Legal

Written by Galbijim.com

Getting to the Korean Consulate

Written by Galbijim.com

The City Of Fukuoka

Fukuoka is made of of two old cities: Fukuoka and Hakata. There is a train station in each one and they are for different train lines. The trains to Kita-Kyushu and Honshu depart from Hakata. Hakata-eki has next to it the intercity bus terminal. Go out of the station and take a right thru the plaza to get there. City buses (catch them in the street in front of the station) connect the two train stations. Buses in the downtown area around Tenjin only cost 100 yen within the zone. A large 100-yen sign can be seen on the side of buses in this area. Don't forget that buses in Japan are boarded from the rear. Take the ticket while boarding the bus, and then pay the fare while getting off at the front.

In an upper storey of the bus station is a 100-yen store - a way to avoid Japanese high prices. They have a lot of food items there all priced at 100 yen. You can also buy maps of most of Japan's prefectures there, and there's tons of souvenirs and knicknacks. This store is more varied than most of the Korean cheon stores.

The public market is on the south side of Fukuoka and is nowhere near as big as you'd find in a city that size in Korea. But there are a lot of interesting things there for the market buff.

Fukuoka is renowned for its night life and many establishments are in the area near the river that runs between the two train stations. Bring money - a lot of it!

Rainbow Plaza, located in Tenjin on the 8th floor of the IMZ Building across the street from the front of Tenjin Station, is an international centre with internet access, information on hotels, events, a bulletin board for those looking for private lessons/roommates/friends etc. and other services. Staff at Rainbow Plaza speak a variety of languages - some have been hired for their English ability, others for Chinese, Korean, French or other languages.

Written by Galbijim.com

Planning your trip to Fukuoka

If you are doing a visa run to secure an E-2  teaching visa, then your employer should be paying for it (if they’re not, then you should be asking yourself why you are signing that contract). Employers will usually put you on a plane to Fukuoka Airport, which can run between 250-410,000 won round trip, depending on the time of year, and the agent. Expect the trip to take at least 2 full business days, as the consulate seems to be taking longer to process visas these days. Make sure that you have your employer call the Fukuoka Consulate in advance to ensure that they will be open during the time that you'll be there and how long they expect the visa turnaround time will be.

If your employer has not yet decided on a travel agent as of yet, suggest GOnSEE,WhyPayMore or Kangsan Travel. GOnSEE has a visa run special packages. Kangsan Travel specializes in visa run packages for Korean expats and you can get good deals for travel and accommodation through them.

If you are paying for your own visa run for whatever reason, then you’d be best to do it as economically as possible, as doing anything short of breathing in Japan, can be ridiculously expensive. So, you might want to look at getting to Fukuoka by sea, rather than by air. You have two options for sea travel. The cheapest way over is by taking the overnight ferry. It takes about 14 hours. It costs about 120,000won, round-trip. The more quicker way for sea travel, would be taking the JRBeetle jetfoil, which takes 3 hours to cross over and run between 155-170,000won, round trip. Through Kangsan Travel, you can get the jetfoil trip, plus two nights hotel for around 240,000won, depending on the time of year. (Or a single night, if you want that, for around 210,000won.) It helps to buy your ticket well in advance - sometimes the available rooms sell out early. A gigantic buffet breakfast (with both Western and Japanese food) may well be included, depending on the hotel.

Here are the details of high-speed hydrofoil service between Busan and Hakada, Fukuoka;

Busan ->Fukuoka Daily(4times) 8:30a.m; 12:00 2:00p.m; 3:30p.m.

Fukuoka ->Busan Daily(4times) 8:30a.m; 10:15a.m; 12:00 3:30p.m.

Time required: 3hours Tickets: 85,000 Won(One way) / 170,000 Won (Round trip) Inquiries: Korea Marine Express Tel:+82-2-730-8666(Seoul) +82-51-465-6111(Busan)

Korean Consulate in Fukuoka

Fukuoka 1-1-3 Chuo-Ku Fukuokas Jigyohama Post code 810-0065 Phone number : 81 92 771-0461/3 email : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Office Hours : 9:00-12:00 1: 30-17:00 (Monday to Friday) No Saturdays. The consulate is closed during both Korean and Japanese holidays.  ****Please Note: The Visa office closes at 15:30

Written by efl-law.com

Some issues to consider on your future contract

If you are applying from within the country of employment, you have the advantage of meeting the school/institution owner and discussing any provisions of the contract you have been presented. Determine that the person you are negotiating with does in fact have authority to represent the institution and that contractual arrangements will be binding; (e.g. some universities leave the interview to western teachers on their staff. Though they may make promises, they are not in a position to legally bind their employer.) The key areas you will be discussing are:-

(a) monthly wage

(b) hours worked and when and what constitutes an 'hour'

(c) holiday and annual leave provisions

(d) health insurance and deductions

(e) accommodation -make sure your place is clean when you arrive and inspect it for issues.-Ed Daejeonaccess

(f) contract length

(g) any other salary deductions

(h) pension contribution and return of said pension contribution at the end of contract -*most hagwons don't follow this pension policy, inquire to be sure.-Ed. Daejeonaccess

(i) accommodation.

(j) Immigration laws -polices are always changing keep up to date!-Ed. Daejeonaccess

(k) Landlord Tenant laws