Friday, July 26, 2013

Friday, July 26, 2013 - ,, No comments

The Ansan Pension Office

I took a half-day of vacation today to visit the Ansan Pension Office to claim my pension refund.  I will be leaving Korea in a month and that makes me eligible to come in and fill out an application.

I found the Ansan location on the Ansan City website:
http://ansan.iansan.net/english/02_sub/body06_3_11.asp

It's listed as the 5th floor of the Ocean Building.  That's outdated.  It is NOT there.

The TRUE location is here on the NPS website:
http://english.nps.or.kr/jsppage/app/english/contact/contact_01.jsp 


From an east-west perspective, it is directly north of the Gojan Homeplus.

I arrived around 1:30pm and the door was locked!  Crap!

Actually, there was a sign next to the door saying to use another entrance.  I was really paranoid about my visit due to a paperwork issue at my school and I was expecting it to be a difficult trip.  I can happily say that walking to the other door was the hardest part of my visit.

I walked in, found the NPS sign that led me to the second floor.

Outside the office, I saw this:
This is a good sign - implying that someone there speaks English.  

When I walked in, I noticed one member of the staff energetically gesturing to someone across the room.  She was motioning to that person to take care of me.  She took me to the desk and I was speaking to a representative within 10 seconds.  I was literally the only visitor there.  No line, no take-a-number, and no waiting.

I brought my passport, ARC, a voided check from my USA checking account, and my plane ticket.  I read on other sites that proof-of-employment might be necessary, but it wasn't for me.  I think this might be due to only working a single job that is funded by the city.  If my work history was more complicated, I suspect they may have asked me more questions.

I was given a simple English application form, my documents were all copied, and I got an official printout of my account balance.  She told me the date that the transfer would be made and how much the total would be.  

I was in and out in 10-15 minutes and there wasn't any confusion or awkward moments.  It's comparable to applying for a Homeplus point card, except there is a lot more English and you need to bring a few extra documents.

I was totally impressed by the experience and I made sure to tell the representative about it.

Piece of cake?  Umm... yeah!



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