Question of the Week: Which “Processing Method” and “Delivery Method” should I choose when filling out a passport application form using the Passport Wizard?

Answer:  We encourage all U.S. passport applications to be prepared using the Passport Wizard, which makes the process much easier for you and for embassy staff.  However, since the Passport Wizard is used both in the United States and overseas, there are two important points you should keep in mind.

Question of the Week: What do I need to bring with me in case of an evacuation?

The thing about living in such a calm place as Korea is that we can easily start to imagine that nothing terrible could happen here.  Though relatively calm and stable, anyone living here should be prepared for worst case scenarios including natural or man-made disasters. 

No Pet Left Behind

I arrived in Korea on the 7th of October, a Thursday.  By Saturday, I was pestering my husband to drive us to an animal shelter in Asan so I could adopt a dog.  There were pages and pages of glorious adoptable pets: curly haired Cocker Spaniels, sandy colored mutts, and Korean national treasure Jindos.  I had my eye on a Jindo from the start: she was a mid-sized, bright eyed, white female with the trademark tightly curled tale. We called her Lily.

Having a pet is an incredibly rewarding experience, but there is no doubt that owning a pet abroad may raise some issues you never dreamed of back home.  How do you find a vet that speaks English?  Are you allowed to transport your pet out of the country when you leave?  Is it expensive? Will there be a quarantine period for your pet when you go home?

When we took our newly acquired Lily to the vet, the first thing she told me was that Jindos may not be legally exported from Korea.  Fortunately for us, since Lily was a rescue, she had no purebred certifications and she was documented as a Jindo mix, thereby not subject to any export ban.  It does go to show you though, that you need to think ahead and ask questions you normally wouldn’t have to ask in a permanent home situation!

Lucky for us Korea has many professional veterinarians, many of whom speak enough English to communicate with you.  You can often find good recommendations simply by doing a quick Google search of “vets in Korea.”  Since I’ve been in Korea, I’ve found a few useful resources that can help guide you through the transition of exporting a pet home.  One of the most comprehensive resources for life in Korea with pets can be found on Korea4Expats, here:

http://www.korea4expats.com//search.php?search=pets

One thing you should remember is that there are very strict guidelines when you leave the country regarding rabies certificates, temperatures, short-nosed breeds, and the carrier in which you transport a pet. I’ve had American citizens call me on the way to the airport wondering if there was anything special they needed to do to take their pet home with them. Don’t wait to the last minute! Take the initiative to check with your airline regarding their pet exportation procedures; check the airport that you will arrive at regarding any quarantine periods; call the vet at least a month in advance so you will have the proper documentation; and lastly, sit back and enjoy the ride, knowing your pet will make it home safely with you.

Here are some additional resources you may find helpful, but as always, please remember it’s always best to check with multiple sources and talk to authorities such as vets, airport quarantine officers, airlines, and more to be certain about regulations.

http://www.pettravel.com/passportnew.cfm
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/vs/iregs/animals/

Bright Sun Logistics
POC:  Ms. Shim, Sun Wook / Mr. Park, Won Soon
E-Mail:   bsl665@hanmail.net
TEL:  82-32- 747-1444
Cell:  82-11-9727-9858
FAX:  82-32-747-1448

Chung Wha Animal Hospital
POC:   Ms. Yoon, Sohee / Pet Relocation Manager
E-Mail:  soheeyoon@gmail.com
Homepage:  www.cwhospital.com
Tel:   82-2-792-7603
Ms. Yoon cell phone: 82-10-5047-0676
Fax: 82-2-796-0008 

The First Class Pet
POC:   Ms. Nam, Gina/ Pet Travel Specialist
E-mail:  GINA@thefirstclasspet.com
TEL:  82-70-4101-1169
Cell:  82-10-8633-1125
Fax:  82-2-3143-7582

Question of the Week: If I have a U.S. passport, do I need a visa to go to other countries?

Answer: In most cases, it will depend on your purpose of travel and how long you plan to stay.

Question of the Week: When should I renew my passport?

Answer:  We recommend that you renew your passport nine months before it expires.  Many countries require six months’ validity on your passport before you travel, otherwise you might not be allowed on the plane.  With the summer vacation season coming up, you don’t want any bad surprises at the airport.  Check your passport expiration date now to make sure you don’t run into problems if you plan to travel this year.  If you do need to renew your passport, this page has all the forms and information you need to apply for a new passport…you may not even need to come to the U.S. Embassy if you meet certain requirements.  Once we receive your passport renewal application, it takes about two weeks to complete processing.

So you’re getting married in Korea!

You bought the ring, you popped the question, you asked the parents and they told you that Aunt Bertha would be happy to sing at the event.  Everything is going as it should – well except for that Aunt Bertha thing.  As you happily stroll down the path, patting yourself on the back for being so organized your soon to be spouse smiles up at you and says “So this is going to be a fantastic party but do we have to do something to make this legal?”  Legal?  Oh man.  You hadn’t thought of that.  You were so focused on the party you forgot that marriage is actually a legal contract.  It’s not really a marriage if it’s not legally registered with the state.

 So now you’re in a panic… how do I make this legal!  You try to think fast. You would ask your friend, cousin, aunt or sibling but they all got married back in the states and you’re fairly certain that as an American in a foreign country the process is probably going to be different.  Fortunately for you the American Citizen Services Unit of the U.S. Embassy has some information for you.

Does the Stork Make Overseas Deliveries?

