What happens if Korean immigration refuses my tourist visa?
April 25, 2011 8:44 AM Subscribe
What happens if Korean immigration refuses my tourist visa? I am a Canadian living in Korea using tourist visas. I am doing online university from Canada and I am not working illegally. I have an apartment in Korea and I am worried that if I get rejected for some reason, I will have no way to get my things.
I have been here for over three years now and am not sure how many tourist visas I get get before they don't like me any more. I'm worried because although I am not doing anything illegal, they might think that I am teaching illegally.
I am looking for any information as to how the immigration process works in this case. I assume that they simply reject me at the airport and I would have to take a flight somewhere else? Do they just reject tourist visas like that? (I talked to immigration before to see how many tourists visas I could get, and they told me I could get as many as I wanted, but I'm still skeptical). If they did reject me, is there a way I could get a more temporary visa, or a different visa?
Although I'm not doing anything bad, every time I go through immigration, I'm nervous. I would like to get some advice to see what I could do in the worst case situation.
I have been here for over three years now and am not sure how many tourist visas I get get before they don't like me any more. I'm worried because although I am not doing anything illegal, they might think that I am teaching illegally.
I am looking for any information as to how the immigration process works in this case. I assume that they simply reject me at the airport and I would have to take a flight somewhere else? Do they just reject tourist visas like that? (I talked to immigration before to see how many tourists visas I could get, and they told me I could get as many as I wanted, but I'm still skeptical). If they did reject me, is there a way I could get a more temporary visa, or a different visa?
Although I'm not doing anything bad, every time I go through immigration, I'm nervous. I would like to get some advice to see what I could do in the worst case situation.
I've had friends who have done similar things in Europe (Germany, Czech Republic) and Asia (Thailand, Japan). Some countries are much stricter than others, so I can't speak about Korea directly, but in the cases where they were turned away because immigration thought that they were working illegally, they were turned back at the airport. It would be prudent, I feel, to make sure you have a friend with a key to your apartment who can box up and ship your stuff back to you if this does happen.
posted by Oktober at 9:23 AM on April 25, 2011
posted by Oktober at 9:23 AM on April 25, 2011
How corrupt is Korea? I ask simply because when I worked in Egypt, playing a bit fast and loose with the rules under the guidance of the perfectly legitimate company I was working for, we all knew that all you needed to deal with this possibility was the money to bribe the appropriate official to at least let you go gather your stuff (and quite possibly issue the next visa). I tried to avoid actively participating in the whole 'fee for service' model, but it was a security blanket knowing that I could buy myself out of a huge range of situations if necessary.
If that's not the case, have you made friends? Is there someone you could contact as a worst case scenario to pack up and ship your stuff? It would be expensive, but I imagine that if they kick you out, they won't let you go get your stuff. Alternatively, if they do kick you out, it will probably be for a limited period (i.e - don't come back for 6 months or 1 year) and if it's worth it to you, you could continue to pay rent on your place and go back when it's done.
It's hard to know whether they'll kick you out or not - countries retain the right to deny you a visa for any reason, so there's no guarantee it won't happen. I'd see if I could find expats doing similar things and see if they have any idea how likely this is.
posted by scrute at 9:28 AM on April 25, 2011
If that's not the case, have you made friends? Is there someone you could contact as a worst case scenario to pack up and ship your stuff? It would be expensive, but I imagine that if they kick you out, they won't let you go get your stuff. Alternatively, if they do kick you out, it will probably be for a limited period (i.e - don't come back for 6 months or 1 year) and if it's worth it to you, you could continue to pay rent on your place and go back when it's done.
It's hard to know whether they'll kick you out or not - countries retain the right to deny you a visa for any reason, so there's no guarantee it won't happen. I'd see if I could find expats doing similar things and see if they have any idea how likely this is.
posted by scrute at 9:28 AM on April 25, 2011
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posted by reptile at 9:04 AM on April 25, 2011