Tax Info For Americans

A wonderful friend of mine is currently looking into what us Americans need to do when it comes to tax time while living in Korea. We'd thought we were exempt but have recently discovered otherwise. I will add more to this when I know all... But here's a start:

http://www.overseasfiler.com/articles/who_must_file_a_tax_return

~~Raw~~

www.rawkorea.com
Random find on Children's Day & sooooo happy to have noticed this place! My friends had actually tried to find the Gangnam location months ago without success, so we were pleased to have stumbled upon the Apujeong one.

The great thing about this place is that not only is it really sushi (not just sashimi like most Korean places) but this is Japanese-American sushi! So my friends from the states (& the many others who have visited there & eaten sushi), this is the place to go if you're missing the 'real deal'.

Below are some pictures I took off their website, but they are all from their leaflet. Not ALL the rolls are shown on either - there are some really amazing ones not listed (like the spicy tuna!). We also tried the Salmon Crunch Roll - my current favorite. Bonus: if you get it take-out you get 10% off!

These sets are a REALLY great deal:

Directions / phone numbers

The one on the left is Gangnam / Right is Apujeong:

E-2 Visa Extension After Contract Finishes

In preparation for leaving Korea, we discovered there was (of course) another step in the process we hadn't heard about before. Although our contract states something about getting return airfare to our home country paid for by our school as long as we leave within 10 days of finishing our contract, the government has other ideas about this.


I'm not 100% sure how to explain this except to use our own situation as an example...

Our contract finishes on June 18th, 2010 which is a Friday. Our ARC expires June 19th. We weren't planning to leave the country until June 22nd in order to give ourselves some time to send money home (after making sure we got it all) and closing down our bank accounts, etc. So we have to apply for an extension of our Visa from the 20th-22nd.

Rumors circulate that without doing this you could end up getting fined 100,000 won/day for every day you stay in the country after the last day on your ARC when you try to leave the country. I don't know how true these rumors are but I'm not willing to take the chance. If you find yourself in the same situation, you can apply for this extension online & it only takes a few days to get it back. Then you print out the paper and bring it with you to the airport. Better safe than sorry!


Here is the link for the site (Hi Korea). You must first create an account. (This will require putting in your ARC number.)
http://www.hikorea.go.kr/pt/StipDetailRM_en.pt




After you have created your account you can then apply for the extension. I went to the wrong one many times so I thought I'd try to make it easier for others:
http://www.hikorea.go.kr/pt/CvlapplInfoDetailR_en.pt?cvlapplCd=12700000095&locale=en&cvlapplGbSeq=

Good luck!