One of my duties in the Seoul American Citizen Services Unit is to help American citizens register the birth of their children who are born when they are overseas.  When one or both parents of a child born here in Korea are U.S. citizens, then they must apply with us for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) which documents that child as a U.S. citizen at birth as long as they meet the requirements of U.S. nationality law.  Every day I see about half a dozen families with newborn children, and they always have great stories about how their experience having a child in a foreign country has gone.

Countdown to the 2012 General Election!

The 2012 elections are less than a year away!  By this time next year we will have elected government officials from President to state officials, and as an American citizen, it’s your right to vote even if you live overseas.  As Voting Assistance Officers at your U.S. Embassy in Korea, it’s our job (and our pleasure!) to give you the tools and resources you need to make sure that your vote gets counted. 

Adventure of a Lifetime

Going overseas is an adventure, there’s no doubt. I remember the first job I got overseas—Hong Kong. It was thrilling: I was just out of college and intoxicated by the markets, the gorgeous harbor, the exotic smells, and the diverse population. I was so focused on starting my new job, finding a place to live, and just having fun that it never occurred to me that being abroad doesn’t protect you from being a victim of crime.

Looking back, planning ahead…

Happy Lunar New Year!  It is hard to believe it is already 2012.  2011 was quite a year for me.  I finished up my assignment in Baghdad and began a new one in Korea.  Just as I was enjoying life in Seoul, trying out different restaurants, spending time with friends and family, I was asked to go to Afghanistan for several weeks of work. 

Korean Food I Like

I’m no expert on Korean food, but I certainly know what I like. This week I’d like to talk a bit about some foods that, while initially a bit challenging, ended up being some of my favorites during the time I have been living in Korea.

You’re Away from Home… Your Vote Shouldn’t Be!

Have you ever gone back to the U.S. on vacation and turned on the radio only to realize that you’ve never heard the music that is playing ?  Or started to chat about TV shows with your friends from home only to discover that the show you want to talk about is so “yesterday”? Have you tried going to your favorite restaurant in your home town only to discover that it closed ages ago?  There are so many things that make you feel disconnected from home when you are overseas.  There are so many little changes that happen in the months or years that you spend abroad, and it seems that there is no way to keep up.

So close to home….so far away

The Foreign Service has provided my family and me with great opportunities to travel and live in interesting, albeit sometimes challenging, countries overseas.  In previous assignments before South Korea we were assigned in the Philippines, Panama, Papua New Guinea, and the Mexican border.  The one thing that most of these countries have in common with Korea is that they are a long way from the continental United States where most of our family lives.  This has made it sometimes difficult to stay in regular contact with close family members as our days in East Asia are almost flipped with the U.S.  – we’re often 13 or 14 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time.   

Fortunately the last time we had a significant family emergency we were back in the states, in the Washington, DC area, but we know that our closest family members in the U.S. need to know how to get in touch with us at a moment’s notice.  One of the many services the American Citizen Services Unit of Embassy Seoul performs for U.S. citizens in Korea is passing on messages asking them to get in touch with family members in the states.  Other times we receive calls or emails from concerned family members in the U.S. asking that we attempt to contact a loved one here who they haven’t heard from in a long time.  Unfortunately we often don’t have any contact information for the American living here whose family in the U.S. needs to communicate with them.  Even if we do have contact information on file for a U.S. citizen here, we’re restricted by the Privacy Act from telling the inquiring family in the states anything without the explicit approval of the American in question.  However, it’s very frustrating when we need to pass on an emergency message to an American citizen here but have absolutely no contact information for him/her.    

If you haven’t enrolled in the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) you may do so by going to the State Department’s website here: http://travel.state.gov/step.  This is a free service, and after you sign up you’ll automatically receive the most current information the State Department has about the country where you will be traveling or living whether it’s South Korea or somewhere else.  By enrolling in STEP and making sure to completely fill out your passport application, especially your current mailing and email addresses, and your emergency contact information, we’ll be able to reach you when necessary. 

To change subjects, I’m sure many of you have had memorable overseas moments when you say to yourself, “this sure isn’t the states, but it’s amazing and I love it!”  One of my most memorable Foreign Service/overseas moments came while I was making an official visit to the lovely South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu (it used to be called the New Hebrides).  At the time I was the sole Consular Officer in our Embassy in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and from there we also covered the South Pacific island nations of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.  My family and I were enjoying a nice dinner at a restaurant in the Capital of Vanuatu, Port Vila, when we heard the familiar voice of Elvis Presley over the restaurant’s speaker singing a song.  It was a surreal moment for me that gave me chills because my father’s family was from the same part of the U.S. as Elvis, so I was hearing a song I associated with home while actually about as far from home as I could physically get.

Locked Up in the ROK

I wonder if any of you have ever watched the television show “Locked Up Abroad”?  The title says it all: it’s about people who, through a variety of circumstances, end up getting arrested overseas and sometimes imprisoned. We have a fair number of prison dramas in the United States, and I admit that Hollywood prison was the extent of my experience until I came to Korea as a Foreign Service Officer assigned to the American Citizens Services Unit.

All Shook Up

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Tokyo to attend a conference.  I had just checked into my hotel room and was unpacking my suitcase, when I felt the floor below me move.  The entire building was swaying and the wave-like motion didn’t stop for what felt like an hour.  I am a California girl, so I immediately recognized the familiar roar of the earth as an earthquake.

Question of the Week: Do you need to report your marriage abroad to someone in the United States?

 

Question: “I just got married in South Korea. Do I need to report this to someone in the United States?”