A real-world step-by-step gude for getting a Korean Visa

How to get a Korean Visa, the easy way

August 28, 2019

etting a visa for Korea isn’t difficult, you just need all the requirements and a lot of patience. Patience not for the Korean embassy part which seems super-efficient, but for the visa agencies – which are more hit-and-miss.

Unfortunately, there’s no magic bullet. The easy way is to always come over-prepared the first time. I’ve applied for many visas around the world and have thankfully never been declined (knock on wood)

I was trying to procure visas for both Korea and Japan, and I only had three weeks. Before starting the process I read that you needed to visit a travel agent from a list of approved vendors.

However, my regular travel agent said he could process both these visas just as easily. So, I’m not sure. We took a chance and went to the approved agent (scarily – the only one in our province) in the hopes they might have specific expertise and/or be able to push it through faster since they were on the official list.

The visa fee at the time I applied was USD 14 (P 700), plus a few dollars extra fees and copies, etc, plus USD 19 (P 1,000) for a rush fee. Rush guarantees 3 business days. In reality, it’s closer to 5 as the agency takes a day to deliver it and then one additional day to get it back. Beware of weekends and any holidays that fall on the calendar.

What you need

Before we get to the long list of documents you’ll need, let’s start with what you don’t need. Items that are typical for Schengen, UK and other more difficult visas – that you evidentially don’t need for a visit to Korea.

Health Insurance
Strangely you don’t need confirmed health insurance. I’m used to this being a hard and fast rule so I purchased it regardless. In the end, it can’t hurt. I always use Pacific Cross Travel Safe Insurance – for a 27-day trip the cost was around USD 55, (P 2,900) and offers USD 40,000 in medical and travel insurance in all the countries I was traveling through Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Jeju, and the Ryukyu Islands. Japan is an expensive country, not somewhere I’d want to pay out-of-pocket if I had a serious accident.

You can use the Buy Now button to purchase yours – or at least check the prices on their Pacific Cross Travel Safe site.

Full trip itinerary
You also don’t need to show your full itinerary, air tickets or full hotel reservations. A little confusing as you’d think the Korean embassy would be interested in seeing what your plans are for the full stay in their country or your overall trip.

For instance, we’re going to Manila-Taipei – Okinawa – Tokyo – Kyoto – Osaka – Hiroshima – Jeju Island – Osaka – MNL. But on the application, our agent just put Seoul, along with a hotel name and address/phone number. Would anyone come to Seoul and dismiss the entire Jeju island part? We would have preferred to submit a spreadsheet that detailed all dates, each city, hotels to show continuity of travel to the embassy. However, our agent dismissed this.

Complete Travel History
The last unusual difference is the application just requires you to list your last 5 international travel destinations. Along with the arrival and departure dates.

This provides a very limited view of your entire travel history, maybe they can glean that from the photocopied passport pages? We decided to include a full list of all travel for the last 10 years. The travel agent initially balked but eventually included it. From my perspective, the more travel history shown the better – so it can be determined you’re a traveler, not a worker or someone trying to immigrate.

Visa documentation I brought

I’m not saying you need ALL of these, check the embassy website for full (and current requirements). As always I always try to come over-prepared. This normally leaves the agent staring at our mounds of paper initially confused… Eventually, they work through them and understand what you’ve done.

