Alien Adventures, Part 2: I Can Has National Health Insurance!

We've done it: we've got health insurance!

Not that it was unaffordable without it (less than $20 for a visit and less than $10 for prescription antibiotics), but we are glad to have it now. It will definitely make upcoming vaccines more affordable, and also regular visits should be a fraction of what we've paid before.

This was quite a process, however. Here is how you register your F3 dependents with National Health Insurance in Korea:

Step 1: Visit the National Health Insurance (NHIC) website and find your gu's local NHIC office.

Step 2: If you need directions to your local gu office, the NHIC website also has the number for a call center where you can speak with an NHIC representative in English. That number is 02)390-2000.

Step 3: Once you have directions for your local gu office, prepare all the documents you'll need to get your dependants registered. Everyone needs to have their Alien Registration Cards (ARCs) and passports. Also, you need documents that prove your relationship to your dependents, such as marriage and birth certificates. Also bring the English Call Center number with you because you might need it to communicate with the office staff if you do not speak Korean.

Step 4: Show up at your local gu office, take a number and wait. There will be forms out that other people will be filling out, but if you can't decipher that level of Korean and nobody in the office speaks English (as was the case with us in Yangcheon-gu), just wait. You will have to communicate with the clerks via the English Call Center.

Step 5: Upon the request of the clerks, present your documents and wait. They might communicate with you via call center or they might just figure it out. Whatever the case, you should in the end be presented with a small paper booklet with your names written in Hangeul. We received one booklet for all three of us.

I found the people at the call center to be particularly helpful, so if you're ever in a bind with this, I'd call that number straight away. This whole process was something I knew little about to begin with and couldn't find any information about on the net (with a lazy amount of searching, to be honest), so I hope you find this useful!

Alien Adventures, Part 1: F-3 Visa - Dependent Visa for Family Members

Yaayyyy! We got 'em!

After a lot of stress in the spring over what to do about PapaFish and TheFry's visa status while in Korea, and finding next to no information on the great-wide Internets about it, I kind of blindly leapt towards Korea with very little information and hints about how to get things done. Well, we figured it out, and it wasn't that bad. The worst that happened is that we originally went to the wrong floor of the immigration office, only to be redirected after 15 minutes of waiting.

So, do YOU have dependents that are following you to Korea but not working? Here's whatcha do:

1. Apply for a C-3 tourist visa. I think ours cost about $45 apiece. They are valid for 90 days. You shouldn't need to give them proof of return airfare to get it.

2. Come to Korea, get your Alien Registration Card (ARC). Do this as soon as possible.

3. When you get your ARC, leap for joy, cry a few tears of merriment, kiss it, and plan an excursion to Immigration early the next morning.

4. Go to immigration...and early. The earlier, the better. If your local office opens at 9, expect there to be at least 30 people in there waiting by 10. Often, it is more. We had to make 2 trips to immigration just to hand in our applications so you have been warned.

When you go to your local immigration office, bring your ARC and the passports for everyone in your family who needs their C-3 switched over. This includes the wee babes. Also, bring proof of relation, such as a copy of a birth certificate or marriage certificate. Ours did not have to be noticed or apostilled, and they made the copies right there for us. Also bring at least 1 passport-sized photo for everyone who will be applying. Make sure you know your address and phone number. Also bring money - the application fee for us was 60,000 won per applicant. It might be a good idea to pack some snacks and drinks - you could be waiting for quite a while.

5. Purchase "Revenue Stamps". At the Seoul Immigration Office in Mokdong, these can be purchased in the basement. The stamps will be pasted to the application because 0the immigration officer upstairs on the first floor will not have a cash register.

6. When you fill out the application, select "4" - "Change the status of sojourn". Fill out the app, paste the revenue stamps and passport-sized photo on with a glue stick (provided for you), take a number and wait your turn. Wait and wait and wait. Eat and hydrate and entertain yourself in the meantime.

7. When your number is called, hand your stuff over to the immigration officer. They will take your applications and make copies of all your documents (your ARC, marriage/birth/etc. certificates, and so on) and take the passports of the applicants (my husband and son in my case).

8. They will give you a receipt and a date/time you can return to pick up your passport. At that time, go in the same room, take a number (it will be a different category than when you originally applied; for example, in Mokdong, press button "4" on the number machine. This is for Pickup Only). When it's your turn, they will return the passports with the new visa stamps and also issue ARC cards for the applicants. Then you can do a little Irish Jig of Happines!

9. Eat Samgyupsal for breakfast on your way back home. You deserve it!

Our next little Alien Adventure: Obtaining National Health Insurance!