This is such an unexpected blessing! I never thought that
getting a South Korea tourist visa would be possible for someone like me who is
nearly broke. Haha. I still couldn't believe it. Blogs of people whose visa
applications got denied made me really worried at some point. It's a good thing
that I'm a risk taker when it comes to #internationaltravelgoals and still
pushed through with my application. Since I am not an expert and it is also my
first time, I will only be sharing my experience and give some tips that I have
come up with after completing my visa application at the Embassy of South Korea
in Manila. More complete and extensive visa application guide can be found on
various blogs on the web.
(Print on A4. Rule of
thumb here is to put N/A for all items not applicable to you and do not forget
to include your signature. Your intended days of stay and budget should be
appropriate to your financial capability backed up by your documents during
application. For example, I only had 30+k on my bank account so I wrote 4 days
with 600USD budget which seemed like I would spend 150USD per day in Korea.)
2. 1
piece passport-size colored picture
(Just tell
the photo studio that you will be using it for South Korea visa. Paste it on
the application form.)
3.
Original passport
(This
should be valid for more than 6 months from the date of travel to be safe.)
4.
Photocopy of passport bio-page
(Just
photocopy page 2 of passport.)
5.
Original and photocopy of valid visa/s and arrival stamps to OECD
member countries for the past 5 years if applicable
(Original
means the ones pasted and stamped on your current and old passports. The 34
OECD member countries at the time of writing are Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg,
Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak
Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and
the United States. Submit your current and old passports containing these
visa/s and stamps.)
6.
Original certificate of employment
(This must include applicant's position, date hired,
compensation, office address, HR landline number, and HR e-mail address.
Cell phone number of HR personnel is not allowed. Some said that they really
contact the companies for verification purposes. Our office did not receive any
form of communication from them though.)
7.
Original bank certificate
(This
must include account type, current balance, account opening date, and ADB. For
your information, the bank certificate I submitted showed that I only had 30+
thousand pesos current balance and 30+ thousand pesos ADB.)
8.
Original or certified photocopy of bank statement for the past 3 months
(Some
banks provide bank statements for free. If your bank asks for a fee, you may
opt to just print your bank transactions as reflected online. You have to be
enrolled in your bank's online facility to do this. This is what I did after
verifying with the embassy via phone that they would accept it. If you have
passbook, you can just photocopy and it will be considered as bank statement. I used my payroll account for bank certificate and bank statement requirements to prove that I have a regular income.)
9. ITR
or Form 2316 copy
(ITR =
Income Tax Return; Form 2316 = Certificate of Compensation Payment or Income
Tax Withheld)
This
should not be a problem for employees in a tax-paying company. Contractuals
with certificate of registration can directly print from their BIR accounts. If
you are not a frequent flyer but does not have an ITR, just provide a letter
explaining why you do not have one. One example would be is that if you are
just newly hire. Frequent travellers who have
travelled as tourist to OECD member countries within 5 years are exempted from
submitting ITR. For reference, I travelled only once to Greece for 6 days last
year and I am already considered a frequent flyer.)
10.
Photocopy of PRC or IBP card if applicable
(PRC =
Professional Regulation Commission; IBP = Integrated Bar of the Philippines
I guess
the embassy/consul more likely believes that a professional will really act as
a professional, i.e., would less likely be an illegal alien/'TNT'. I submitted a
photocopy of my PRC ID hoping that it would have a bearing on my application.)
Additional requirements are as follows:
a.
If personally invited by a Korean
1. Invitation Letter
2. Photocopy of invitor's Passport or Identification Card (authentication not required)
1. Invitation Letter
2. Photocopy of invitor's Passport or Identification Card (authentication not required)
b.
If invited by Company in Korea
1. Invitation Letter
2. Photocopy of Korean Company Business Permit (authentication not required)
1. Invitation Letter
2. Photocopy of Korean Company Business Permit (authentication not required)
Dated
documents should be within 3 months from the date of application. Submit only 1
set. There's no need to provide supporting documents not listed in the
requirements. They will just remove and give it back to you afterwards. Only
passports will be returned during releasing of visa so make sure to provide
only photocopies of your important documents. Give original only if it says so
in the list of requirements.
