Background
- In the place of business of the filing company, there are two companies: A, which manufactures cars; and B, which imports and sells cars.

- In 2013, president and vice presidents from the filing company’s headquarters’ office were registered on the directory as non-executive directors of the company A and B.

- In this case, the said persons must file the change in the status of stay with the immigration office and obtain approval.

Major issues
- Lately, company A president visited the immigration office to apply for permission for extension of stay. Since the person was registered at two companies as a director, the person must first obtain permission for change of status of stay to apply for the extension of visa.

- But the problem was that two vice presidents other than the said president who voluntarily reported the change of status of stay should have obtained permission for change of status of stay to be registered as non-executive directors of company B. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) notified this and imposed fine on the violation.

- The company admitted the mistake and visited the immigration office with the necessary documents to file unreported matters and pay the fine. However, the immigration office said that the vice presidents who were imposed of the fine must visit the office in person under the immigration office regulations.

- The filing company requested support of the Office of Foreign Investment Ombudsman (OFIO) asking if there’s a way to amend the situation without the vice presidents’ visit to the immigration office.

- OFIO contacted the MOJ official at Foreign Investor Support Office of KOTRA and explained the filing company’s situation to ask for support.

- The MOJ official directly called the immigration office and explained what happened. By adding that the filing company is the biggest foreign investor in Korea and that non-reporting was a simple mistake, the official requested the immigration office’s cooperation to allow a third person from the filing company to apply for the change of status of stay on behalf of the vice presidents.

- The immigration office allowed a third person from the filing company to apply for the change of status of stay on behalf of the vice presidents on the condition that the VPs’ ID certifications are submitted. Although the amount of fine imposed was quite significant since the period of violation (non-reporting) exceeds one year, the fine was reduced by considering the extenuating circumstances.