By John Redmond
For most expats living in Korea the simple task of renewing one’s passport should involve nothing more than a morning’s visit to an embassy and handing over the required official documentation. For the most part, the procedure is that simple but sometimes poorly trained and uninformed staff, combined with language barriers, can lead to a series of obstacles that can test the patience of even the most experienced traveler.
With the Internet playing an important role in the conveyance of information, the days of spending hours on hold in a telephone queue hoping to be connected with the right department are a thing of the past. Information regarding regulations, prerequisites and exceptions is readily available on embassy websites in many languages.
Unfortunately, the act of going in person to the embassy counter can be a little more trying, especially when residing in a part of the Korean Peninsula that is a good three hours away by bus. In such a case, the trip to Seoul could easily consume the best part of the whole day.
Canadian native Chris O’Reilly recently had to make a visa run to Osaka in Japan to receive an E2 visa for his new position as an English language instructor. There was one small hitch. His passport was expiring in a little over a month and it was essential he get a new one ― many countries have strict regulations regarding the issuance of visas and the validity (and number of blank pages) of a passport.
Feeling satisfied of having all the correct paperwork in order he set out to Seoul with the express purpose of getting everything sorted out. Sadly this was not the case.
The paperwork was all in order. The photos however were of some concern. According to the staff member, the backs of the photos were filled out correctly by the guarantor, but the there was no receipt from the photographer who took them.
This posed an awkward situation because the Canadian embassy website dealing with Canadians in Korea wishing to apply for new passports clearly states that only the address of the photographer and date the pictures were taken is required. At no point is there mention of a receipt.
With the language barrier while discussing the origin of this new rule, the situation got slightly out of hand, leaving Chris no option but to head back to where he lives, have more photos taken, get the receipt, have his guarantor authorize the true likeness again, leaving Chris to make another trip to Seoul.
What should have taken the best part of one morning eventually took three days.
Upon further enquiry, this seems to be a unique situation put down to a misinterpretation of a simple guideline by one enthusiastic employee, resulting in a teacher losing three days of work.
Although such cases are rare, the inconvenience to all concerned, in this case the teacher, his boss and students, is an unpleasant and increasingly counterproductive experience.
And then there’s the trip to Osaka to take into consideration once the new passport has been issued.