Seoulscapade

Mission: Get officially registered as married and obtain a spousal F-2 visa in one day.

Forecast: Not a hope in hell.

Totally Useless Information from the Seoul Immigration website.

This is a basic rundown of how to go about getting officially married in Korea. Perhaps it will help someone.

Part I

I’ve had little to do with the Australian embassy since being in Korea. I emailed for information once. Its website is pretty basic. Here it is:

http://www.southkorea.embassy.gov.au/seol/consular.html

Yes, it really is spelt “seol” in the address above. Here was my first stop as an Aussie.

The site has a link to “Marriage overseas” information, but that just links to the Australian Foreign Affairs site. From here you can download the No Impediment to Marriage Form PDF file. Fill it out. It has two sections, one for the male and one for the female (I don’t think a same sex arrangement has official endorsement).

You then take this document to the embassy with both passports, yours and your intended’s. Also, make sure you take 100,000 WON. It is the required fee. That is so you can again experience getting ripped-off Australian style, while far from home.

When you go to the consular section, you’ll be greeted by a small room with what looks like a bullet proof cashier’s window. After handing over the forms and waiting for 20 minutes or so, you will get your No Impediment to Marriage document.

Along with that, you’ll get three Report and Certificate of Marriage forms. You have to fill out all of them and take them to a Gu office. Take your wife there too, as she’ll have to sign things and interpret for you.

My No Impediment to Marriage document was in English, and I was told that this would need to be translated for the Gu office. Well, my wife had to do that, but for the 100,000 WON I paid, I would have expected a translation included, and perhaps a small gift.

You read correctly: my wife had to write up a draft of an official document herself. That kind of makes a mockery of officialdom, document legalities, and due process, it would seem to me.

Part I Summary:

Things to take to the embassy:

1. 1 x No Impediment to Marriage document.
2. Both passports
3. 100,000 WON for the processing fee and for being ripped-off.

Receive back:

1. 1 x No Impediment to Marriage document
2. 3 x Report and Certificate of Marriage forms

Part II

The next step is to go to the Gu office. In my case, because my wife could not get time off work and documents had to be filled out and translated, we could not do everything on the same day. We could have with use of a computer and printer (maybe at a PC room). And a Gu office is near the embassy in Jongno, so that wouldn’t have been a problem.

However, it had to be the next day for us, at Dajang Gu, and during my wife’s lunch break. I was horribly late to meet my wife at the Gu office because I got a bus going in the wrong direction. I was hot, bothered and sweating by the time I got there. The previous night, my wife had translated the No Impediment to Marriage document and we had filled out the three Report and Certificate of Marriage forms.

The Gu office also required their version of the Report and Certificate of Marriage form to be filled out and signed. So, they kept both language versions of the No Impediment to Marriage document and both language versions of the Report and Certificate of Marriage form.

They gave us back the two remaining Report and Certificate of Marriage forms, one of which did not get a Gu office logo imprint, nor an extra green stamp on the back. I don’t know why. I had actually operated the logo imprint machine for the Gu office girl because she didn’t have the strength. I thought I was imprinting all documents, but it seems only two had been place under the imprint plate, theirs and only one of my copies. This proved to be a problem later

Part II Summary:

Things to take to the Gu office:

1. No Impediment to Marriage forms, in two languages.
2. 3 x Report and Certificate of Marriage forms, all filled out.
3. 3,300 WON for the processing fee.

Receive back:

1. 2 x Report and Certificate of Marriage forms, stamped (and maybe imprinted with a logo)

Part III

Next, I made a dash back across town to the Australian embassy, where I presented the 2 x Report and Certificate of Marriage forms. However, there was a problem. As mentioned, only one of my forms had been imprinted and had a green stamp on the back. But the consular office was used to having all forms appropriately stamped and imprinted.

I couldn’t believe it, as I had been the one to operate the logo imprint machine for the Gu office girl. When embassy girl told me of the problem, I actually requested the document so I could hold it up to the light to check it for myself.

My mind was sinking into dread at this point, as a man who loathes bureaucratic madness.

That wasn’t the only problem. We had not signed the forms with witnesses present. My wife said she’d do that at her workplace. But when she rang the Gu office beforehand, they had said they didn’t care about that, so it wasn’t done. The Gu office just wanted their Korean version signed while at the office.

