Does anyone has experience with the korean K-ETA system?

 

My wife's boy, he applied 3 times in a row, now he is blacklisted for 6 months.It seems there is a high refusal rate, as many thais are not genuine tourists in Korea.The boy is in the same situation, he wants to remain in Korea, despite many talks with him, but this is not relevant here.

 

As I found out, if the main member has a ''better'' passport and you add your thai family members on the application, there is a good chance for approval for everbody.For example, I applied alone, received approval in 1 hour.Then I applied again, added my wife on my application, both K-ETA's were approved.I cannot say whether she would have been rejected, if she had applied individually, but I have a strong feeling that there is a higher chance for approval by applying together.

 

Need to say that the boy is unemployed, while his mom works in Denmark, where we reside.Working details are required for thai nationals, they weren't for me(EU passport)

 

Short story, the boy needs to wait 6 months to apply again, but he cannot wait.

 

I have read that K-ETA is linked to passport number and you need actually to apply for a new one, if you change your passport or name.

 

Does anyone know of any cases of thais who tried to ''cheat'' K-ETA by changing their passports and apply again?

Thai applicants need to enter their ID number, which cannot be changed and I am thinking koreans aren't that naive, not to think about this possibility of bypassing the system?

 

Otherwise, we need to go the traditional way, apply for tourist visa at the Embassy.

I made an error with my passport expiration date on my K-ETA application that resulted in it being issued but with a short validity and not the default 2-years. I was able to cancel the approved short-dated one as part of new application process with the correct information. This was approved but I had to pay the application fee again.

 

When you say 'he wants to remain in Korea', this suggests he's currently there (and unemployed) or otherwise has been there for a least 2-years already, an assumption based on the K-ETA validity rules. There was a very recent news article about how both the Thai and Korean government departments that handle these things are reviewing their procedures to eliminate the 'little ghost' problem and channel migrant workers via the legitimate employment channels. Both parties claim this is to stop workers being abused by illegal Thai and Korean 'employment agencies'.

 

Maybe the wife's lad has come up against this and the refusal is related to his previous work entitlement and how it was procured? As you stated, a Thai applicant needs to supply 'working details' so maybe whoever he's listing as an employer in his K-ETA is black-listed already?

12 hours ago, NanLaew said:

I made an error with my passport expiration date on my K-ETA application that resulted in it being issued but with a short validity and not the default 2-years. I was able to cancel the approved short-dated one as part of new application process with the correct information. This was approved but I had to pay the application fee again.

 

When you say 'he wants to remain in Korea', this suggests he's currently there (and unemployed) or otherwise has been there for a least 2-years already, an assumption based on the K-ETA validity rules. There was a very recent news article about how both the Thai and Korean government departments that handle these things are reviewing their procedures to eliminate the 'little ghost' problem and channel migrant workers via the legitimate employment channels. Both parties claim this is to stop workers being abused by illegal Thai and Korean 'employment agencies'.

 

Maybe the wife's lad has come up against this and the refusal is related to his previous work entitlement and how it was procured? As you stated, a Thai applicant needs to supply 'working details' so maybe whoever he's listing as an employer in his K-ETA is black-listed already?

I was not clear in my post.

The boy wants to remain in Korea, after entering through K-ETA, basically overstaying and become an illegal migrant, all of this because of a romance story.