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Booking a flight to korea,
For people who are more current than I, can you still do the 90 day korea<>japan thing to kind of bypass the 90 day thing and come back into korea for another 90 days? I can't get a visa [ though don't need one for 90 days since I'm an American citizen ] because my parents were Korean green card holders when I was born. I would fall under mandatory military for korean army even though I was born and raised in the US if I applied for pretty much any visa.
I'm going for potential job [ not requiring a work visa ] If it works out I will want to stay the full 90 days but if not, its not economically viable for me to stay that long. I am currently thinking of just booking a 1 way, allowing me to be open about my return date and just reserving a ferry to Japan before 90 days to show I have onward travel intentions to the immigration at US/Korea.
Thanks.
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Calgary25991 Posts
It's up to the border guard. More than likely yes.
Don't know anything about the military part though.
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if its a one time thing you can probably get away with it since you'll have a passport
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Not worried about the military part, thoroughly researched and asked korean consulate and US embassy. It's just that I'm pretty sure the korean government has wised up to this korean ferry to japan after 90 days and coming right back thing. Also not sure how cool airlines are with the no guaranteed return date. I figure yeah there's a lot depending on variables. Thanks for replies.
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Calgary25991 Posts
It's not wised up... it's a thing that you can do in any country. It's not against the rules at all. It's just up to the guard's judgement as to whether you are going to do anything illegal while you're a visitor.
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As someone who's in a similar situation and experience as you, I think I can help you find the answer.
I've traveled to Korea 2013-2014 for exactly 90 days and during that time, I had considered to stay longer the current 90 days US-Korea no-visa travel status. I asked around with family, friends and even at the immigration in Korea about possibility of extending my stay such as going to Japan and come back to have the 90 days renewal and everyone told me that's not a big deal.
There was another interesting policy I found during my research and it's that you can request for additional 30 days stay on top of the usual 90 days with any good excuse like family emergencies or whatever you can come up with. All that's needed is to just write a statement (short essay, can be in English) which you would give to the people responsible (Korean immigration). This is if you're not planning to go to Japan or other country to renew the 90 days.
Finally, I also remember back in 2009 when I was there to teach English in Korea (this is before the 90-day no-visa status), I was a green card holder at the time and if I stayed longer than 6 months I would have to respond to Korean military duties. But since I lived in US my whole life, I was able to convince the Korean military to extend my stay for additional 90 days as an one time thing for overseas Koreans. I ended up staying in Korea for 8 months and officially got my US citizenship later that year so that whole policy became irrelevant for me since I became a US citizen and gave up my Korean citizenship.
Then later sometime in 2011, I believe that's when the whole concept of US/Korean dual-citizenship were possible and easily obtainable (by going to military service in Korea). But in 2009, I had to choose one or the other and obviously I opted for US citizenship.
I ended up opting to return to USA since I found I prefer living in US than Korea but I hope you're able to find the answers and desires you're looking for on your trip to Korea. Best of wishes!
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Thanks.
Quickstriker, when you gave up your korean citizenship you were under 18? I think that's the only way that coulda worked for you as far as I know. Since I was born here my parents didn't really care/look into the 2005 law saying you'd have to give it up before you were 18. My mother gave hers up ' officially ' when I first tried to apply for a F4 back in like 2010 which they let her do since she's not a korean male but yeah mine was impossible to. It's my understanding that until the law changes I can't get a work visa for korea till after 35. <--- I'm all fine with this info just making sure, I talked it over many times j/w about your situation.
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No problem, willing to help and answer. For me, in fact I was over 18 at the time I had to give up my Korean citizenship.
After I got my US citizenship officially in 2009, I had to proceed to choose my Korean or US citizenship since the law at the time states I can't keep both. So I had to officially give up my Korean citizenship and take off my Korean name registry off Korean database by having to fill and sign off a release form to the South Korean Consulate General Office in NYC.
Only then I can freely travel to Korea as an official US citizen without any ties or attachments from my previous Korean citizenship (and possibility of being dragged by Korean military which is still unlikely but a possibility). But unfortunately, the change is irreversible so I cannot take back my Korean citizenship even if I choose to go to the Korean military service to hold the "dual citizenship" status that was in effect starting in 2011.
If you do not choose to give up your Korean name registry or heritage from the database that the Korean government has, then you still have that status as a Korean citizenship technically (and have to go to that mandatory military service).
For those overseas Koreans who were born overseas with their parents under Korean citizenship have the case where the child needs to officially choose which citizenship to keep (Korean or where you were born at, ie. USA) by the time you're 18 (not before but by 18 is what I heard). Or thanks to the newer law, serve the Korean military service so you can have both Korean citizenship and US citizenship.
My case was different because I wasn't born with US citizenship. Same case goes with my parents and sisters who all moved to US with me and obtained their own US citizenship and gave up rights to their Korean citizenship.
But once again, this was all before the newer law where you could only keep 1 citizenship, nowadays Korean females have it easy, able to keep both citizenship without the need of going to military....
Finally, as for the work visa, I suppose you can contact the South Korean Embassy or Consulate General Offices nearby you to see if there is a work-around for it or if there is a new law or solution.
I know at the time when I went to teach English in 2009 under a Korean government program, there must had been several people similar to your case who were Koreans but US citizens AND were able to secure a visa. I was a green card at that time so I bypass any necessity for a visa but had a 6-month limitation stay before the military had to call me out (which I convinced the government for an extended stay anyway).
