Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:00 am Post subject: Foreigners Face Restricted Banking

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New banking regulations are being pushed by Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), and they plan to have these in place by September.

The Korea Times wrote:
Foreigners who stayed here less then three months will be banned from opening new accounts, raising concern about possible discrimination against foreigners.

For those foreigners who lived in Korea for more than three months, they can open accounts with the provision of their qualification papers, including work permits and identification certificates.

But they will not be able to access online banking and ATMs in the first three months even after they opened an account. They will need to directly withdraw and transfer money over the counters at banks during business hours.

The question is how this will affect E1/E2 visa holders as they are here on an employment visa.

Full article here:

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2007/07/123_6993.html