Wii on sale

Written by admin on April 27, 2008 – 11:12 am -

Over a year and a half late the Nintendo Wii finally hit Korean shores yesterday. The Wii is a gaming console just like Sony’s PS3 and Microsoft’s XBOX 360  but Nintendo chose not to compete directly with those consoles. Instead they made their games more gesture oriented which rely on its innovative controller which can be used as a handheld pointing device and can sense acceleration in three axes.This means you can have golf club, a baseball bat, boxing glove, steering wheel controller and actually swing it, steer it or move it in the air as opposed to just pressing buttons on traditional gaming platforms. The Wii is also backwards compatible with the older Nintendo Game cube.

Before you rush out and buy one there is one caveat, the Korean Wii is region locked to Korea. Only Korean titles will be playable on it. If you’re on a short term stint here and plan on bringing the Wii out of the country you can toss that thought out the window. Also titles sold in Korea will not have English as an option.


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Posted in Gaming, South Korea, Tech | 3 Comments »

F3 (Dependents) visa update

Written by admin on April 22, 2008 – 11:07 pm -

You’ve probably noticed a decrease in my blogging activities. No, I have not run out of things to write about, It is because have been pretty busy with work and also due to my family’s arrival last week.

In my previous post I’ve been venting about how confusing and inefficient the procedure is for getting the F3 visa. A few days ago I accompanied my family to the Immigration Office at Mokdong to apply for a dependents visa. Everything went very smoothly as I had made an appointment the week before online.

First of all I’d like to comment on how polite the immigration officer was, he was very patient and helpful in answering all of our queries. I was pleasantly surprised that he was going to issue the F3 visa and the Alien Registration cards. The process would take 10 days and all the documents would be couriered to my office. 

So I guess how you get your F3 visa varies on a case by case basis, others get it on the spot from the Korean Embassy, others get it by coming to Korea as a tourist and applying for it in Korea but have to leave the country to get their passports stamped and return, and in our case, coming to Korea as a tourist and be issued an F3 and alien registration cards on the spot.

Documents submitted to the Korean Immigration Service :

1. Marriage Certificate

2. Birth Certificate of children

3. Employment Certificate 

4. Photocopy of the principal’s Alien Registration Card

5. Passport size photos attached to the application forms

6. And of course, the passports.

Oh and don’t forget to bring cash to buy revenue stamps. I paid W110,000 (US$110) for each application, this includes a 1 year multiple entry visa, the Alien Registration card and courier fee.

 


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Posted in Immigration, South Korea | 4 Comments »

Seoul Photo and Imaging Show 2008

Written by admin on April 12, 2008 – 3:26 pm -

All you shutterbugs and digital imaging enthusiasts better scoot off to the Seoul International Photo and Imaging show which is going on at the COEX. The show which kicked off Thursday (10.04.2008) ends this Sunday (13.04.2008). Admission is free to the public, at least I think it is since I just signed up by presenting my business card. I’ve also seen whole families including children getting in.

Most of the major players are represented in the show such as Nikon, Canon, Sony, Sigma, Olympus etc. 

The COEX is accessible by car and there is ample parking available but can be expensive, W2,000 (US$2) for the first 30 mins. and W1,000 (US$1) every 15 mins. A cheaper alternative would be to take the Subway and get off at Samseong Station (Green Line).

 


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Posted in Seoul, South Korea, Tech | No Comments »

The elusive F3 visa

Written by admin on April 2, 2008 – 11:00 pm -

There were no bookings for me today so last night I decided to finally stop procrastinating to apply for my family’s dependents (F3) visa. I woke up early that morning to head to the immigration office in Mokdong.Traffic was heavy on the Olympic (88) expressway and the heavy rain was making it worse. Despite the gridlock I was lucky enough to find a parking spot when I arrived. I grabbed my documents and went to the information counter and inquired which forms I needed to apply for a dependents visa. The person at the counter was very polite and told me that I had to go to a different office which was only a few blocks away. 

Upon arriving at the general vicinity of the Immigration office I had to circle the block a couple of times as there was so signage until I found a small one which indicated that the office was 50m away. I decided to park and find the place on foot which would be easier. When I finally found the place, I filled up all the appropriate forms and got my cue number, the wait wasn’t that long and I was soon being serviced by an officer. After looking through my documents, the officer said that my family would have to apply for the F3 visa. I explained to the officer that my wife had already been to the consulate and was told that I would have to apply in Korea for them, but she politely insisted that there was nothing she could do about it, unless they were already in Korea. 

While driving back I was so frustrated and trying to rationalize why it was so difficult to arrange for a dependents visa while all the other countries I’ve worked in practically give them away once the principal’s work visa is approved.

That day I sent an notarized invitation letter, work contract, photocopies of my passport, work visa and alien registration card. My wife received the documents the next day and went back to the consulate. This time she was told that she also needed to provide an my employment certificate, an invitation from my office. So I that’s what I did and sent her documents the very next day… Now its wait and see if more paperwork is required.

Here come my comments..  Don’t they already have all of my information, the fact that I have an alien registration card, visa and re-entry permit should be proof enough that I’m a legal resident alien. So what’s with all the invitation letters? 

Getting a visa while in the country is different from other wherein you cannot change your status while in the country, you have to leave and get your visa from your country of origin thats the reason why I was counting on being able to process the visa from overseas so as to avoid all the expenses of coming and leaving. Why won’t they process dependent’s visas in overseas? 

 

 


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Posted in Immigration, South Korea | 3 Comments »
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