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Ah ok, thanks for the comprehensive reply.
Yeah, I was born in the US and didn't realize there was some law saying I'd have to give up my right to korean citizenship before 18 before it was too late so I'm kinda stuck. I thought about asking for a work-around or new law for a work visa but the korean consulate in Atlanta, GA said there wasn't one really, only the option to wait till 35. Hopefully the law will change there's a lot of petitions right now. Looks like I'll be booking a 1 way and doing the ferry thing, thanks all. Worst case scenario will buy travelers insurance.
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AFAIK pretty much nowadays, if you've been registered on your Korean family registry (which it sounds like you have been), its VERY risky to even enter the country, let-alone try to seek employment here if you don't want to go to the Army. I know a handful of people who are in a similar situation like yourself and have been warned of pending military service, or even had friends enter the country be told they would need to report for conscription and then just leave the country.
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just dropping by to say that this is very interesting and seems useful to know (even though I'm not Korean).
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I'm not on my family's hojjuk [ sorry can't type korean on this computer ] bokchoi. For everyone else, korean familes have like an official registry that you add new family members too. Most people who become immigrant familes don't add new family members born and intending to live out their lives overseas.
As far as the korean government's concerned I don't exist on my father or mother's family hojjuk. I have an American passport since I was born and raised here and other than them immediately knowing I'm korean cuz of my last name there's nothing to suspect. Yes, I am mid twenties so there is some reason to suspect me they can't actually do anything since I can show that I am an American citizen.
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ok so I am going to give you a short information about my experiences.
You can do the 90 days "renewal-trip" as often as you want and you dont have to fear any problems with the border guards either. I did the same thing for 1 year without a problem. This was after i went to the immigration office and explained my situation and asked what to do. Well they told me, that it was the "official" and usual way to go. leave the country, get a stamp in your passport in another country and come back. you dont even have to stay a certain time. you can do the trip out and in in one day. I assume you plan on taking the ferry out of busan? then i can just wish you a fun time.
About the military concerns I dont know anything, but it seems you got that worked out anyways.
edit: about the airline: at the check in counter i was asked how i planned to stay for longer than three months without a visa. Told them I had a longer trip to different countries planned. They then proceeded to ask a korean official (still at my home airport ofc) and he said it was no problem and i could board.
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Like the.Zane said, it seems Korean immigration/border guards don't mind if you keep doing the 90-day renewal thing over and over since I got the same answer back when I was in Korea in 2013. I doubt there's that many people who decides to go through that renewal process anyway.
Ferry out of busan seems like the cheapest option (at least cheaper than an airplane to Japan) but time consuming since it'll be hours and hours for round trip.
@Ack1027, since you don't exist in your parents/family Korean registry within Korean government database (due to the fact it was never registered to begin with), it seems you shouldn't have trouble obtaining a visa then since you have no records in Korea at all. That also means the whole military service thing in Korea shouldn't really matter to you as well.
Although there is another record of my name that won't be erased in Korea which is my family tree/clan name registry that's updated every generation mostly through male names. But that's not connected to the Korean government at all and it doesn't affect me with military requirements since that's just family tree/clan registry. But I'm not sure how many Koreans still follow this old tradition of keeping strict family clan records and care much about it to know you're like 23rd generation of so and so clan or etc.
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To clear some things up:
I was asking about the 90 day thing from korea<>japan because I don't know how long I need to stay in Korea for this trip. I would like to keep it open ended. It is definitely cheaper to buy a round trip ticket, but buying off a site like Kayak I'm not sure that I can just change the return date whenever without paying a hefty fee. Also I don't want to stay a whole 90 days if my job opportunity doesn't work out [ which I should know within 1 month's time ]. This is why I asked about getting a 1 way ticket and then just doing the ferry thing. In the end, it would be slightly more expensive but wouldn't put me on a time limit restricted to a specific return date and the ferry trip to busan could just be reserved and cancelled which would be cheaper than paying for a change of return day fee on a round trip ticket.
@QuickStriker Even though I don't exist on the family registry, getting a work visa like the F4 requires me to prove my parents birthplace, citizenship, renouncement of citizenship, my own birth certificate etc... my parents divorced when I was young so I haven't even spoken to one of them since I was very young so this is nearly impossible. And even if I could, by providing the documents that are currently required for a F4 or generational Korean-American visa it would just prove to the Korean government that I would need to do mandatory military service under the most technical definitions of the law.
More specifically: Most of the requirements would prove to the Korean government I was born to 2 Korean citizens and since Korean citizenship is by blood, anything I do to apply for something official would immediately show them I am still bound to Korean mid 20 year old not-disabled male law. Aka go to military. I'm already way past the opportunity to give up my chance to official korean citizenship which was age 18. There's currently nothing I can do until I'm 35 or the law changes. I asked this at the Korean consulate in Atlanta.
It's not worth it for my specific situation to get a general or any other type of work visa because it would be tied to 1 company who could fuck me over or invalidate it if something were to go wrong. I don't want this so I am not applying for one on top of the aforementioned reasons.
Thanks again, this is really informative and helped me be more confident in my decision.
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what the cheapest way, ticket like 1700 bucks man and i am not a rich man
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EPT
