Korean Job Discussion Forums

[spliff]

I will go home to LOS next week and my wife wants to come stay in Korea. Does anyone here have any experience in doing this through the Korean consulate in bangers? What is the procedure and what paperwork may i require? Do I need paperwork from my current public school? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[coolsage]

It's been a while since I did this, but the procedure was fairly simple. Bring a copy of your school/university contract, your passport, her passport, a notarized copy of your translated marriage certificate, and fill out some paperwork at the consular section. They will issue her a spousal visa, which at the time was free. Pick it up the following day. Choke dee.

[spliff]

^ kop Koung dai..laaaa. What language is it required for the marriage cert to be translated to?

[coolsage]

If you've been through a similar process of having the original Thai cert translated (into English, in order to validate the marriage in your home country) and notarized, take both Thai and English versions to the consulate. Again, it's been a while, but a Korean translation wasn't necessary. I'm headed in the opposite direction; having lived a double life for too long, I'm making the move to LOS permanent. What can you tell me about the latest regs regarding a non-immi marriage visa there?

[spliff]

From what I discern from the on-going "new regulations" 400,000THB in the bank under joint account for 3 month's makes you eligible to apply for a 1 yr non-imm "O" marriage visa. If you're in Bann Nok and do it, the regulations might be a bit easier, especially if you and your wife apply together and make a presentable couple and you can speak Thai. It wouldn't hurt to buy a nice bottle of Scotch or a case of Heineken to Dole out at the end of the application, chances are they will remember you and the next time it should be in and out (plus a gift). Hell I know all the immy officers at Nong Kai, where I do my visa business and every time I call them in advance and we go to a nice restaurant or eat together outside the office and I pick up the tab for everything. It's what you have to pay for, for being able to speak Thai.

[coolsage]

Don't know if you're conversant with all the requisites of the non-immi. However, it's seems that you've been there long enough to know how and when to lubricate the squeaky wheels of officialdom. What do you know of assets in lieu of bank account holdings? I think I can show B400,000, but not in a joint account. I do, however, own a house valued at at least B2mil. Would that put me over the top? I realize that the current regime there is attempting to crack down on cowboy teachers and sex tourists, but I don't fit those categories. I've been married to a splendid Thai woman for seven years, and all I want to do is take my hard-earned Korean money and spend the rest of my life in a place where I want to be with the one who puts up with me. I also realize that the ajarn forum is the right place to put this question, and I have, but you are one of the few that has a foot in both places. Anything more that you can serve up would be appreciated; if it has any value to others here (we can't be the only ones in this situation), let's keep this thread alive. If it gets more personal, PM is good. Cheers.

[thaitom]

New applicants for non-imm-o visa as of Oct.1 must show a family income of 40,000 a month. 400,000 in a bank account doesn't apply anymore.

Go to www.thaivisa.com for all the latest info on this.

[coolsage]

Thanks for that link, Thaitom. Clearly the rules are getting stiffer, if one is not already 'grandfathered' there. Since my domicile is just an hour from the Cambodian border, I might have to consider relocating on the other side of that line. Fortunately, my wife speaks Khmer. If Laos had a beach, I'd be there as well.