Hello all,
My wife, a Korean citizen, has received her visa (CR1) and we are preparing to move to the US now. While preparing for the move, we have learned that the Korean government issues a special passport for Korean nationals that reside overseas (PR Passport, 거주여권). This passport is not mandatory, but offers certain advantages, as well as disadvantages, to those who get it. Does anyone have any specific information, or can you point us in the right direction? We have searched on the internet, and the only information we can find comes from personal blogs or newspaper articles, nothing official.
From what we can tell, holders of this 'PR passport' are allowed to transfer money freely from Korea to the US, while there are limits placed on those with regular passports (like my wife). As we have just sold our apartment, this is important for us. However, holders of this PR passport are unable to keep certain financial instruments in Korea, such as insurance and investment accounts, which we also want to keep open here in Korea.
Can anyone point me to an authoritative source on this matter? English or Korean is fine.
Another related question, what would be a convenient way to transfer a large sum of money from Korea to the US? In the past, my wife has simply wired money to my account in the US. Would it be possible to have my wife and her family members wire money to my account in the US, where each individual transaction is under the limit imposed by the Korean government? Trust is not an issue here, but I am worried that having her family members wire us money to skirt the spirit (if not the letter) of the law would get us in trouble. My main concern is doing this in a legal manner, as any money saved by avoiding fees or taxes is not worth the risk of becoming labeled as a money-launderer, or worse.
Anyone with knowledge or experience in this matter, specific to Korea, your advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
My wife, a Korean citizen, has received her visa (CR1) and we are preparing to move to the US now. While preparing for the move, we have learned that the Korean government issues a special passport for Korean nationals that reside overseas (PR Passport, 거주여권). This passport is not mandatory, but offers certain advantages, as well as disadvantages, to those who get it. Does anyone have any specific information, or can you point us in the right direction? We have searched on the internet, and the only information we can find comes from personal blogs or newspaper articles, nothing official.
From what we can tell, holders of this 'PR passport' are allowed to transfer money freely from Korea to the US, while there are limits placed on those with regular passports (like my wife). As we have just sold our apartment, this is important for us. However, holders of this PR passport are unable to keep certain financial instruments in Korea, such as insurance and investment accounts, which we also want to keep open here in Korea.
Can anyone point me to an authoritative source on this matter? English or Korean is fine.
Another related question, what would be a convenient way to transfer a large sum of money from Korea to the US? In the past, my wife has simply wired money to my account in the US. Would it be possible to have my wife and her family members wire money to my account in the US, where each individual transaction is under the limit imposed by the Korean government? Trust is not an issue here, but I am worried that having her family members wire us money to skirt the spirit (if not the letter) of the law would get us in trouble. My main concern is doing this in a legal manner, as any money saved by avoiding fees or taxes is not worth the risk of becoming labeled as a money-launderer, or worse.
Anyone with knowledge or experience in this matter, specific to Korea, your advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!