Korean Visa Form: normally this has to be typed out, and I let the travel agent handle this, I don’t want a rejection because I missed something (or misunderstood) one question on one this multi-page form.
Cover letter: Addressed to the embassy and offering just a few paragraphs (one page) bio of my travel history, goals, and why I want to come to visit their country. I try to keep it light but a good narrative. It’s always great if someone can put a face (or character) with your application. I genuinely want to visit their country to have fun and for positive reasons. I want to get that across.
Copy of my passport and all inner pages with visas (B&W)
Letter of promise to return to the Philippines (notarized). Again, this is optional, but I always include 3 paragraphs stating I’m a college graduate, have family and roots here, have a life here that I’ll respect all their rules, not work, and not overstay my visa.
Copy of my CTO and CTO receipt. CTO class is also not necessary, but I have it and like to show it. The idea is to remove possible reasons for someone to stop you at the airport.
Copy of my college degree
Current school records (if any)
Document showing all my travel history (countries and dates) for the last 10 years
12 photos of myself and my travel partner with recognizable backgrounds (Paris, Amsterdam, St. Moritz, Thailand, Germany, etc) These are all printed as thumbnails on one page w/ the city listed
Itinerary of days and countries listed. This one may not seem obvious – but a clear list of countries I will visit and the number of days in each: (Taiwan: 7, Japan: 15, Korea: 9). This is more important when it comes to Schengen visa, but it gives a clear number to the often overworked agents or processors who are looking through your data for the first time. They want to see the total number of days in each country.
Certified Bank Record showing current balance and open/close date on bank letterhead
Copies of all hotels with my name and my travel partners listed as a guest
Copies of all flights showing both our names
Any tickets purchased (like if we’re going to a ballet or opera etc) – again optional
Spreadsheet itinerary of the trip – including city, transportation, and a brief description of day by day plans
Consent to travel from my mother – this is unnecessary unless you’re a minor, but I have one anyway. A customs official in MNL once wanted to see the text on my phone that my mother knew I was leaving (shrug)
Visa photos – you’ll need to check the size they’re looking for

Documents from my partner

Letter of Guarantee and Support (notarized): a 3 paragraph letter describing our relationship, his bio and ties to the Philippines and his promise to support the trip and send me home at any time if there is any problem
Letter of his financial capability: a few bullet points outlying 3 or 4 banks accounts with current balances
Supporting bank account documents (not certified, just copies of statements or screenshots)
Copy of his passport (not visa page)

Korean visa notes

Sometimes submitting ‘extra’ documents can confuse your travel agent. For instance, by submitting a consent to travel from my mother, all of a sudden the agent wanted my father signature as well. Even though this document is not a requirement if you are over 18 (I’m 22). So you have to patiently explain this to the agent.
I’m currently in a cooking school, but because I travel so much, it’s not a degree course, just a weekly session where I learn to cook different international dishes. I already completed my normal degree. I included current school enrollment. Again, the agent became flustered – asking for additional current school records, etc. Something I declined to go get as my travel partner is sponsoring the trip and the current school records are irrelevant to show that I have ties to the Philippines.

A special note on Birth Certificates

This is for Japan: I found they no longer accepted the original birth certificate that I secured in 2017. Evidentially you need a ‘new’ birth certificate. One that is computerized and hooked up with an international system so they can verify the data. Korea still accepted the 2017 version, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they soon adopt the new mandate for an updated Birth Certificate in the next months or year. So check. You can usually get a new copy the same day you apply for it. I got several original copies for future travel.

A special note on Bank records

We brought bank certificate (which shows account data and balance) as you would need with Schengen and UK, but here they also want a certified bank statement – which shows a running balance for the last 3 months. Small differences, but another trip back to the bank. Still, everything was completed within 3hr of walking in the travel agents door.

Thoughts on the ‘Official Travel Agency’

My agent didn’t see especially knowledgeable and often asked us what to put in some of the computer fields. So, if you have an agent you trust, you might just want to go with them. Funnily enough, after my visas came back I found that my travel agency had been suspended for one month for processing Korean Visas. I have no idea why, but I wasn’t surprised.

Outcome

I used the optional Rush service for USD 19, (P 1,000).

I submitted the Visa on Thursday afternoon. Monday was a national holiday and the visa came back approved on the following Wednesday. So, pretty much exactly 3 working days. Worth the extra rush fee since I was on a tight schedule. Korea seems to have a very professional visa service, and very transparent. Don’t be afraid to try to get one if you have all your paperwork in order.

A note going through the MNL airport.

While I’ve never been questioned on the destination side, I have been questioned in Philippines airports several times. I always bring a full set of paperwork with me (copies) and then discard them once the trip has begun. It’s a waste of paper and ink – but sometimes it seems the agent will be looking for any loophole to deny your trip – so coming prepared is your best defense. These are just the rules of the game, always keep a smile on your face and be polite but confident. 90% of agents are easy to deal with, but you can always run into someone who’s having a bad day – so come overprepared.