Hwajeong – Goyang Yangju Immigration Office

I recently had to go and renew my visa so I thought I would include a guide to the location of the Goyang Yangju Immigration Office in case it is your first time and you are not sure where to go. (Note: I am on an E-2 visa so most of my information, other than the location, relates to that.)

The Goyang Immigration Office is nowhere near as busy as my last one in Suwon and I’m guessing it’s not as busy as Seoul either. Nowadays you are required to make an appointment online so it doesn’t really matter. I found it very easy to book my appointment online; it gave me a number then on the day I arrived about 5 mins early and waited until my number came up on the computer screen. It tells you which desk to go to. It was all very easy and I did not have to wait around much at all so that was a nice change.

If you have not filled out the application form then you will need to go before your number is called so you have time to do that. However I would recommend downloading it and filling it out beforehand, it saves a lot of time. The other thing you still have to do is to get the ‘revenue stamps’ which nowadays is just a piece of paper that says you have paid. Again you want to make sure you go early enough to get these before you number is called. If there is no line it won’t take more than a couple of minutes. Always take cash as they don’t accept cards and there is no ATM in the building.

Getting There:
The Goyang Yangju Immigration office is located on the orange (number 3) line not far from Hwajeong Station. It’s about a five minute walk from the station.

At Hwajeong Station come out of Exit 4, cross the road opposite you (so you are outside Yankee Candle and then turn left and walk up the street a little bit until you come to an alley on your right.

Go through this side street and turn towards your left when you come out – you will now be able to see the building you need. It’s the big grey new building on the corner.

Cross the road – there is a crossing right as you come out of the alley. Walk to your left up to the grey building, you will go past the parking entrance but the foot entrance is around the corner.

So continue walking to the corner and then round it to your right. Walk on a bit until you come to the entrance.

The Immigration office is on the 5th floor, go in the main doors and cross the lobby toward the reception desk and the elevators are off to the left of the reception desk.

On the fifth floor when you come out of the elevators turn to your left and you will see the sign on the wall in the picture above, walk to that and you will be in another corridor and you need to go to your left again. From there you can see the office, it is on the right and has a big blue sign above the doors so you can’t miss it.

What to Take:
They are always changing what you need to take with you. It’s quite a rigmarole if you don’t know what you need. Lucky for me my school is a rather large company and has been through it all before so they gave me all the documents when I re-signed my contract. If you have all your documents then the process is really quite easy and only takes a few minutes.

Once they have confirmed all your documents they stamp the back of your ARC (Alien Residence Card) with the new date of your visa. They do it right there while you wait, it only takes a very short time and you can be on your way.

This is a list of all the things I needed, I know that some branches take more and some take less but this is what my school advised for me:

-Copy of contract (don’t give them your original as you don’t get this stuff back)
-Copy of passport
-Copy of ARC (Alien Residence Card)
-Copy of the school’s Business Certificate
-Copy of the school’s registration
-Copy of your housing contract (should have the same address as on your ARC card)
-a list of the teacher’s at your school – the number of Korean Teachers, Native Teachers, classrooms and students at the school
-a timetable of the teachers at your school
-revenue stamp*

*Revenue Stamps – this is the payment for your visa and needs to be obtained before you get to the desk to hand in your documents. They used look like a postage stamp but nowadays is just a piece of paper. (You should be reimbursed the amount by your school so make sure you get a receipt).

There will be a desk somewhere nearby the main area that sell the ‘revenue stamps’. At the Goyang Immigration Office it is through a door off to the right (of the main office and waiting area). The desk you need is the first one as you head into to the room almost directly in front of you a little off to the left.

These desks only take cash so make sure you take some money with you, some branches might have ATM machines but I would not bet on it. For me the cost was 60,000 won. You should check before you go so that you have enough cash to cover it.

Further Information:
If you are not sure about what you need (or where to go if you live in a different area) then you can call the hotline – 1345. Follow the directions for English (or they do have options in other languages too) and you can ask any questions. They are very helpful.

Also the website for Korean Immigration can be found here. You can download application forms from here if you want to fill them out before you go and you can also make your appointments here too.