South Korea Visa Application, Requirements and Processing

Do you have plans to visit South Korea this Spring? Or this year? Don't know where to start and how to apply for a Visa? This post will help you in the process of applying for an SK Visa and the requirements. I will only post requirements for those who are Employees. Requirements: Completely filled up Application form, which you can download free online or you can get free at the Consulate of Korea. There is a portion where you can paste your coloured passport photo (it has to be with white or off-white background). If it doesn't apply to your situation, just indicate N/A. Photo copy of page 2 bio of your passport(Where your photo, and passport information are) Passport (valid at least 6months from the date of application) Bank Certification(you can request this along with your bank statement at the bank. This states your total balance excluding amounts that are on hold) and Bank statement(this reflects your total bank balance including amounts on hold and history of your bank transactions for the past 3-6months) Certificate of Employment(You need to inform your HR staff that this is for South Korea Visa application, they'll know what to indicate on the document. If they don't, then its important to specify that you need their contact #, your employment status, salary and e-mail address on the document. I had mine indicated on the document my travel date as well) Income Tax Return (If you don't have a current year ITR due to delays or something.. You can use the previous year's ITR. To be safe for private corp employees, you need to ask for a Transmittal of letter or Alphalist with stamp from BIR besides your ITR from HR. My application got delayed as I needed to request for this document and we had a 3 business days wait time.) Visa processing is free if your stay is less than 60days(59days to be exact). It only takes 10minutes to submit your application. Visa application time is only from 9AM-11AM MONDAYS-FRIDAYS. How much money do you need in your bank account? I only stated $500 for the expenses on my application, however, I already had a hotel, meals, plane tickets and tour package. So, the $500 indicated on my application was purely shopping expenses for 4 days. However on both my Bank Statement and Certificate, at least Php50,000.00 was reflected. So far, someone I know applied for a Visa and he was approved even with Php10,000 on his bank account, that's without tickets, accommodations, tours and meals(there is no part on the Visa application form that you need to indicate these information but there is a part where you will be asked about your accommodation, like hotel and contact #. You need to make sure to indicate something even if there's no specific plans or reservations.) My friend didn't have anything at all, but he still got himself a Visa. The VISA is valid for 90days. So you can apply for a VISA now and then plan your flight after a month or two. I heard you can even use a South Korea Visa in Taiwan. How cool is that? Update 03/28/2017 My Visa got denied. The reason? Unable to prove the purpose of entry to South Korea. So what went wrong? One, I applied alone. The Korean embassy is weary of solo travellers. To increase the chances of Visa approval, submit through an agency. You can pay P1000 as processing fee. No need to submit the application in person. If you're applying with family members, friends or other relatives, then you can definitely submit your documents along without the need for an agency. I'll be re-submitting my application in 6mos. Still as a solo traveler with at least P100k in my bank account, let's see if they'll still deny my visa.