Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mountianchica]

Last time I was in Korea they did not stamp my passport when I sent money home... I thought they weren't supposed to stamp a passport? Anyways, can I tell them not to? It seems that some branches do this and others don't... what have been your experiences?

Thanks

[kermo]

[vox]

[poet13]

My bank sometimes stamps me, and sometimes doesn't. Last year, after I had renewed my contract, they asked to see my contract. They could see the extension on my ARC. I showed it to them, and I was good to go. I use KB. As far as I know, (I read it last year on a K-Gov website), you can remit (send out of contry), 100% of your pay. How a person could remit 100% of their pay and still live is beyond me, but that's the rule.

[Delirium's Brother]

I think this has something to do with monitoring suspicious transfers for nefarious purposes more than anything else. But I could be wrong.

[flotsam]

OKAY.

My friend who is leaving Korea took care of his funds today, and it was hell as it has never been. But he also chatted up his lovely teller(read: he told her how good her English was) and this is what he found out:

Ostensibly due to "money laundering" problems caused by Nigerians and Russians, the government has gradually been increasing the pressure on the banks to individually register every foreigner who sends more than 10,000 dollars in a year. Foreigners are supposed to establish a relationship with one bank(not branch, but bank) and always get their passports stamped not only whenever they wire money, but also when they convert out of won. My friend has never been stamped for purchasing dollars or traveller's checks before, but today they stamped everything. After he was instructed to hop through hoops of red tape at his normal bank(Wae-Hwan, no less) when wiring his money, he did what he thought was clever and went to a second bank to buy some dollars thinking they wouldn't check his passport or give him crap as he was just exchanging dollars sterling 3 thousands: oh no. He had to fill out four documents registering him as a foreign "exchanger" at this bank(Che-Il) and he could tell you Ms. Park was giving him the evil eye about his just having wired about 20G at another bank that very day, until, that is, he told her how well she spoke English.

Ironically, this new "tightness" has what may be a tiny, little loophole: the 10,000 leave-me-alone limit applies for EVERY VISIT to Korea, not every visa. Thus, as he had recently spent 13 days in Thailand he was able to go up to a $20,000 limit(over the course of his 1 year visa tenure) with no hassle or additional paperwork(but still stamped) and only had to register when he went over that. He also made a point of asking if any trip abroad, even 1 day across the pond to soapland, qualified one for another free trip around the board and was assured it did: they have no idea what you were doing over there, and you are freely allowed 10 undeclared grand every time you enter the ROK.

In good news: I did my pension today after collecting it once, leaving for 10 months, returning for a year and racking up another 12 pension payments: no problem. The people that work at pension offices rock, I must say. I have never had more painless bureaucratic experiences. I wish they had a tip jar.

In conclusion, for those who are Korean-unmarried and earn more than their official salaries, and want to avoid all the hassle, my friend recommends you combine a couple of lovely vacation sojourns, where you wire some money home from the banks abroad while at the same time hitting the $10,000 reset button back in the ROK. Perfectly legal and zero hassle.

But that's just him.

[Delirium's Brother]

I guess that I was right!

[Smee]

A few times my bank didn't ask for my passport, just the passport number. As someone said up there, it helps to get to know people at your bank. I don't let them stamp my passport because it raised questions when I was entering and leaving other countries. Plus, it should all be electronically monitored anyway.

[JZer]

My bank does not stamp my passport but they keep a running tab of how much I sent home.

[jmbran11]