The Australian consular attendant suggested that they could process the forms anyway, as long as I went back to the Gu office “one day” to get everything fully imprinted and stamped, etc. I was relieved and with renewed confidence even suggested she ring them. I wanted her to get their official approval and to know it was all above board. This was a mistake, as she heeded my advice—and it nearly worked against me.

After calling them, she seemed to forget her first suggestion, and began pushing the documents back at me so I could return to the Gu office. I was having none of that. I reminded her of her first idea, of simply processing them, and she went away to see if it would be all right. There are many shades of yes and no in Korea.

After some delay, she returned with the documents signed. This incident was a good lesson: when things are going your way, do not try to make a point or be officious–just keep your goddamn trap shut.

Part III Summary:

Take to the embassy:

1. 2 x Report and Certificate of Marriage forms, stamped by the Gu office.

Receive back:

1. 2 x Report and Certificate of Marriage forms, further signed and rubber stamped.

If you have reached this point, congratulations, you are now officially married. How romantic. The girl at the embassy congratulated me. She seem happier than I was at that point, with the whole thing being something of a burden.

Part IV

Once done at the embassy, I headed across town again to the Seoul Immigration Office. I had little hope of success.

I’ll explain by saying that the Seoul Immigration website is pretty useless—well, no, it’s more than that, it’s a piece of crap. It has things like flow charts when you click on “How to apply” links, like the one above, which basically tell you nothing.

In fact, if you change a few words, you could probably use any of the charts for any government process anywhere because they are so broad. Just pathetic.

I couldn’t even find a map on that site I could print off and give to a taxi driver. But what is worse I couldn’t find solid information about what I would need for an F-2 visa. I took everything I could and decided to wing it and at least find out what I needed.

The woman I encountered was an old style public servant. When she saw I did not have all the necessary documents, she did not roll her eyes at my ignorance but did everything else to convey the same message. I began to get tense. She notice that and modified her attitude. I then pointed to the printout I’d made of the Immigration website, with its useless information. In one part, it said this document was required:

Reference of a spouse with Korean nationality

I then spread my arms before her, palms upward, in supplication and bewilderment. I ask her, What does it mean? What is it? How is anyone supposed to know? Would anyone have a clue what to do to get it? She was unmoved.

She produced a document that was all in Korean, a document you obtain from the Immigration Office, by the way, not from the website. So naturally I would not have that document, nor have it filled out, prior to my first visit. I needed other documents, too, and so the woman wrote down what I needed, all in Korean. Instead of her explaining it to me, she said my wife could explain it. Once again, my wife was put in service as an aid to the government.

One thing I needed I could get from the Gu office across the road, she said. This was a useless exercise. I couldn’t get any “proof” I was married yet, as it would take 3 days to process the marriage documents across town at the other Gu office. I found that out after I had caused myself and the service people across the road a lot of embarrassment with communication problems and the silly request.

I had to return the next week, that is, after my wife obtained several other Gu office documents for me. But guess what, one of them wasn’t what they wanted, as my wife had misunderstood the scrawled note handed to me the week before. So, I had to return to the Gu office over the road again and get it from there. This time I was successful.

Once that was done, all documents were taken off me and I was told I’d have my passport and ID card in a week, delivered by post.

Part IV Summary:

Take to the Immigration Office:
1. Alien registration card
2. Passport (take your wife’s too just in case)
3. Embassy Report and Certificate of Marriage forms, signed and rubber stamped.
4. Gu Office document proving that the marriage is official.
5. Gu office document proving address of you and your wife (or just your wife?)
6. Gu office document proving your wife’s family status (or lineage or something like that)
7. Documents proving your financial viability, such as a proof of work document or a rental agreement or a bank statement
8. Reference of a spouse with Korean nationality (as mentioned above)
9. 60,000 WON (I was first told it was 50,000, but the next day it mysteriously went up) worth of Immigration Office stamps
10. 30,000 WON worth of Immigration Office stamps for a multi-entry visa.

Receive back:

1. Snide expressions mixed with impatience
2. A receipt if you nominate to have your passport posted to you, which you will have to pay for.

In conclusion, get your wife to ring the Immigration office to find out what documents you need. Make absolutely sure you have absolutely the right details of what you need to obtain. My final tip would be to avoid government bureaucracy as much as possible while in Korea.

My honeymoon was my second European trip, but this time it was to Paris, Dublin, London and back to Paris. The last time I went, the Internet did not exist for the general public, but this time I was able to book hotels and flights online. There were no problems. October was a good time to be there, with mostly decent weather and fewer tourists.

