Hi, Korea.

Extending Your E2 Visa in Korea.

Please note everyone's situation is different and regulations are changing all the time. Just thought I'd put this stuff up here because there's confusion about it amongst my coworkers and friends that teach here. Hope this can help out a bit.

I got my visa for another year here. Seoul Immigration required a photocopy of my contract with my school, a health check, criminal background check, my passport, W80,000, two types of academy business registration, a reference letter, and my Alien Residence card.

I got the health check done at Saint Mary's. Lots of running around all over the place there but it was much cheaper than the other places I looked into.

I got a state criminal background check but had to go to the US Embassy and have them vouch for me about having no criminal record.

W50,000 was for multiple entry and W30,000 was for the new visa itself. You'll have to go downstairs to buy stamps for it.

Your school should help you along a bit but it's a bit complicated.

Make an appointment at the Seoul Immigration website if you're short for time.

Here's Your Future

English Spectrum and WorknPlay are the best sites I've found for finding part and full time jobs teaching in Korea. Worknplay used to have a ton more but then the economy got worse and they started charging a bunch for employers to post ads on there.

Anyways I've spent some time on these sites cuz I'm now officially back on the trading block ie lookin for a new job.

아이온

아이온 is fun if you're into that kind of thing... mmorpg. The 위치 찾기 option makes it easy to figure out what you should do next.

Throwed

I've met more than a few people here who have downtime between classes/shifts, and use that time to lift. Protein powder and other supplements aren't too easy to find around here, and GNC is wildly overpriced in Korea. Try these:

SpeedNS

Mass119

MaxPowerShop

I used Mass119 with no problems.

If you can't navigate those sites in Firefox, use IE. If you can't navigate those sites because it's in Korean, please... learn some.^^

Waiting Room

Lost my wallet last weekend so I had to go in to Immigration to reissue my Alien Registration Card (ARC). No sweat, cuz I made a reservation. Just register and click on Reserve Visit. That place can get packed sometimes and it's not really centrally located so make sure you don't waste time goin out there only to find that you need to wait in line behind half of your fellow expats. I was in and out of there in 15 minutes.

Oh ya and when I extended my E2 visa for a second year I lost my multiple reentry so I got a new one there, W50,000. Bring cash and you'll be directed to go downstairs to buy stamps for however much you need.

I was reminded last night that goin to a club and 80s music aren't really my things, but Fugazi's Waiting Room rocks. Better than the waiting room at immigration, even.

NBA International League Pass

It's tough to keep up with sports back home here, espn.com can only take me so far...
I got the NBA International League Pass and got to see the Knicks put up 82 in one half. Quality is almost like TV and there's no buffering or lag problems that I've had so far. The exchange rate to the dollar is a bit hard to swallow though.