Before my F I was on a couple different versions of an E visa: an E-2 when I first strode ashore the Land of the Morning Calm and then an E-1 when I started working at the University of the Hermit Kingdom. Since you probably don't know and definitely don't care what the differences between the two are, I'll just say you can inject drugs into your veins and get all the HIV you've ever wanted if you're on an E-1. You can also go back to the States just to carry contraband across state lines since Koko won't bother to call the FBI on your ass anymore like they would if you were an E-2. Also, if you ever go to the immigration office, you can take a few steps into the waiting room full of suckers in the middle of a three hour wait, let out a series of small snickers, and then take a left into the Office of Global Talent to collect all your stamps in 10 minutes or less. Bye, Felicia.
So, what are the benefits of an F visa? I'm glad I asked myself so I can tell you all about it.
I can tell my boss to EAD then take the long way home. Generally speaking, E visas are work permits sponsored by your employer, which is a nicer way of saying your boss owns your ass. If homie decides to fire you then you basically have to grab all your stuff and go, and by go I mean home to your parents' basement. What's that, Captain Obvious, I'm exaggerating? Of course I am, but not much considering the vast majority of housing for foreign teachers is provided by their employer as part of the compensation package, so not only does getting fired mean you have no money, it means you're homeless too AKA less than ideal circumstances for embarking on the job search. And when I say the job search I mean combing through a shitty listserv full of generic promises to not be a dick boss, local jargon for I'll wait at least two months to start making you work Saturdays even though I said you wouldn't have to when you were hired. And considering the looming threat of a visa overstay, there's not a whole lot of time to be picky when deciding which job to take. I suppose you could buy some time by leaving Koko and then returning on a tourist visa, but if you do find a job you'll have to leave and return yet again since they don't do tourist-to-work approvals in-country. I'd rather have five soju hangovers than live through that headache.
F-6 visas, on the other hand, are sponsored by your spouse, which is a nicer way of saying she owns your ass but who cares since she already owned your ass when you decided to get married. So if boss man tells me to come in on a Saturday I can just hahahahaha in his face and point out I don't work Fridays either before going home to my wife, who makes more money than I do anyhow.
Work and and then werk it - Part of your employer owning your visa is that you need their official permission to do outside work. I'm sure you can guess the answer to that question. If not, it generally goes: trolololololol no. The F visa, though, is the complete opposite. Rather than asking my employer if I can work a second job, I instead have to deal with my wife castigating me for being a lazy doobag because I only have six jobs instead of seven even though I really have just the one I barely go to.
One way that E and F visas aren't really different even though you'd think they were is private tutoring. It's technically outside work, so if you're on an E then you need to ask your employer. If you're on a F you just have to ask your wife if she wants more money for her menthols, but you also have to register as a business and then pay taxes on your declared income. So basically, everyone just does illegal tutoring for $50 an hour because people who can repeat the things their mothers said to them when they were babies are in high demand here.
Fighting old Korean men - Oh lol, you thought I was serious about explaining the benefits of an F visa? All the preceding was really just pretense for telling you I can punch an old man in the chest now without fear of being deported, since that's the only thing I actually worry about living here. That may sound trivial or even a bit over the top, but if so then you obviously don't know what it's like to vomit your way through motion sickness because the crypt keeper driving your taxi can't put his foot on the gas and just leave it there. Accelerate, let off, accelerate, let off, accelerate, let off, accelerate, cough, hack, spit, let off. All this after watching him fumble with the GPS for 15 minutes because his response to "take me to that super popular place in Seoul everyone knows about" was to self-lobotomize. "The airport? Hmmm, I've never heard of such a thing. Why don't I just drive you around in circles instead?"
F visas are also open season on old women wearing too much floral print - with brown pants! - but if you actually step to one chances are she'll throw your ass on the ground and break your ribs, regardless of visa status, so maybe ask someone else about that? Not my area of expertise.
Final thoughts - Find someone you love and emigrate. Or emigrate and find someone you love. Just make sure you get that cake.