I should confess, the trip was designed to follow a kind of literary trail. In Paris, I made a point of visiting some Samuel Beckett landmarks, such as the one featured below. It’s Beckett’s long term home in Paris, 38 Boulevard St. Jacques, after he moved from Rue des Favorites (which I also visited); he lived on the 7th floor. Don’t worry, I ensured that my new wife, Sunah, didn’t miss out on seeing all of the standard tourist spots as well. We got everything done without too much rushing around, too. We were organized and kept busy enough not to have the energy for newly wed arguments.

Europe seemed much the same as it was 20 years ago, except more expensive, of course. One difference I noticed in Paris, however, was that the French were more inclined to speak English and seemed more tolerant of tourists. You have to admire that, what with the huge volume of tourists they have to put up with. I suspect things are different in peak season, when the tension between desiring to please to make money and loathing to accommodate petulant and demanding foreigners is at its zenith. I also noticed that more immigrants were working in service jobs or else running businesses.

Paris has always been multicultural, but multiculturalism in Dublin was something I didn’t expected. I had not been to Dublin before, and I guess I was anticipating something like a modern version of the city described in famous Irish literature from the last century. Sure, some of the landmarks were still there, but I didn’t hear much of the Irish accent walking down the streets. From what I gathered while there, the influx of immigrants is changing the face of Ireland; that seemed pretty evident. Poles especially are swelling the population, though they are not as readily accepted as harder working Asians, going on what a taxi driver said.

As for Dublin itself, I was somewhat underwelmed, although this impression is probably tainted by the literary focus I had. It is a bit touristy, nonetheless. A good example of this is the misleadingly named Guinness Brewery Tour. On the ‘tour,’ a self-guided affair, you will not see anything of the real Guinness brewing and bottling process. You just get funnelled to a merchandise shop, up various floors of memorabilia, panels, lights and noises, and end up at bar with a view of Dublin and a free pint of Guinness. The view and the pint are good, you can skip the rest.

They flog their literary heritage even though so many of their dead writers were ostracized while alive. Yet there is just not that much literary ‘stuff’ to see. There are house addresses you can visit, although I didn’t bother—I’d seen the main addresses I wanted to see in Paris. In any case, the most well known address would be Joyce’s 7 Eccle’s Street but there’s a hospital where it once stood. Actually, we stayed in a hotel that had been converted from a residence where George Bernard Shaw once lived, the Harcourt.

I enjoyed seeing a few other literary landmarks like Trinity College and Swift’s St. Patrick’s and venturing to Joyce’s Martello Tower in Sandycove, Dun Laoghaire. We also went on the convenient city bus tour—the best way to see things fast, walked along streets I’d heard of, and strolled through Stephen’s Green. There wasn’t time to do the literary pub tour, which might have been fun. I suspect, however, that we might have just seen a lot of other tourists. Since they banned smoking in pubs, business has dropped off. We did get to the writer’s museum, but it was a waste of time; you can read about the lives of Irish writers off a wall and view some old editions in glass cases—I mean, so what; you’d be just as enlightened surfing the Internet.

Had we the time, it would have been nice to tour more of the coast and inland country, like the Wicklow region, and see the rural side of Ireland. That might have given me the feeling that I would like to go back. As a last word, the friendliness of the Irish could not be faulted.

The next leg of the journey was from Dublin to London. In London, we took a city tour bus and then a Thames river cruise on the day we arrived. On the next day we headed off to meet my brother on the outskirts of London, and he drove us to Reading University, where I looked over some Beckett archives. Then it was on to Oxford to spend the afternoon with his family and have a quick look around before taking a train back to London. The next morning we took a flight back to Paris and returned to the hotel we’d initially stayed in, the Hotel Ares Eiffel. If anyone wants a basic, decently priced, well located hotel in Paris, this is it.

The return to Paris was purely for relax time, with the majority of the sightseeing out of the way. As the end approached, I didn’t really want to come back; I was starting to feel quite comfortable in Europe, or perhaps it was that I didn’t want the traveling to end so soon.

But I won’t miss the European cost of living, that’s for sure; and I won’t miss the transport systems, either: whoever designed the knee space for strangers opposite each other on Dublin’s trains should be sacked; Charles de Gaule was a dump compared to Korea’s Incheon International; London’s subway is clunky and Paris’ is quaint and petite compared to Seoul’s efficient, clean, heavy duty system. Seoul traffic, however, is another matter entirely.

