USFK revokes SOFA visa renewals after audit

[unhappycamper]

Officials at U.S. Contracting Command Korea on Camp Coiner, shown here, are reviewing the histories of invited contractors and revoking some Status of Forces Agreement visas. The review comes after an audit determined that the U.S. Forces Korea’s Acquisition Management office had not complied for years with a regulation that limited SOFA status if contractors established residence in South Korea. Contractors say the sudden enforcement is wrecking their lives and negatively impacting USFK’s operations.


USFK revokes SOFA visa renewals after audit
By Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, October 8, 2008

CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea — U.S. Forces Korea officials are denying status of forces agreement visa renewals to many civilian contractors who lived in South Korea under a different visa when they were hired.

Most contractors who lived in South Korea for more than a year under a different visa — even if that was 15 years ago — are considered "ordinarily resident" in South Korea and are ineligible for SOFA status, according to USFK regulations.

The sudden scrutiny comes on the heels of an audit of USFK’s procedures and its compliance with the regulation guiding the invited contractor program.

"An ongoing Army Audit Agency audit has revealed that USFK Regulation 700-19 was not properly enforced by ," USFK wrote via e-mail following a Stars and Stripes query.

As a result, some invited contractors who have worked with USFK for decades and have top secret clearances are losing their SOFA visas — and in some cases, the jobs that require that status.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57940