Change in status of sojourn" without making a visa run. They are NOT obtaining a work visa.
Simply go to the immigration office, take the same documents you used when you obtained your ARC, your ARC, your passport, their passports, fill in an application for each family member and pay the visa fees.
If DAD has a working visa then the airline shouldn't give you any trouble about boarding the family.
A better question is, "Would you (DAD) want them to come here when you do and BEFORE you scope out your new job?"
It might be better (and safer if you don't have cash money for a bunch of return tickets) to get here, check the lay of the land and have them follow you a couple weeks or a month later. It only takes about 4 days to get a visa confirmation number for them if you have your ARC. The number is good for 90 days before it expires.
It SUCKs to be stuck in a bad situation when you are by yourself without dependants here to worry about. IT would be even worse with even fewer options if your family is here and you get stuck between a rock and a hard place. |
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Missile Command Kid
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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| ksonnen wrote: |
| They don't have to be perfect passport photos. I smiled in mine (gasp!). But they do want them on a white background. I would just have the wife take a picture of you standing next to a white wall. Just make sure yo ucan clearly be seen. Photo shop them, print them, voila. |
Sounds like a plan. The background turned out a bit more grey than white, but I think they're passable. Spent 1 1/2 hours in MS Paint (!) getting the pictures to the exact 3.5 x 4.5 cm size on a 4 x 6 " page. But they're done - $1.70 for 16 each, as opposed to $15 for two real passport photos!
| ksonnen wrote: |
| As for you family, I would suggest doing the visa after you get here. its a lot easier to get answers after you are already here and after you already have a job and visa. Candians get a 6 month tourist visa so there should be plenty of time to get their visa sorted out. They can take a quick trip to Japan or anywhere to pick it up. |
That's definitely an option, but if we can get this settled now before we leave, so much the better! My wife is concerned about medical coverage for her and the kids; getting ARCs ASAP will expedite the insurance procedure just in case something goes wrong while we're there.
| ksonnen wrote: |
| Sidenote: Are you homeschooling your kids? Education options for foreignesr are limited and expensive. |
Kids are 2 years and 8 months, so too young to go to school. Perfect age, as far as we're concerned!
| ttompatz wrote: |
A better question is, "Would you (DAD) want them to come here when you do and BEFORE you scope out your new job?"
It might be better (and safer if you don't have cash money for a bunch of return tickets) to get here, check the lay of the land and have them follow you a couple weeks or a month later. It only takes about 4 days to get a visa confirmation number for them if you have your ARC. The number is good for 90 days before it expires.
It SUCKs to be stuck in a bad situation when you are by yourself without dependants here to worry about. IT would be even worse with even fewer options if your family is here and you get stuck between a rock and a hard place. |
I've had a tonne of crappy interviews (and no-shows) over the past month. The school I'll be working for, on the other hand, has gone over and beyond what we were expecting: 4-10 M-F @ 2.5 million, 4 weeks vacation, and beautiful brand new 2 bedroom apartment (they even emailed us pictures of it). My wife and I feel 100% comfortable with them and feel very, very comfortable with accepting this position sight unseen. Even if there's the chance that it will turn into a bad situation, which I highly doubt, we've got enough savings to either turn the trip into a vacation or spend a month or so finding a different job. I've got an MA in English degree with ESL experience, so this wouldn't be too difficult.
But yeah, we're happy about the position and really aren't too worried. Perhaps this is naive, but we're going with a positive attitude and are excited about trying something new. |
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BigBuds
Joined: 15 Sep 2005
Location: Changwon
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 10:54 pm Post subject: |
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Here is what the F-3 requires:
Family Dependency(F-3)
A certificate for recognition of visa issuance, if applicable.
A certificate verifying family relations. ex) A certificate of marriage, family registry, or birth
A certificate of incumbency of an invitor.
A certificate of tax payments of an invitor. |
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ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2006 11:28 pm Post subject: |
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| BigBuds wrote: |
Here is what the F-3 requires:
Family Dependency(F-3)
A certificate for recognition of visa issuance, if applicable.
A certificate verifying family relations. ex) A certificate of marriage, family registry, or birth
A certificate of incumbency of an invitor.
A certificate of tax payments of an invitor. |
That's what the website says....
When I got the F3 for my wife last March (3rd one) we needed (for the 3rd time):
My ARC,
My passport,
My certificate of confirmation of employment,
Copy of our wedding certificate,
Copy of her passport information pages.
I got my ARC in my 1st week here. Her visa issuance number was available in 4 days later. She followed me here about 2 weeks after my arrival.
It gave me time to check the employment situation and housing. Time to get comfortable in my new surroundings and get things settled. Time to find things like shopping and make sure the house was equipped before I had to worry about feeding her.
Then she arrived and everything went very smoothly. NHIC was settled for me right after I got my ARC (about couple weeks after my arrival). She got here, got her ARC in the 1st week and had her medical booklet 2 weeks later.
It was so much easier to make the transition that way.
Anyway, good luck on your trip and transition.
PS: You should be able to apply for and get F3s for your family when you get your E2. You will need a letter to confirm your employment, wedding certificate (use a copy cause they keep it) and birth certificates for your kids (take copies as well).
They also all need their own passports at application time to have their visas placed into. |
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