A few personal observations on the riveting subject of the Seoul Immigration Office Sejongno Branch, which recently moved from Gyeongbok Palace Subway Stn (Orange No. 3 Line) to the Anguk-dong Subway Stn (Orange No. 3 Line) area, and a comment or two on the new(ish) D-8 (foreign investor) visa requirement changes.

I recall seeing other threads about this historic relocation months ago, but this was the first time I had to visit the office. You see, I recently received that kind and thoughtful mailed reminder from Immigration Man: "Please note that overstaying, which means violating the Immigration Law, will not enable you to escape any punishment". Exclamation That line, which has remained unedited, untouched since the 1990s, always conjures up WWII P.O.W. torture scenes. Me: captured whitey. Them: snarling Korean prison camp guards. *shudders*

I remembered reading the branch had moved. And here's where to:

Quote: Seoul Immigration Office Sejongno Branch Office SK Hub Bldg. 2F, 89-4, Gyeongundong, Jongno-gu, Seoul 82-2-732-6214

(That phone number is typically busy for hours on end, and it's the only one they publish.)

There is absolutely nothing to distinguish the SK Hub Bldg. from any other largish office building in Seoul. It's not some grand architectural wonder; really quite dowdy, drab and nondescript for a building they call "Hub".

Guru Likes:

-- The fact that the Sejongno Branch now seems to handle everything you might need, whereas in their previous location, it was limited to issuing re-entry permits and sometimes odd documents I need for my business.

-- It's maybe 5~6 times larger. More seats if you need one.

-- Another plus for me is that they now handle D-8 (foreign investor) visa holders and our renewal applications. When I started out, it was the Black Hole of Calcutta (Mok-dong Immi.) or nothing. Later, the KOTRA Bldg in deep, dark, southern Yoksam-dong opened a Big-nose Biznizman Sub-office. That was heaven compared to Mok-dong, but still a serious hike from northern Seoul. Being able to do everything (and "everything" means several trips) without having to travel to the very ends of the city, and to be able to get there in a 15-minute death-defying motorbike trip -- I couldn't be happier.

Guru Dislikes:

-- As you'd expect, the increased service range has brought a flood of customers, and damn them, they're all trying to renew, extend, whatever at the same time I have to. They completely clogged the place. There's an Information window, which was unattended for the entire hour I was there. Got simple questions? Fine. Just grab a number, pack a lunch, and go camp out with the industrial workers lining the outer hallway. Shocked

-- They're asking for more documents to extend D-8 visas. The woman said the new list of required documents is not available online (surprise, surprise Rolling Eyes ) though she had a printed list that she handed me, to which she scribbled a few additional items by pen Rolling Eyes in that "making-it-up-as-we-go-along" fashion we're all so familiar with.

Neutral -- I'll probably get flak for saying this. When we on Dave's talk about "us foreigners" vs. Koreans, or about Koreans' views & treatment of "foreigners", we aren't referring to the people I encountered at the Sejongno Branch today. Other than myself and two or three other Westerners, the other 99% (200+) were short, small, dark Asian, African, Chinese, or gyopo. And I swear about half of them had very noticeable acne problems. WUWT?

-- Here on Dave's, people like to say that as foreigners in Korea, we ought to dress well "respectfully" so as to make a polite, positive impression on the Korean authority types we deal with, esp. at Immigration. Well, I guess that other 99% never got the memo. I can't say they were dressed like hobos exactly, and the gyopos were certainly dressed for life in the big city, but the rest... Okay, maybe that IS dressing up for them. Just wondering why it is that so many (apparent) 3-D workers are renewing/extending up here in Sejongno. Don't most of them live & work a serious distance from the capital?

A trip to Korean Immigration ain't nothing like it used to be.
Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:00 pm
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=74395

Further addition from same poster

I've been going to the Invest Korea/KOTRA immi sub-branch for my D-8 visa errands since 2000 or 2001, and using the Immi Annex (when it was across from the palace) for small certificate stuff related to my business. Hence, I hadn't been inside a "general-admission" immi office in so long that it was a bit of a shock to see I was one of only maybe two, three Euro-looking, non-Asian types in a crowd of ... certainly 200 or more. I remember when the "international community" here was just U.S. GIs, missionaries, a small handful of foreign language uni profs, N.A. backpackers, diplomats, Eurotrash smuggler types, etc. Mostly white faces if you even saw anyone else at immigration.

Something a bit more useful -- They have cheap-rate, rush-service translation companies all over that floor (2nd) where the Sejongno Branch is located, and while I haven't needed to use those, they were quite busy when I visited.

Just looking at the website here... tel as given, the fax # is 732-6216.

www.immigration.go.kr/HP/IMM/imm_08/imm_8010.jsp (it's in hangul) gives a list of all the immi offices around the country, their addresses, and which regions/districts they cover.

The woman at Sejongno Branch made a big deal of verifying whether I was at the "right" immi office, and gave me the impression that she'd happily send me packing if I didn't live in one of the north-of-river-districts. I wonder what would happen if I lived, say, in Gangnam or even Gyeonggi-do, and I commuted to my downtown office every day. Would they insist that, even though Sejongno is the most convenient for me, I have to use the office in Suwon or Incheon or Uijeongbu? I think they would.