Mulit Entry Visa for SK: Learning a Valuable Le$$on
So this happened... After 5 weeks of a scheduled 3 week vacation to the US, I am finally back in South Korea!!
*I decided to travel to America to surprise my family in January, following the end of English Winter Camp. My EPIK contract states employees will earn 10 days of paid vacation for winter break. The school year ended December 30th and will commence on March 2nd; therefore, I have a lot of dates to choose from to take the 10 days.
1st Note: English was taught in Winter Camp January 2 - 13, 2016. Also, the students returned for a week (February 9 - 16) to prepare for graduation on February 17.
Due to the cost of traveling to the States I requested a third week of vacation, without pay. My administrators approved my request and I booked my trip. I had a chance to surprise much of my family. We had some wonderful moments together; we were all glad to visit with one another again. Towards the middle of my third week I started to feel a cold and by the morning of the day before my flight I had several symptoms that reluctantly led me to the nearest health center. (I will never travel without my insurance card again. I am not sure if it would have helped with the cost, but it would have been nice to know.) The nurse practitioner diagnosed me with a Viral Respiratory Infection which he explained would take approximately 14 days to leave my system. He advised me to fly for at least a week. I was stunned...If anything I thought he would encourage me to stay in bed and rest for a few days - which would have delayed me leaving by 3 more days. I was given a medical excuse note. I contacted my co-teachers and Delta Airlines with my dilemma. Both were understanding and helpful. I used 5 sick days and the Delta requested the medical service contact information to confirm and waive the flight rescheduling fee. The news was bittersweet. I was concerned about not being there for my students and coworkers (codependent behavior, because I was not first concerned with my health), yet I was happy to have more time to visit with my framily. When I went to the airport on the following Saturday to return to South Korea I was denied access to fly, due to my E2 visa single entry status. {Cue the bad news instrumental music}
=0 =0 =0 WHAAATTT???!!!!
I had arrived ON TIME - the suggested 2 hours for security checks and boarding (this is what I get for following the TSA recommended arrival time, lol), my boarding tickets were in hand, my luggage was below the check-in limit and I had said farewell to my framily TWICE in 7 days; I was ready to return to my life abroad. I thought I was all set!
I was shocked by what the airline attendant was saying. She explained that because my work visa had already been stamped/used when I moved to the country, regardless of me having an Alien Registration Card and proof that I live and work in the country I would not be allowed to board the flight without a round trip ticket OR a new visa. Although I did an extensive amount of research before applying for a teaching position and relocating to Asia, I was completely unaware of the "entry" section on a visa. Yes, I could have paid more attention once I acquired my visa and inquired about the meaning of all the filled in sections on it...but I didn't. We tried everything to get me on the flight for nearly an hour - including attempting to purchase a refundable ticket (nearly $2,000 USD) in order to fly and cancel once I was back in Daejeon. There were no guarantees, so we decided that was not the best option. [Shout out to the Delta airline supervisor and attendant that worked diligently and patiently to help my situation. I brought them coffee and cookies as a thank you on the day that I actually flew home.] I had no choice but to delay my flight for the time it takes to acquire a new visa from the nearest SK consulate - an additional week!! The Delta supervisor called to reschedule my flight and instead of paying $200 plus I was charged $120 to rebook for the second time. I was thankful for the gesture, but was feeling anxiety and stress during the entire interaction. ARGGG!! I was given an "excuse no fly note" for my employer; I used Kakao Talk to contact my co-teachers and give them the bad news. They were just as stunned. I returned home and told my family and friends the news. They were excited, while I was in disbelief.
On Monday I anxiously traveled from Pennsylvania to Washington DC to the South Korean Consulate to inquire about my visa status. Just in case, I took passport photos and printed a new visa application. The consulate attendant informed me that when I applied for my Alien Registration Card the representative that took my documents at the Immigration Office was supposed to change my status from single to multi-entry. I have no idea whether this happened or not. I was told that the SK Consulate does not grant multi entry visa status for EPIK employees; single entry is granted and status is changed through immigration services. If I knew this prior to returning home, I would have taken care of this matter in September 2016 when I went to the Immigration Office.
As I recalled the process at the DC location is to apply between 9 - 11am only to receive your visa in 3 to 4 days. I was given a ticket to retrieve my new visa on Friday morning. There was no option for expedition. =( Traveling from Pennsylvania to DC was 3 hours, EACH WAY - even though I left home at 630am both days to avoid the majority of rush hour traffic. Not a way to spend any vacation.
On Friday (the day of my students' graduation ceremony) I drove back to Washington DC to collect my new E2 visa. Thankfully, I was able to fly the next day, as scheduled. I arrived back to Daejeon at 9pm that Sunday only to return to work the following morning. The situation was stressful, expensive and I am happy to be back at work and in my villa.
Long story short...I was in the US for 5 weeks, 10 days of which I will not receive work pay. UGGGH!!
Cost of Lesson:
Missed student graduation ;-(
$89 health clinic service fee (this fee is not directly related to my visa situation, but it was a cost I had not anticipated while vacationing)
Drove 6 hours per day to DC to the SK Consulate (time and gas)
Highway tolls from PA to DC (per trips)
$45 for a new visa
$120 to reschedule flight with Delta Airlines
$13.99 for new passport photos at Walgreens
1 additional work week unpaid
*I am sharing this valuable lesson so that you do not have the same experience.
Framily = friends and family
*I decided to travel to America to surprise my family in January, following the end of English Winter Camp. My EPIK contract states employees will earn 10 days of paid vacation for winter break. The school year ended December 30th and will commence on March 2nd; therefore, I have a lot of dates to choose from to take the 10 days.
