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Permalink Reply by Jason Cresswell (ASK Now Inc.) on March 8, 2010 at 2:36pm

Hey Dom,

I will add a bit of info based on my knowledge.

1. Getting a pre-paid mobile is easy, but the rates aren't as good as having a plan. Getting a phone with a monthly plan may be difficult on an H1, but with a deposit, possible. This link has a good explanation of pre-paid vs. monthly plans:

http://wiki.galbijim.com/Cellphones#Prepaid_or_Monthly_payments

2. Setting up a bank account can be very difficult for people just arriving as banking rules have changed due to Phishing scams etc... Our company has a relationship with Shinhan Bank that makes it easier for new arrivals to Korea to get a bank account set up quickly. Here is a link for that:

http://www.asknow.ca/banking.aspx

3. Getting a Korean credit card is not likely to happen on an H1. I am not sure about an E7 though. My understanding that getting a Korean credit card on any visa is a challenge.

4. Renting an apartment shouldn't be too difficult as long as you are prepared with a deposit. For the Wolsae system, you would normally be looking at having a minimum deposit of 10,000,000 KRW which you get back at the end of the lease period. Basically, if you have the money, then getting someone to rent you a place is usually not too difficult.

Here is a great description of the various forms of renting an apartment in Korea:

http://wiki.galbijim.com/Accommodation_financing_in_Korea

In Korea, it is an ARC that you will received (Alien Registration Card). Yes, this piece of identification is pretty crucial in most transactions that you will be involved with and there are a lot of things that you may want to do where this will be required.

I know this answer doesn't go very deep, but hopefully it points you in the right direction.

Jason

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Permalink Reply by Dom LaVigne on March 8, 2010 at 4:37pm

Jason,

Thank you for this - it gives me a good place to start (i.e., very focused search); I'll spend some time going through the sites that you mentioned.

---Dom

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Permalink Reply by Aurelien Laine on March 14, 2010 at 10:02am

Hello Dom,

I have a few incomplete tips but might get you on the way.

First of all, yes, you will need an alien registration card for most for eveything you want to do in Korea. However, for the mobile phone, there is one shop in Seoul that allows you to rent a phone and use it as a prepay. I was given the adress but never actually went there as I jump into a local office for my Alien card and got it rather quickly. I feel very sorry not to be able to provide you with the shop's adress but I can't find it in my papers anymore. I know where you can get it though. Any of the following global village center should be able to give it to you:
● Yeonnam Global Village Center
- Telephone : 02-6406-8151~3
- Email : yeonnam@sba.seoul.kr
- Address : 3rd Floor Suseong Bldg. 80 Donggyo-ro(198-31 Donggyo-dong), Mapo-gu, Seoul
- Homepage : http://global.seoul.go.kr/yeonnam

● Yeoksam Global Village Center
- Telephone : 02-3453-9038~9
- Emai : yeoksam@sba.seoul.kr
- Address : 5th Floor Yeoksam 1(il)-dong Culture Center 16 Yeoksamrobuk 4(sa)-gil(829-20 Yeoksam-dong),
Gangnam-gu, Seoul
- Homepage : http://global.seoul.go.kr/yeoksam

● Seorae Global Village Center
- Telephone : 02-2155-8915~6
- Email : seorae@sba.seoul.kr
- Address : 3rd Floor Jeon Bldg. 27 Seoraero (90-12 Banpo 4(sa)-dong), Seocho-gu, Seoul
- Homepage : http://global.seoul.go.kr/seorae

● Ichon Global Village Center
- Telephone : 02-796-2018~9
- Email : ichon@sba.seoul.kr
- Address : Suite304 Hangang Shopping Center, 224 Ichondong-gil(300-27 1(il)-dong), Yongsan-gu, Seoul
- Homepage : http://global.seoul.go.kr/ichon

● Itaewon/Hannam Global Village Center
- Telephone : 02-796-2459~60
- Email : itaewon@sba.seoul.kr
- Address : 5th Floor - Suite 504 Hannam Bldg. 211 Itaewonro(737-37 Hannam-dong), Yonfsan-gu, Seoul
- Homepage: http://global.seoul.go.kr/itaewon

● Yeongdeungpo Multicultural Village Center
- Telephone : 02-2670-3800~7
- Fax : 02-2670-3808
- Address : 2nd Floor Ilseung Bldg. 246 Dorim-ro(710-10 Daerim-dong), Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul
- Homepage : http://global.seoul.go.kr/yeongdeungpo

● Seongbuk Multicultural Village Center
- Telephone : 920-3462~4
- Fax : 920-3461
- Address : 1st Floor Seongbuk 2(i)-dong Community Service Center. 2 Itaejun-gil(246 Seongbuk-dong),
Seongbuk-gu, Seoul
- Homepage : http://global.seoul.go.kr/seongbuk

Just go to the closest from where you live, hoping that you are in Seoul now.

For your bank account, KEB seems to be the most open to foreigners. I was with Kookmin Bank, advised by my beloved one, but just opened a 'Expat Savings' account, which is just like a cheque account with interests. Most of their bank have at least one person speaking English and it LOOKS LIKE (to confirm) that you can get your account with your passport. I did mine with my alien card but they asked for my passport to get the VISA card. Be aware, that it is a direct debit card, not a credit card and the VISA seems to be restricted to Korea. Yea, weird...

For the apartment, I have nothing more to say than the article Jason gave you can tell you. In most transactions though, I would advise to always have a Korean person or an expat who's been around for long enough by your side.

Visit one of those Global Village Center if it's not done yet, they are pretty good at helping you out when you just arrive in Korea.

I hope that helps.

Aurélien

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Permalink Reply by Dom LaVigne on March 14, 2010 at 10:07am

Hi Aurelien,

Thank you so much; this is really great info. I will review it more carefully and checkout the various options.

---Dom

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Permalink Reply by Philipp Grunwald on August 6, 2011 at 1:36am

As of 2011 there are a few new options. As stated in another thread you can now get a mobile phone plan/contract at KT on any visa (but you need your ARC too): http://expatblog.kt.com/6

 

Additionally for banking, I'm not sure, I'd really like to hear your opinion and experiences! But: Looking at the KEB banking website recently (without reading the fineprint), there seem to be options to get a proper credit card: http://www.keb.co.kr/netc/en/expat/main.html and http://www.keb.co.kr/main/en/ (the current frontpage ads) It only annoys me there is no pricing information, because sure they too'll have a yearly fee!

 

I wonder though, wasn't KB-Star (Kookmin) supposed to be the best foreigner bank? Or am I mixing sth. up? KEB definitely looks promising, while I even try (for easier money transfer) to get a German KEB account.

 

PS: Did you also notice that Korean websites work worse in Internet Explorer these days than in other browsers? O.o Wonder which browser you guys use...I always thought they'd at least support IE(7), even if it's emulated?

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