I'll be taking a bus around 10:30 or 11:00 this morning to the Korean Customs Office on Eonju Street (Eonju-ro, 언주로, near Gangnam District Office Station) to see about getting a new PCC (personal [Customs] clearance code) number for my new passport so I can order international stuff from iHerb and Coupang. When I'm home again and benumbered, I'll go online and book an appointment with Immigration for later this month (hopefully sooner rather than later; this is to register the new passport).
After I get the PCC and Immigration squared away, I'll book a flight to the States, probably in late March when the weather is a bit warmer. With the new PCC number in hand, I'll also update all of my mailing/shipping information on various websites so that shipping proceeds smoothly. We'll find out soon enough how smooth the shipping will be.
On an unrelated note, my blanket arrived yesterday, ordered from Coupang (local order, so no passport trouble). I can now turn my ondol (floor heat) down to almost nothing and sleep comfortably. And when I'm not in bed, I've got foot-warmers for the feeties.
I don't believe you need an appointment to register your passport at immigration--if I remember correctly, I just showed up and got it taken care of. I suppose an appointment wouldn't hurt, though.
ReplyDeleteYou can definitely update your passport details without visiting immigration, and you only have a few weeks to do it, so don't leave it too long. Would have thought you could probably do the PCC as well, or maybe it would update automatically after you update your passport with immi.
ReplyDeleteSo the Google AI instructions are as follows:
DeleteTo update your passport information in South Korea, you can visit the "Visa Portal" website (www.visa.go.kr) and select "Change of Passport Information" under the Application section; you will need to provide your old passport details and new passport details, and may need to upload scanned copies of both passports depending on the situation.
Key points about updating passport information in South Korea:
Access the website: Go to www.visa.go.kr.
Select the option: Choose "Change of Passport Information" under the Application section.
Information needed: You will need to provide your old passport number, new passport details, and other personal information like name and date of birth.
Scanned copies: Depending on the situation, you may need to upload scanned copies of both your old and new passports.
I tried entering the information asked for on this page, but the site keeps telling me, "Visa issuance NOT found with the Information provided." I've tried typing in my visa with a dash, without a dash... I've tried typing in my name surname first, surname last... I've tried entering my old passport number and my new passport number... I don't know what else I can do. So I'm just gonna book a visit to Immigration in the next few days because this online thing doesn't seem to be working for me. Or is there a completely different site I'm supposed to go to?
As for the PCC: I went to the Customs office today, filled out a form, and was told I could keep my old PCC number, which is now associated with my new passport. I now have to update all of my shopping sites.
I would love to know how the passport updating can be done without visiting immigration, because everything I tried failed and everyone I talked to told me I had to go to the office directly.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's confusing because there are at least two sites where you can ostensibly go to report changes to your passport. I tried the visa.go.kr site first, and when that didn't work, I wrestled with (and am still wrestling with) the HiKorea site that I'd used to secure an appointment to renew my F4 visa last year. I can't log any visits within the 15-day grace period, but the HiKorea site offers the alternative of an e-application, so I chose that option. I'm about 99% of the way through the HiKorea process right now, but in trying to upload my scanned passport images (old and new), I am currently seeing a Spinning Wheel of Death ("In progress. Please wait."), which may mean either (1) the site is taking a million years to upload two little images, or (2) despite the fact that each image is under the 2MB limit for the site (1.6 and 1.3MB for scans of the old and new passports respectively) per the instructions, it's possible the instructions meant 2MB total, in which case I'm going to have to redo everything, shrinking my scans even further so that the two together come in at under 2MB. Christ, what an annoyance. It's nice that you and Paul can do all of this in Korean; I'm relying on the English version of the site, which is written in poor, vague English. Fuck. I'll probably append an update in an hour. What a waste of time.
DeleteUPDATE: I shrank the images and tried uploading again, but the Spinning Wheel of Death still appears. I tried turning off my VPN to help things out since I know some sites view VPNs as tools for spammers, but the Spinning Wheel of Death appears in all cases. There is no avoiding it. So I'm just gonna let it run for hours and hours and hours.
I've noticed that my own replies to comments will appear for a short while, then get thrown into a spam folder (i.e., they disappear from the comment thread), which means I have to go into the spam folder to declare my comments "not spam" so that they appear where they're supposed to. If someone comments while I'm redressing this error, this throws the order and the timing off. Sorry about that, but it seems to be another of Blogger's annoying quirks.
ReplyDelete