CONTENTS
- 1. Immigration Visas | Do You Need to Change or Extend Your Residency Status?
- 2. Immigration Visas | Frequently Occurring Legal Problems Related to Immigration Visas
- - Engaging in Activities Outside Your Residency Status Without Permission Is Also a Violation of the Law
- 3. Immigration Visas | Why You Should Consult the Foreign Litigation Center About Visa Issues
- - The Expertise and Strengths of the Foreign Litigation Center
- - Even if You Have Already Received a Disposition, It Is Not Too Late Yet
1. Immigration Visas | Do You Need to Change or Extend Your Residency Status?
To resolve an immigration visa (sojourn permit) issue, you must obtain the help of an expert who understands the Immigration Control Act precisely.
The Immigration Control Act of the Republic of Korea is very strict and tightly woven, so a single sheet of documents prepared incorrectly, or one small mistake made out of ignorance of the law, can cause the life you have built in Korea over many years to collapse in an instant.
“What do I do if my visa extension is denied?”
“It seems I may have broken the law without realizing it—will I be forcibly deported?”
“The immigration office told me to appear for questioning, but I don't know what to say.”
If you are now in such anxiety, do not judge and respond alone; please receive an immigration visa legal consultation at the Foreign Litigation Center.
Based on the know-how we have accumulated in protecting foreign clients' visas through visa extensions, residency status changes, and objections, we will protect your residency status and help you reclaim your rightful rights in Korea.
2. Immigration Visas | Frequently Occurring Legal Problems Related to Immigration Visas
Many people think of immigration visa issues as merely a simple document procedure.
However, cases of violating the law in connection with immigration visas occur more often than you might think, and the consequences are far heavier than imagined.
For example, if there is a problem with the documents submitted when applying for an immigration visa extension, if the guarantor has withdrawn their guarantee, or if you failed to comply with the conditions originally permitted, the extension permit you already received may itself be canceled or changed.
Note, however, that if you exceed your period of stay by even a single day without having obtained an extension permit, you immediately become an ‘illegal resident’ and are subject to forced deportation (compulsory expulsion).
On top of this, you may also face heavy criminal punishment of imprisonment for not more than 3 years or a fine of not more than 30 million KRW.
Engaging in Activities Outside Your Residency Status Without Permission Is Also a Violation of the Law
If you wish to engage in activities other than those permitted by the type of visa you hold while staying in Korea, you must obtain a visa change permit in advance without fail.
However, if you violate this and engage in other activities without prior permission, or obtain permission by false means, your visa may likewise be canceled immediately.
If you hold a student visa and live in Korea but work part-time or engage in employment activities without permission, or if you entered Korea on a visa for the purpose of cohabitation or visitation and are earning money, this too gives rise to an immigration visa issue.
This is also grounds for forced deportation, and it is likewise followed by criminal punishment of imprisonment for not more than 3 years or a fine of not more than 30 million KRW.
You should not take it lightly, thinking, “Everyone does this, so it should be fine.”
3. Immigration Visas | Why You Should Consult the Foreign Litigation Center About Visa Issues
The problem is that once such an immigration visa disposition has been issued, reversing it becomes several times harder than responding properly from the very beginning.
That is why the assistance of an attorney specializing in foreign litigation is needed from the earliest stage of the case—from the very moment you receive an investigation notice from the immigration office.
If you are in any of the following situations, you need a consultation right now.
Because immigration visa issues are a race against time, the more your response is delayed, the fewer legal options you will have available.
The Expertise and Strengths of the Foreign Litigation Center
Immigration issues require expertise completely different from that of ordinary criminal and civil cases.
The reasons the Foreign Litigation Center can reliably support foreign clients are as follows.
① We understand your situation exactly as it is, without barriers of language or culture
Anyone is bound to feel intimidated in an immigration investigation or interview conducted in unfamiliar Korean.
In that process, there are in fact many cases where people admit to things they did not even do or make statements unfavorable to themselves.
The Foreign Litigation Center's attorneys specializing in foreign litigation and the staff in charge who can provide multilingual consultations in English, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and more, accurately understand the situation the client faces and can assist closely from beginning to end so that the client does not unjustly suffer a disadvantage.
② We protect your right of defense together from the investigation stage
When you receive a summons to appear from the immigration office, the atmosphere of the investigation changes just by having an attorney specializing in foreign litigation accompany you.
We block unfair questions and leading interrogation, logically present circumstances favorable to the client, and, where necessary, submit a defense counsel's opinion to guarantee the right of defense.
In particular, when an immigration visa issue is intertwined with a criminal case, we establish a dual defense strategy that takes the immigration review into account along with methods to reduce the severity of the criminal punishment.
We can comprehensively prove the family relationships, economic foundation, and other humanitarian circumstances that require the client to continue staying in Korea, and thereby defend the residency status.
Even if You Have Already Received a Disposition, It Is Not Too Late Yet
Do not be discouraged just because you have already received a forced deportation order, an order to depart, or a notice denying a visa extension or change.
If the disposition is judged to be unjust or excessive, an administrative appeal and administrative litigation seeking cancellation of the disposition, as well as an application for a stay of execution that halts the forced deportation while the litigation is ongoing, are all possible.
If the stay of execution is granted, you can stay in Korea and be tried until the result of the litigation comes out.
Our foreign litigation experts, who possess extensive know-how regarding immigration visas—residency status visa changes, support in immigration violation reviews, release from custody for illegal residents facing compulsory expulsion, and more—will search to the very end for a way to protect the client's immigration visa.
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