E2 Teacher Visa Guide for Pyeongtaek, South Korea

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Even though there are lots of educators teaching English in Pyeongtaek, it can feel a bit lonely when you first arrive since you will not be directly connected with other educators. Just know that you aren’t alone and you can reach out for help in groups like Pyeongtaek Living on Facebook. However, you shouldn’t have to ask a Facebook Group for information regarding your visa since such info can easily occur in a blog, so here we go.

South of Seoul Educator Virtual Welcome Packet

In addition to providing information specific to teaching on an E2 visa in Pyeongtaek, South of Seoul also offers an online Virtual Welcome Packet filled with useful information for ESL educators working in South Korea.

Visiting Immigration in Pyeongtaek, South Korea

The educators in Pyeongtaek are very lucky because we have a branch of Suwon Immigration in Seojeongri, Pyeongtaek near Songtan City Hall. The branch will be referred to as Suwon Immigration in communication so don’t get confused – it is still in Pyeongtaek.

Even after seven years a trip to immigration often shaves 5 years off our lives. It’s simply always unnerving when you talk to people that hold your life in their hands. Sometimes the staff have a bad day and get quite rude, and other days they are lovely. It just depends on the luck of the draw.

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Where is the Pyeongtaek Immigration Office?

To help you, as a new teacher, get settled in and feel confident that you are headed to the right place, we have added the “visa” search as an option in the South of Seoul app. When you type “E2 visa” into the South of Seoul app Find, the South of Seoul app pulls up a list of places that matter to you might need to visit to maintain your visa.

We recommend doing this search and having a quick look at these places to get an idea of what they are. We will keep a link to this blog post in each of these listings as well. It’s not actually that hard to deal with immigration issues here, but even the smallest detail can seem overwhelming with dealing with language and cultural differences. Just always remember to breathe. Things are going to take longer than you want, but as long as your paperwork is in order everything should be OK. Now, let’s get started on what places are on this list.

Suwon Immigration Songtan Branch

Suwon Immigration Songtan Branch3

031-8024-9600

Copy and paste phone numbers into Naver Maps to get directions

*You need an appointment which can only be booked on HiKorea. You MUST use internet explorer and the website WILL tell you that the government website is malicious. You must IGNORE these warnings and continue.

Hangul Address

경기 평택시 경기대로 1375

(Listing information provided by the South of Seoul app)

Do I Need an Appointment For Pyeongtaek Immigration?

You absolutely need an appointment for visiting immigration in South Korea. You can make that appointment on the government-managed Korea website. The website https://www.hikorea.go.kr/Main.pt

How do I get to Pyeongtaek Immigration if I don’t have a car?

Transportation can be a bit tricky when you first arrive due to the fact you don’t know anything yet. You may be largely dependent on the help of your employer and co-workers for managing your first trip to immigration so get apply for your ARC. That said, here the ways most of us get to immigration if we don’t have a car:

  • Co-worker: Usually your school will take you for your first visit to immigration.
  • Subway: Seojeongri Station, however, you will need to take a bus or a taxi if you are short on time. It’s a bit of a walk from there.
  • Taxi: You will need the name and address for immigration written in KOREAN.
  • Bus: You will likely not have a phone when you first need to go to immigration so ask your co-worker for the bus route from whatever location you will be starting from. (example: home – immigration or work – immigration)
  • Walk: Some of us live close enough to immigration we can just walk there.

What type of E2 Visa Tasks Require a Visit to Immigration

What you do here:

  • Renew your E2 Visa – Please remember that this MUST be done online and it often can take 2 weeks to get an appointment. To be safe, reserve a date at least 4 weeks in advance. Also, this is a satellite branch of the Suwon Office. Your confirmation messages will tell you that you are confirmed with Suwon Immigration HOWEVER do not GO to Suwon. If your address is in Pyeongtaek, ALL your appointments should be in Pyeongtaek.
  • Notify of New Passport Number – If you get a new passport while in Korea you have two weeks to notify immigration. This does NOT need an appointment. Just walk in and it should be pretty painless and quick. You can get fined for doing it late so just get it done.
  • Replace A Lost ARC – If you regularly lose your ARC cards, know they aren’t going to kick you out. We don’t need to talk about how we know this. Just get your butt over to immigration with your passport and some new photos (you can get in the lobby) and get it replaced as soon as you know it’s missing. 
  • Notify of Address Change – If you move for any reason don’t mess around. Take your housing contract straight to immigration and let them know you have changed housing. If for some reason your boss had you move houses just go to immigration and tell them. Don’t wait for your boss to notify them. Going to immigration yourself will make them call your boss for the new housing contract, thus protecting yourself and forcing your boss to comply on time without you begging him/her to do it.
  • Apply for a D-10 “looking for work” Visa – If you find yourself at the end of your contract but unemployed, don’t panic. Just make an appointment with immigration for the D-10 visa. This will give you up to 6 months to look for a job. Click here to read more.
  • Certified Copies of Documents Held by Immigration – If you are a public school teacher Immigration will hold your Apostilles for both your FBI check and your diploma. When you are applying to different school positions – or graduate school in Korea – you will need to get certified copies of these items. You do not need an appointment. You also need to go to the fourth floor (investigations office) to request these.

