Today, I would like to post about a case of a D8 visa that was really difficult and required the most effort among all the D8 visas I have handled so far, but was eventually approved.
First, the applicant was a female representative of Mongolian nationality, and because she was not fluent in Korean, a friend of hers introduced me to her
After finishing the phone consultation, I honestly thought to myself, "Is this just going to be a hassle?" but still, with a spirit of challenge and passion, I thought, "Isn't it a professional's job to handle the really tough tasks?" and arranged a meeting. The client was located in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, where the corporation was established, so I went all the way to Gwangyang to meet the client.
Now, let me explain why I thought it would not be easy. The D8 visa has a procedure. "The most basic of basics," which is as follows
Foreign Investment Report → Remittance of Foreign Investment Funds → Company Registration → Business Registration/Corporate Establishment Report → Transfer of Paid-in Capital to Corporate Account → Registration of Foreign-Invested Enterprise → Application for D-8 Visa Issuance
If you ignore this procedure and establish a corporation without a foreign investment report, it's not just a visa issue; the funds that entered without a report become illegal, and you can't even take the money back to your home country if you want to liquidate the corporation. Also, you can't stay because you won't get a visa, which can lead to a really tough situation.
This was the situation of the client in question. She had established a corporation in Korea under her representation without a foreign investment report...
Her acquaintance was also a business person in Gwangyang, and the Mongolian applicant had been in the trading business with Korea for over 10 years. The meeting went on for over two hours, and right off the bat, I asked
"Why did you establish a corporation without a foreign investment report? What kind of person is the legal professional who registered the corporation?" That's how the meeting started, and the conclusion at the end of the meeting was to proceed by investing an additional 100 million won, in other words, increasing the capital in the corporation (established in Gwangyang).
So, going back to the beginning, I took a power of attorney from the client and started the procedure again, starting with the foreign investment report.
As expected, the process was not easy from the start. Even the bank I usually use for foreign investment reports said that this case needed to be reviewed by the head office responsible for foreign investment reports, and the work started with preparing documents for the foreign investment report review.
After the head office approved the foreign investment report, and since the corporation was already established, I proceeded with the foreign investment report by attaching additional corporate documents and received a virtual account in the name of the applicant, to which the applicant's husband in Mongolia remitted the funds.
※Only spouses and minor children included in the F3 (accompanying) qualification are exceptionally allowed to remit on behalf.
During the process of remittance by proxy, there was a problem, and the money did not get transferred to Korea but returned to Mongolia instead. In simple terms, it was "rejected." After identifying the problem, I had to ask the husband in Mongolia to remit the money again.
After the husband remitted the money again and two days later, when I confirmed that the money had arrived, I cut a corporate account balance certificate and went to a notary office with the applicant to get it notarized. Then, I requested a legal professional I collaborate with to increase the capital by 100 million won in the established corporation and register it. After the capital increase, I took the related documents to the bank where I had reported the foreign investment and received a certificate of registration for a foreign-invested company. After that, I made an appointment with the applicant and went to the distant Gwangyang branch office to apply for a change of D8 visa status.
※ Since the applicant had entered Korea with a C-3-9 visa due to business and corporate issues, I applied for a change of D8 visa status. And because the applicant had to apply for a change from a C-3 visa to a long-term visa, that is, for fingerprinting for foreign registration, I accompanied the applicant with a power of attorney.
※ The C-3 visa, in principle, cannot be changed to another visa except in a few special cases. However, in the case of the D8 visa, since you need to have an office for establishing a corporation, that is, you need to engage in real estate transactions (lease agreements, etc.), and purchase office furniture, etc., in other words, there are many things that need to be done in Korea to apply for a D8 visa after establishing a corporation, so it is exceptionally allowed to change from a C-3 visa to a D8 visa.
These days, getting a D8 visa is not easy. Some people even think that the D8 visa, which is obtained with an investment of 100 million won, is not being issued at all.
It has become very complicated, and if you apply for a D8 visa with an investment of less than 300 million won (mostly 100 million), the immigration office will question the source of the investment funds. Most of the time, or almost always, the refusal of a D8 visa happens here. It is refused because the source of the investment funds cannot be proven.
In the case of the applicant, it was really, really not easy to prove the source of the investment funds. Let me give you an example.
Not only in Mongolia but also in most countries except the United States, when remitting investment funds to Korea, it is done in dollars. Let's assume the account into which the funds are remitted in Korea is account A.
If the remittance to account A was made from one account in the name of the applicant or her husband, it would be somewhat fortunate. But what if the remittance to account A was made from multiple accounts? It becomes a real headache.
Because you have to submit the transaction statements for all the accounts that remitted to account A, including account A,
※ The main transaction account statement showing how the investment funds were formed must be included. For example, a business account, a salary account, etc.
Even if you issue the account transaction statements in English, they are marked in the currency of the respective country, and the immigration office requires precise confirmation of when and how the money was deposited into the dollar account. You have to review the vast amount of data and mark on the transaction statement when exactly the money was deposited into account A to prove it.
※Bank loans or money borrowed from acquaintances or family (relatives) are not recognized as investment funds.
(The husband is an exception for proxy remittance, and gifted investment funds are also an exception.)
※ Even if you deposit money directly into the dollar account after keeping it at home without keeping it in the bank and remit it to Korea, it is also not recognized.
Now, let's look at the situation of the applicant (female corporate representative of Mongolian nationality).
The applicant's husband made the remittance, and in Mongolia, there is not much dollar currency available in banks. Therefore, the maximum amount of dollars that can be exchanged in a bank per day is 3000 dollars.
From the husband's perspective, he needs to deposit approximately 75,000 dollars to be able to remit a sum that, after deducting transfer and exchange fees, amounts to over 100 million won to Korea. It's a burden and a pain to have to go to the bank every day without missing a day for more than a month to transfer to the dollar account. Moreover, the wife (female corporate representative) in Korea has her C-3 visa expiration date approaching, so there is not much time.
So, after transferring 3000 dollars every day for several days, it seemed impossible to continue, so he withdrew about 52,000 dollars from the account and exchanged it for dollars at a MONET EXCHANGE (currency exchange) on the market, and then deposited it directly into the dollar account.
※In this case, the source of the investment funds cannot be proven. Because it is not recorded in the dollar account where the money came from, that is, which account the money was deposited from.
Furthermore, the money was not deposited into the dollar account from one account in the husband's name but was withdrawn several times from two accounts in the husband's name and one account in the wife's (applicant's) name, and combined with about 2000 dollars that were kept at home, it was deposited all at once into the dollar account.
I requested the transaction statements for the three accounts, including the dollar account, from the applicant. I also found an interpreter for Mongolian and asked the husband in Mongolia to confirm exactly on which date and at what time he withdrew the money from which account, and at what time he deposited it into the dollar account, and I checked the submitted account transaction statements.
After all the hard work of verification was completed, I prepared a document proving the source of the investment funds with the confirmed details and submitted it to the immigration office along with the account transaction statements as supporting documents.
※In my case, when applying for a D8 visa, not for the purpose of employee dispatch but for a 100 million won corporate investment, I already know what the immigration office will ask, so I prepare a document called "Proof of Investment Fund Source" in my own format to submit together. This makes it easier for the immigration officer (since they will ask if there is any doubt about the source of the investment funds) and also makes it easier for me to prove the source of the investment funds.
During the review process, there were two requests for additional documents, but I diligently submitted the required documents, and finally, I confirmed that the permission was granted yesterday.
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