Annyeong Haseyo: South Korea Tourist Visa Application

Before I start writing my short, yet adventurous trip in South Korea with my friends, I'd like to share to you how we got our single-entry tourist visa; 2/6 of the group had it in one go, while the rest of us had to face various obstacles just to have that single-entry visa before our scheduled flight.

I'll be posting the requirements needed for you to comply, tips on how to possibly evade rejection, and if the worst case scenario happened, options you can try out just to get hold of that visa.

P.S. I hope you'll be patient enough to read everything since I don't want to miss out anything, especially the important ones.

Basic requirements:

Everyone, including minors and senior citizens, must have the listed documents for identification purposes.

1. Application form

• Handwritten or printed.
• If you choose to write your answers, use a blank ink pen, write in ALL CAPS, and avoid erasures.
• Write/type "N/A" if it's not applicable.

The funding details part is certainly one of the areas to look out for. I’ll discuss this portion when I get to the additional requirements part.

2. One (1) 35 x 45 mm passport size photo

• It should be colored and against a plain white background.
• There's no notification about wearing of collared shirt, but to be safe, I overlaid a collared outfit from the studio to make my appearance look formal.
• Bring extra copies of your photo in case you need to make necessary corrections in your application form.

3. Passport

• It should have a remaining validity of six (6) months or more.

4. Passport bio page

• Have the second page of your passport photocopied.

Additional requirements:

A. For those who are currently employed:

1. Certificate of employment

• Make sure to submit an original copy with the company letterhead.
• Stated in the said certificate are the following: your current position, date hired (our HR was generous enough to state the date I started working as a probationary employee and as a regular employee), compensation/salary, office address, HR landline number (cellular number is not allowed), and HR e-mail address.
• The month you got a copy of your COE should match with the month you decide to apply for a visa.

2. Bank certificate and Bank statement

For bank certificate: 

• It should have the following details: account type, current balance, account opening date, and at least six (6) months average balance (ADB). 

For bank statement: 

• It should cover all your statement/passbook activity at least for the last three (3) months.

*** Personal Note:

Truth to be told, I cannot say how much is enough for you to prove to the consul that you're financially capable of supporting yourself.

On the 30th of May, my friend, who is traveling abroad for the first time, and I applied for a visa and got denied despite declaring enough money to cover all our expenses – or so we thought.

Apart from the fact that you have to budget at least Php 10,000 per day, you also need to have at least Php 30,000 or more as your 'emergency' money. If you intend to stay in South Korea for five days, then declaring Php 50,000 or 1,000 USD in your application form sounds convincing. However, you must have at least Php 80,000 in your account for a better chance of getting your visa approved.

I'm not sure about this, but having an ADB higher than Php 10,000 seems safer. What I do know, though, is that you must keep your account active.

3. Photocopy of income tax return or form 2316

• Avoid submitting the original copy since it'll be difficult and hassle for you to get another copy.
• If you've been to OECD member countries for the past five (5) years, you might be exempted from submitting a copy of your ITR/Form 2316.

4. Original and photocopy of valid visas and arrival stamps to OECD member countries for the past five (5) years.

5. Alphalist

Official BIR stamp

• In most cases, your payroll master hands you a copy of your ITR/Form 2316 without BIR stamp. Unless your copy has that stamp, you need to secure a photocopy of your company alphalist with the official BIR stamp.

6. Photocopy of PRC or IBP card

• Submit a front and back copy of your PRC or IBP card in one page.

B. For those who are currently unemployed:

Same requirements with employed applicants.

*** Personal note:

My friend, who is, by the way, the only guy in the group, and my sister shared the same situation in a sense that both of them were unemployed when they presented themselves in the embassy. However, my friend failed to convince the consul, while my sister had her visa (just to make things clear, my sister applied last October 2016, while my friend applied last May 2017).

Hearing that he can immediately re-apply for a visa after receiving the devastating news, he recollected all the documents needed and secured an affidavit of support legally signed by a lawyer right after his Singapore tour. As stated in his letter, he attached his flight itinerary and booking voucher of our stay. It was also indicated in the letter that his mother would be liable for all legal charges if he weren't to return in the Philippines within the given period of stay.

A week after submitting his application again, he finally received the good news via online.

C. For students/minors:

1. Original school certificate

2. Photocopy of school ID

3. Photocopy of NSO-issued birth certificate

4. Parents' supporting financial documents

• Original copy of certificate of employment
• Bank certificate and bank statement
• ITR/Form 2316 (plus alphalist if there's no official BIR stamp in the ITR/Form 2316)
• Photocopy of their NSO-issued marriage certificate

5. Original and photocopy of valid visas and arrival stamps to OECD member countries for the past five (5) years.

*** Personal note:

After spending days in Japan with her family as her graduation gift, my friend hurriedly compiled all the requirements for students. It was impossible to get her visa on time, so she sought advice from the lady from the first window (the same lady who receives and checks the requirements) and was handed with a request of early releasing.

My friend's application got approved on the 12th of June. It was really unexpected to see her status online change from 'application received' to 'approved' on that day since it was officially declared a national holiday.

Nevertheless, it was that time when we learned about the existence of such request.

*** Personal note:

Reason why our first application got denied.

My friend and I gave our application another shot by getting the needed requirements again. Apparently, things didn't go smoothly as planned since the bank where our savings are safely kept can't access all online transactions due to a major glitch in their system. Thankfully, the bank got back to business the following day.

Since the embassy is closed on weekends and Independence Day landed on a Monday, we got to submit our requirements the next day. I wasn't able to relax for three (3) days since I was too busy worrying both for our request for early releasing and my application.

We requested for our application to be released on the 16th, yet the embassy told us to call on that day at around 11:30 in the morning to know whether our request was granted or not. I called as instructed, but was told to call them again at 12:30 in the afternoon. My friend's sister called them at 12:30 in the afternoon, but was informed to call back at 2:30.

My friend tried checking her status online at around 2 and finally felt very much relieved after seeing the word 'approved'. I hurriedly checked mine and also got the good news. Everything was certainly worth the slight tachycardia!

***

My now invalid visa attached in my passport. The pink stamp indicates that I've already used my single-entry visa to enter their country.

I really prayed to God before submitting our application, while waiting for the consul's decision, and after receiving the good news and until now, I still want to thank God for giving us the determination to do the best we can and for the opportunity of being able to re-apply days after we got our passport back. I'd also like to thank my family and friends for the prayers and encouraging words! *High five!*

Sorry for the long entry! I hope that this post can be of great help to you. Aja!