Where can I get a health checkup in Pyeongtaek for my E2 Visa?

Hospitals with Translation Teams

When you first arrive in Korea you will need to get a health check. Might as well just go to the hospital right away and get this done. It will also need to be done every year for insurance purposes. Although you can use just about any hospital for this, we recommend one of the two following options since they are used to doing them and have foreign help desks.

St. Marys General Hospital

St. Marys General Hospital5

031-1800-8800

Copy and paste phone numbers into Naver Maps to get directions

Pro tip: When you call Press 0 and ask for the International Clinic. Well prepared to handle foreign patients. They follow US privacy standards. ER AVAILABLE. FOR USFK: Approved for direct billing with TRICARE FOR WOMEN: Excellent Womens Clinic with female doctors. Mon - Fri from 9AM - 5:30PM and 7PM - 8PM as well as weekends and holidays 9AM - 2:30PM. FOR TEACHERS: The best place to get your annual medical check. (As of 2021) 70,000 won, ID, and 3 passport photos needed. Takes 7 days to get results. Open on Saturdays.

Hangul Address

경기 평택시 평택로 284

(Listing information provided by the South of Seoul app)

Subway: Jijae Station (You will then need a bus or taxi)

PRO-Tips: Although there are many different places to get your health checks done, we HIGHLY recommend making the effort to go here. Many other hospitals will take too long or provide inaccurate health checks. They just do a better job here and make more effort with confidentiality. They are required to follow more strict standards in order to be used by US military.  You do not need an appointment, in fact you can’t make one. The health checks are on level B1. Just walk in and they will get you started.

Good Morning Hospital

Good Morning Hospital4.5

031-5182-7700

Copy and paste phone numbers into Naver Maps to get directions

ER AVAILABLE. Approved for direct billing with Tricare. This hospital deals with many foreigners and has a foreigner help desk Mon - Fri. Parking garage on site.

Hangul Address

경기 평택시 중앙로 338

(Listing information provided by the South of Seoul app)

Subway: Pyeongtaek Station (You will then need a bus or taxi)

PRO-Tips: This is the other big hospital in the area. If you are teaching in Pyeongtaek City it can often be the easiest to get to. They have a foreigner help desk. Check-in here and they will get you where you need to go.

Where can I get my Korean background check or my fingerprints done?

Pyeongtaek Police Station

Pyeongtaek Police Station0

000-000-0000

Copy and paste phone numbers into Naver Maps to get directions

Primary Police Station located near AK Plaza. This is where you will need to go for finger printing for criminal background checks.

Hangul Address

경기도 평택시 비전동 619-2

(Listing information provided by the South of Seoul app)

What you might need here:

  • Fingerprinting for Background Checks
  • Korean Criminal Records Check

If you end up staying longer than a year, at some point you might find yourself in need of another criminal background check, either local or from your home country. When this happens you hurry on down to this police station. At different points in time the finger printing has been in different parts of the building. Just ask someone for help, they will point you in the right direction.

Where is the Pyeongtaek Education Office for getting proof of employment?

Pyeongtaek Education Office0

031-650-1218

Copy and paste phone numbers into Naver Maps to get directions

Do you need a copy of your paperwork verifying your work experience in Korea? This is where you go to get a print out of that.

Hangul Address

경기 평택시 평택1로 80

(Listing information provided by the South of Seoul app)

Hagwon Work Verification – There are a few reasons you will need to go here. Usually when you are changing jobs. If you are changing from a private to a public school, you will need to get your work verified here to count toward you salary grade. If you are leaving the country to work in another country, you will want to get a copy of this and then have it translated and notarized in order to help prove your hagwon work history. Please note, this is NOT where you get your public school records. These records can only be provided by your public school.

Subway: Pyeongtaek Station (You will then need a bus or taxi)

Where is the Pyeongtaek Tax Office?

Tax Office

Tax Office0

031-650-0200

Copy and paste phone numbers into Naver Maps to get directions

If you are a hagwon teacher you might want to confirm you are registered with the local tax office and that they are paying your taxes. Get your co-teacher to call and confirm you are registered within 1 week of starting your new job.

Hangul Address

경기도 평택시 죽백동 580-4

(Listing information provided by the South of Seoul app)

Hanjul Name: 평택세무서  

PRO-Tips: You need to be sure that you are registered with your local tax office. There are some hagwons who don’t do this and it can come back to haunt you at immigration. You also need to be registered within the first week or two of arriving. Make sure this happens. This tiny detail can turn into a big fiasco if your hagwon has a competing school. Since all hagwon owners know that everyone does things late, when a new teacher arrives at a competing school they might notify the tax office immediately to check to see if they were registered on time.

Pyeongtaek Station (You will then need a bus or taxi)
Alright, so you have completed your public school contract and it’s time to head home. Make sure you notify the pension office so that everything is in order to collect your pension. Click here to learn more.