Posted on Apr 26, 2019
How can I bring my mother-in-law to Korea with us?
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I am going to Korea next year and my mother wants to go with us. If I am not able to get her into my DEERS by the time does anyone know if it will be easy to have her live in Korea off base with us for the two years I am there?
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Camp HumphreysUSFK
Camp HumphreysUSFK
Posted >1 y ago
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When you PCS to Korea, if there is on post housing available you will have to live on post, it isn’t an option. She will have problems going on and off post because she won’t be Command sponsored. She will have problems receiving any medical care, especially routine because you will have to pay upfront for all medical and will have to be seen off post. Trying to get medical insurance for her over there will be hard because she’s not a citizen of Korea, so it will be VERY expensive. She won’t be able to go to the commissary or px to purchase anything. She will have to get a tourist passport and Visa which have a time period on her stay in Korea. If an emergency occur and your dependents have to be evacuated, she will not be included in that evacuation because she was not authorized to be there. Bottom line, it is not a good thing to have her over their if she is not command sponsored. That would put her at a great disadvantage with no kind of entitlements or benefits which she will DEFINITELY need.
You also have to remember, even if she is able to become your dependent, she still have to get an EFMP (all family members) Screening to get approval to travel to Korea. If she gets denied due to a medical issue or concern, she still won’t be able to go regardless if she’s your dependent. My advice, if she’s not able to go as your dependent, you would be doing her a great injustice taking her anyway. Not to mention the trouble you can get into with your chain of command for bringing someone there that’s not command sponsored and housing them with no kind of benefits or entitlements.
Even though it may not be the answer you were looking for, I hope this helps you as you decide your next course of action. Good luck to you....
You also have to remember, even if she is able to become your dependent, she still have to get an EFMP (all family members) Screening to get approval to travel to Korea. If she gets denied due to a medical issue or concern, she still won’t be able to go regardless if she’s your dependent. My advice, if she’s not able to go as your dependent, you would be doing her a great injustice taking her anyway. Not to mention the trouble you can get into with your chain of command for bringing someone there that’s not command sponsored and housing them with no kind of benefits or entitlements.
Even though it may not be the answer you were looking for, I hope this helps you as you decide your next course of action. Good luck to you....
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SGT Nicholas M.
Please take all of the advice above. I have personally witnessed the fallout of a service member doing this exact thing in Germany. The CoC was not kind to him when they brought the hammer down. That included EROD'ing (early return of dependents) his wife and kid back stateside and losing his command sponsorship. And his mom didn't even do anything wrong. Apparently the contracted security company at the gate kept tabs on who was checking in visitors, etc and they inquired to his chain of command who (insert moms name) was that he was checking in almost every week on the same day. He would just bring his mom over for a family dinner once a week. Once the command team found out, they basically gave him the same speech and details that SFC Hobbs stated above and then revoked his Command Sponsorship and sent his family back stateside.
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SFC (Join to see)
That’s the exact same thing I witnessed while in Korea. The Chain of Command has to be accountable for all their Soldiers and their dependents, so when something happens, they have to have an explanation for higher up. They do not take kindly when they are blind sided and it doesn’t matter if you have no place to return them stateside, that becomes your problem and you will be given a short suspense to fix it. Not to mention what it will cost to get them another place stateside that will not be reimbursed nor will you receive any assistance for it. SGT Nicholas M.
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SFC (Join to see)
Thanks for that. I will make sure to get the form turned into DEERS fast and let my wife know that putting her into DEERS is the main priority
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Anyone can live where they want as long as they go by that countries laws. I would suggest looking into S.Korea on what is needed for a person to move there and for how long. I'm not sure how long a Visa ect would be.
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Don't do anything without consulting with your DEERS and Transition teams, because a single mistake can cost you, as a NONCOM very dearly. Get the information, sift through it, extract relevant pieces, Study those relevant pieces of information again, Absorb your study carefully and then, Act accordingly.
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