Processing and Releasing Time:
Monday
to Friday 8:30-11:00am - receiving of application
Monday
to Friday 1:30-4:00pm - releasing of passports and results of application such
as the visa or paper containing the reason for denial
(Check
the embassy
website often for holiday announcements or call them at 856-9210 for any
concern. No appointment is needed. First come first serve rule will be
followed. Be at the embassy by 10:30am to make sure that your application can
be accommodated. As per the embassy website, an interview may be conducted prior to
releasing of visa so first-time travellers are advised to personally claim
their visas.)
Processing
would take at least
a.
3 working days for those who have been to OECD member countries within 5 years
as tourist
b.
5 working days for those who have not been to OECD member countries within 5
years
(I
applied on Thursday, February 22 and got my visa on Tuesday, February 27.)
Visa Fee:
59
days or less stay in Korea -- GRATIS
60
to 90 days stay in Korea -- PHP 2,000.00
(I
got my visa for free. Yey! I wrote 4 days on the application but our pre-booked
flights actually entails us 9 days. I do not recommend booking flights prior to
visa approval since there are really cases of denied application but who are we
to say no to seat sales! Haha.)
Complete
the requirements, submit, check online then claim!
The
embassy address is McKinley Town Center, 122 Upper McKinley Rd,
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, 1634 Metro Manila. You just have to go to
EDSA Guadalupe and ride a jeepney bound for C5-Taguig. From Commonwealth
Avenue, just ride basically any bus with EDSA route like Alabang/Pasay-bound
and alight at EDSA Guadalupe. You can also take the MRT if you prefer. Go to
the road perpendicular to EDSA near Jollibee (North-bound service road).
Jeepneys that would stop in front of the Korean embassy are located at the
terminal near the down-end of that road. It would take approximately 15-20
minutes assuming there is light traffic. To go back to EDSA Guadalupe, just
cross the street at the pedestrian lane near the stop light and ride jeepneys
with 'Tulay' signage at the front.
I arrived
at the embassy at 8:40am and left at 10:40am. On the day of application, first
thing to do is sign on the list, then have the guard inspect your stuff (Eating
and drinking are not allowed inside so they may ask you to leave your food and
bottled drinks on their post. The guard let me bring my tumbler and told me not
to drink inside the building.), fall in line for initial screening of documents
and window assignment (different windows for group/family, frequent,
first-timers, etc.), get number and wait for your turn to be accommodated,
submit the requirements and get a claim stub. To ease the submission, organize
your documents at they appear on the list, remove any paperclip, binder or
passport cover. A ballpen would always come in handy so make sure you bring
this with you. Picture-taking and by-standers are not allowed inside. There are
seats just outside the roofed building. My friends arrived at the embassy
around 6:00am and there were already at least 30 persons on the list. I guess
you should be there by 5:00am if you want to be number one on the list. You
would still wait for few hours though since the queue starts at around 8:00am.
UPDATE: According to PEXers though, during peak season, applications already have a cutoff, not just (10:30am) time cutoff but also number-of-applicants (sometimes 300 down to 200) cutoff. So it would be better if you go there very early.
UPDATE: According to PEXers though, during peak season, applications already have a cutoff, not just (10:30am) time cutoff but also number-of-applicants (sometimes 300 down to 200) cutoff. So it would be better if you go there very early.
After 5
calendar days (3 working days), I claimed my visa. Some applicants who were supposed to claim
passports that day were asked to just come again the next day since the
embassy/consul needed more time or has not yet reviewed their applications. I
suggest checking the status of application online before going back to the
embassy. A sample of online
status is shown below. By around 5-6pm last February 26, 2018, the status changed from "Application received" to "Under review" then finally "Approved."
I also got
my friend's visa on the same day. No need for an authorization letter. I just
showed his claim stub. At the back of the claim stub/s, the name/s and contact
number/s of the applicant/s should be written. The claiming steps are similar
to the submission steps: show the claim stubs to the guard, sign on the list,
get number (write name on the paper provided) and claim passport with visa
(yes!). I just spent around 20 minutes waiting inside.
TADAA!!!
Here's an example of a South Korea visa:
The visa
is good for 3 months from the date of issue. Yey!Will share
my South Korea tour experience in the future. 🐼
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