In many respects, people who haven’t lived in Seoul don’t know what their missing; and getting away from Seoul showed me why I still like living here. Now I’m back, life is back to normal, well, except that I’m married.

I was married to Sunah on September 30th, 2005. It was a traditional wedding as you can see, in which I wore a traditional clown suit with a kind of Mickey Mouse hat. It’s all you need really.

Were doing a typical post-ceremony pose orchestrated by photographers at Korea House where we had the wedding. I look a sight younger because I’ve been heavily “photoshopped.” The album production team laboured hard over my images, I was informed. They “photoshop” all wedding photos apparently, as part of the service, but a foreigner’s paler features, like mine, present extra challenges; in my case, the blotches, scars, freckles, lines, and whatnot, all had to be attended to. Presumably, teams worked around the clock to arrive at the picture you see.

Like many weddings, ours was prone to a series of mishaps, starting with our being overcharged for the traditional hambok dress made for my parents, who had recently arrived in Korea for the event. The tailor had not so much misled us directly but had implied, through no doubt practiced omissions and ambiguous allusions, that my parents’ hamboks would be half the price of the ones to be made for Sunah and me. They were in fact the same price; nonetheless, they did look good on the wedding day.

The next drama was the night before the wedding day. A member of my family had not arrived in Seoul at the appointed time, and after much conjecture, a call to his home number in England revealed that he had not left and had actually missed his flight without realizing it! There was a mix up with day of the flight and confusion about time differences. In shock, he made a dash to London airport and pleaded to be put on the next available flight, which compassionate staff were able to arrange. He missed the wedding but made it for the wedding dinner.

The weather was bright and sunny right up to the day of the wedding, Friday the 30th of September. On that day, it bucketed down heavy rain relentlessly from early morning until late afternoon. The road conditions made us late to the marriage house, and that meant being late for the rehearsal of our traditional ceremony. I knew zilch about it and was led through the procedure with hasty instructions. In the meantime, Sunah was in dressing rooms getting make-up done. Before I knew it, it was showtime.

Rain also meant that the wedding was not held outdoors, as we had envisaged—in a sunny courtyard with a band in sight of all playing traditional music. Instead, it was held in a small theater, with very comfortable seating I might add. The ceremony itself was conducted up on a stage, with the band to one side and with various props for the performance, including a live chicken that, thankfully, didn’t upstage me. I guess you could say it was a successful theatrical debut.

I surprised myself by not being too unnerved by it all despite the mounting surprises. I think it was because I’d thrown my back out some days earlier and back pain was diverting my concentration–another complication. A lot of bowing was needed—the standing variety and the down on the knees, head to the floor variety—as well as some sitting cross legged, and I had to choreograph movements delicately. At times my smiles were actually a cross between a smile and a grimace, which you may be able to detect in the photos. Anyway, I went through the motions and before I knew it I could relax.

Korean weddings are really quite amusing. There is no compunction on anyone’s part to arrive, leave, or go and eat at any given time. People were coming and going and eating at the buffet provided while the wedding was taking place up on stage. There were many people who attended that I didn’t even see (and didn’t even know), yet I know they were there from the money they left and their recorded names. This is just part of the Korean style of getting things done on the move.

Now for the smoothest part of the wedding. This has all got to do with the Korean style of giving wedding gifts. Some people give gifts (we got one or two) but most give money when they turn up at the wedding house. The custom is for helpers to record who gives money and how much they give. So we ended up with an exercise book full of names and amounts given. This is done so that you know how much to give when one of those people get married, i.e. they get either the same amount or better.

Since weddings here are paid for after the event and not before, we could pay for the wedding in cash with our gift money as soon as it was over. In our case, all the money we amassed (around $10,000 on the day—I kid you not) covered all costs with some left over! Now that’s what I call ‘going smoothly.’ You can imagine that I’m very enthusiastic about this kind of system. It’s a shame you’re only supposed to marry once.

We had the weekend in Seoul after the wedding and before setting of on the European honeymoon. I relate a little about the trip in my Travels section. Once we returned, it was all back to the routine. We had been living together for a while, so for me, nothing was that much different.

In relation, one thing I might mentioned is that, officially, I’m still single! This is because we haven’t yet submitted the official documents, such as those required from my embassy, to the local council office. Also, we can’t do that anyway, because one stipulation on the purchase of our new apartment, the course of which I detail in my New Home posts section, is that a foreigner cannot be part of the contract. That can’t happen until we actually move in.

I guess I’ll just have to stay officially single for another few years!