Korean Job Discussion Forums

[princess]

My US passport expires June 9th, 2007. If I go back to Korea in November to look for a job, will I have to leave Korea by December 9th, since on December 9th, my passport will fall under the 6 month validity rule? Also, what about doing a visa run to Japan after December 9th? Has anyone else ever gone to Japan on a visa run with a little less than 6 months left in their passport? Thanks in advance.

[kat2]

You will have to renew your passport. Do it now. Then come to Korea with your new passport and do a visa run. They won't issue a visa to a passport with so little time left on it.

[Novernae]

The six month rule is for entering the country (not being in a country, you can be in a country until it expires if you want). Because you will have to do a visa run that means you will have to leave and re-enter, which means you would have to find a job and have everything ready and done before Dec. 9th, and then you would simply renew your passport as normal when the time came. It would probably be easier though if you just renewed it before you came (if you have time) since if you didn't make the deadline that would leave a few weeks of lost potential jobs while waiting for your new one.

[kat2]

Plus, if you get a visa in your current passport, and then renew it, you have to go to immi and get them to put the visa in your new passport. Its just a pain in the ass that you should avoid if you could.