1st Note: English was taught in Winter Camp January 2 - 13, 2016. Also, the students returned for a week (February 9 - 16) to prepare for graduation on February 17.
Due to the cost of traveling to the States I requested a third week of vacation, without pay. My administrators approved my request and I booked my trip. I had a chance to surprise much of my family. We had some wonderful moments together; we were all glad to visit with one another again. Towards the middle of my third week I started to feel a cold and by the morning of the day before my flight I had several symptoms that reluctantly led me to the nearest health center. (I will never travel without my insurance card again. I am not sure if it would have helped with the cost, but it would have been nice to know.) The nurse practitioner diagnosed me with a Viral Respiratory Infection which he explained would take approximately 14 days to leave my system. He advised me to fly for at least a week. I was stunned...If anything I thought he would encourage me to stay in bed and rest for a few days - which would have delayed me leaving by 3 more days. I was given a medical excuse note. I contacted my co-teachers and Delta Airlines with my dilemma. Both were understanding and helpful. I used 5 sick days and the Delta requested the medical service contact information to confirm and waive the flight rescheduling fee. The news was bittersweet. I was concerned about not being there for my students and coworkers (codependent behavior, because I was not first concerned with my health), yet I was happy to have more time to visit with my framily. When I went to the airport on the following Saturday to return to South Korea I was denied access to fly, due to my E2 visa single entry status. {Cue the bad news instrumental music}
=0 =0 =0 WHAAATTT???!!!!
I had arrived ON TIME - the suggested 2 hours for security checks and boarding (this is what I get for following the TSA recommended arrival time, lol), my boarding tickets were in hand, my luggage was below the check-in limit and I had said farewell to my framily TWICE in 7 days; I was ready to return to my life abroad. I thought I was all set!
I was shocked by what the airline attendant was saying. She explained that because my work visa had already been stamped/used when I moved to the country, regardless of me having an Alien Registration Card and proof that I live and work in the country I would not be allowed to board the flight without a round trip ticket OR a new visa. Although I did an extensive amount of research before applying for a teaching position and relocating to Asia, I was completely unaware of the "entry" section on a visa. Yes, I could have paid more attention once I acquired my visa and inquired about the meaning of all the filled in sections on it...but I didn't. We tried everything to get me on the flight for nearly an hour - including attempting to purchase a refundable ticket (nearly $2,000 USD) in order to fly and cancel once I was back in Daejeon. There were no guarantees, so we decided that was not the best option. [Shout out to the Delta airline supervisor and attendant that worked diligently and patiently to help my situation. I brought them coffee and cookies as a thank you on the day that I actually flew home.] I had no choice but to delay my flight for the time it takes to acquire a new visa from the nearest SK consulate - an additional week!! The Delta supervisor called to reschedule my flight and instead of paying $200 plus I was charged $120 to rebook for the second time. I was thankful for the gesture, but was feeling anxiety and stress during the entire interaction. ARGGG!! I was given an "excuse no fly note" for my employer; I used Kakao Talk to contact my co-teachers and give them the bad news. They were just as stunned. I returned home and told my family and friends the news. They were excited, while I was in disbelief.
On Monday I anxiously traveled from Pennsylvania to Washington DC to the South Korean Consulate to inquire about my visa status. Just in case, I took passport photos and printed a new visa application. The consulate attendant informed me that when I applied for my Alien Registration Card the representative that took my documents at the Immigration Office was supposed to change my status from single to multi-entry. I have no idea whether this happened or not. I was told that the SK Consulate does not grant multi entry visa status for EPIK employees; single entry is granted and status is changed through immigration services. If I knew this prior to returning home, I would have taken care of this matter in September 2016 when I went to the Immigration Office.
As I recalled the process at the DC location is to apply between 9 - 11am only to receive your visa in 3 to 4 days. I was given a ticket to retrieve my new visa on Friday morning. There was no option for expedition. =( Traveling from Pennsylvania to DC was 3 hours, EACH WAY - even though I left home at 630am both days to avoid the majority of rush hour traffic. Not a way to spend any vacation.
On Friday (the day of my students' graduation ceremony) I drove back to Washington DC to collect my new E2 visa. Thankfully, I was able to fly the next day, as scheduled. I arrived back to Daejeon at 9pm that Sunday only to return to work the following morning. The situation was stressful, expensive and I am happy to be back at work and in my villa.
Long story short...I was in the US for 5 weeks, 10 days of which I will not receive work pay. UGGGH!!
2nd Note:
I spoke with 3 other foreign teachers about this situation and none of them were aware of the visa entry status option. The were all clueless about what went wrong. I have to visit my local immigration office in the next 90 days. I will post an update with more details.
I don't want anyone else to experience this unfortunate circumstance.
I spoke with 3 other foreign teachers about this situation and none of them were aware of the visa entry status option. The were all clueless about what went wrong. I have to visit my local immigration office in the next 90 days. I will post an update with more details.
I don't want anyone else to experience this unfortunate circumstance.
Cost of Lesson:
Missed student graduation ;-(
$89 health clinic service fee (this fee is not directly related to my visa situation, but it was a cost I had not anticipated while vacationing)
Drove 6 hours per day to DC to the SK Consulate (time and gas)
Highway tolls from PA to DC (per trips)
$45 for a new visa
$120 to reschedule flight with Delta Airlines
$13.99 for new passport photos at Walgreens
1 additional work week unpaid
*I am sharing this valuable lesson so that you do not have the same experience.
Framily = friends and family
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