I had my Visa before I arrived, so I couldn't say with 100% certainty what documentation you would need to show, but given that you are allowed to stay in country for 30 days without a visa, I would presume that your passport should be enough. If you try to leave the country after having stayed over 30 days and don't have the Visa, -then- you might run into some problems. There are some ladies on here who got their Visa after they arrived, ladies, any input?

I noticed you're in Greenville, SC currently, easily within a day's drive of Atlanta, GA, where the Korean consulate is, so you should be able to get your Visa before you go, if you wanted to. They do the visa on the same day if you go in person to the Korean consulate on Peachtree St. in Atlanta.. I took in my paperwork and documentation at 9 am, and picked up my completed Visa at 1 pm, and it had, from the looks of it, been ready for some time. You'll need to take your birth certificate, your marriage license, military id, a copy of your husband's orders to Korea, a passport sized picture or two, and your passport (I'd call the consulate to confirm the documentation requirements, just to make sure you have everything before you go..) , but it really is an easy in and out process, and free.

Not sure if that'd work for you or not, but it would definitely eliminate your worries about documentation.

Dee :)

I appreciate your answer, and will most definitely look into making a trip to the Korean Consulate. From what I've read, it seems as though it would make my life much, much easier if I have my visa squared away before arriving in Korea. Thank you!

Quick question:

I'm AD USAF (E-5) coming over un-accompanied to Osan.

My wife is coming over anyway, Non-Command Sponsored.

On my orders, should her location be shown as: Songtan, Korea or should I just leave it here in the states.

I have been fighting (via email) with my local MPF (Nellis AFB) all morning and they are insisting that they cannot put Korea in the location box for my dependent.

I thought I had to have my orders say this, to help out with getting the A-3 Visa? Or no?

They are telling me that I will just have to ammend my orders once I get over there to show her location as Korea.

Man...this is going to be fun.....they have already started talking about ammending orders that haven't even been originaly cut yet :)

I was listed as being in Phoenix on my husbands orders. We never had them ammended to show that I was in Korea and I didn't have a problem getting my Visa.

__________________
There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled.

Mike,

I can't comment about whether or not showing your wife's location as Korea or not will help you.. but as for the location of your spouse on the orders, here's my experience.

When hubby who was an E5 got his orders to Osan in April 06, he went to MPF to get his orders, and the personnelist there , who was female, and *gasp* very pro-NCS, as she was mil married to mil, actually -suggested- she put my location as Korea , to prevent any "misunderstandings" or "misconceptions" by offices at Osan, that might give them a loophole to deny me anything. Hubby's orders stated that he was "relocating family members a and b to Korea at his own expense". (We had an older son who stayed home in college, and another, my stepson, who stayed in the U.S. with his biological mom for a year.

When we went to make arrangements with TMO, we encountered a royal jerk of a rep, who not only yelled at my hubby that his orders were written wrong, but that it was -his- fault that they were written incorrectly,and that -he- had to fix it. Hubby responded "Sir, I'm sorry, but are you advising me to knowingly give false information on a government form? My wife -isn't- going to Tennessee, or anywhere else, she's going to Korea"... the TMO dude proceeded to yell at hubby more,and drag hubby, and me (I was there as we stopped by TMO as we were running errands) back down to the hall to the personnelist, where he proceeded to yell at her. To her credit, the personnelist handled herself with a great deal of grace, and didn't return the yelling, simply waited until the guy finished his rant, and turned to walk out..then looked at hubby and I and said "Do you -want- to change the location on the orders?" Hubby replied "No, I don't want to knowingly place false information on a government form" and she grinned and said "Good. We won't."

It could be that we just lucked out and got a sympathetic personnelist.. or that we benefited from a disagreement between two egos.. but our orders listed my son and I as relocating to Korea.

The bottom line of this story, is, as I think so many of us will attest, the most frustration you'll encounter in your NCS experience won't be at the hands of the foreign government, but sadly at the hands of TMO , and MPF.
The information you get from one person will sometimes directly contradict what comes from another. Regs that are supposedly in place are apparently interpreted differently by either individuals or offices, or someone has never actually looked at the regs, they repeat what they've heard from someone else...whatever the reason, you'll find it a total mess when trying to sort through the info and get the truth.

Good luck in sorting through it all, trust me, we've all experienced the same frustrations.. but seriously.. in all earnest.. once you've made it through MPF and TMO stateside.. it really is fairly smooth sailing :)

Until, of course, it's time to leave,and you get to deal with them again :) LOL :)


Dee :)

Dee knows what she is talking about, from experience. If you read nothing else in this long thread, pay attention to this post. Too many folks think they are experts, and the TMO and Personnel Specialists CAN be wrong. Look up the regs if you have doubts. The way it used to be can change overnight!

Any recommendations on websites that may have discounted flights to Korea?

I got a great deal at boots n all. The posted a certain price then tried quoting me a different price. I told them I found it cheaper somewhere else (although somewhere else was actually their site if I recall) and they gave me a better deal :) So when you call in, barter

Going to Korea NCS. I finished reading the thread and have a couple of questions. Do I need permission to arrive the same day as my husband if I am paying for my own flight? Should I make arrangements for my own accomodations or can I get on base and stay with him while we try to get approval for off-base housing?

I left about 2 weeks after DH, but if you are coming NCS I don't think it matters if you come at the same time or not. My girls (only two of them at the time ) and I stayed in hubby's dorm for about 3 or 4 days before we moved into the apartment, but I'm not sure if ya'll can still do that.