I have been denied for a South Korean visa. And I am sad. These may not be two related sentences though.
And I don’t even exactly know why I am sad. I knew I would be denied for various reasons.
Yet I am sad. Maybe it’s the frustration that I had to make changes to my routines in the past weeks just to complete the requirements. And changes, often make me sad.
Or maybe it was the sadness accompanied by high excitement and uncertainties of waiting for the result of the application – like a zero-energy crash in the evening when I had drank lots of coffee in the daytime.
The reason for denial was “You failed to prove strong economic and family ties to the home country.” Whatever that means! What home country are they talking about? Theirs or mine? I suppose it’s mine though. My friend tried to ask for clarifications but the officer in-charge didn’t speak English so we just end up wondering what it really meant.
How could they say I don’t have economic and family ties to the Philippines? Does that mean they think I am poor enough to travel? Or that I’m not politically affiliated enough to the home country? (sucks)
Anyway, here are some details of my application just in case we’re in the same situation in some ways. Perhaps you might learn a thing or two on how you should proceed with your own visa application process.
First of all, here’s my status: I’m a regular employee in the Philippines, without any relative in Korea or an invitation from a Korean. So my requirements are basically under the “For Employees” list. (See Visa Requirements for Different Categories)
DISCLAIMER: This is NOT a “How To” guide for applying for a South Korean visa. This post only shares the experience of the author in applying for the visa and is solely for reference purposes only just in case you are in similar situation.
The Application Requirements
1| Application Form
Must be the latest one. You can get the Korean visa application form at the Korean embassy website.
The application form must be filled out completely and accurately.
A simple tip when applying for a Korean visa is that the information you provide must be consistent with your documents. So keep that in mind when filling out the application form.
I did that – being truthful as much as possible. I even made sure that my employment certificate declares the correct (and self-explanatory) name of my job position as declared in my company ID. So I didn’t settle for the obscure position of “TL” that was originally written in my employment certificate because I want to spell it out as [web] “content writer” the way it was written in my ID. What the heck does “TL” mean anyway to other people? :p
It is important to never leave any blank entry in the application form, too. And if you can’t provide information, you need to write Not Applicable or something like that.
I did that, especially when I was asked where I should be staying in Korea. I know that providing the contact information was one of the very important part of the process, but I just can’t provide any details because I don’t have any. Why should we reserve a hotel room in advance when it’s not yet sure if we can travel there?
We may have been too excited and booked a flight to Incheon even before realising that we needed a Visa, but booking a hotel room there is just not practical. So I placed “Not Applicable” on that question.
However, should you really want to add an entry there even if you haven’t booked any hotel yet, this blog can tell you about a dummy contact number (http://blog-that-shhht.blogspot.com/2013/03/from-baul-how-to-apply-for-south-korea.html).
2| 1piece Passport size coloured picture
So this is why booths have Passport size options even though the Department of Foreign Affairs have their own cameras to use for Philippine passports. So I had no choice but to go to a photographer to have my passport size photo taken. I realised that photographers are really cautious when taking photos for visa applications because the embassies are strict.
3| Original Passport (should be valid for more than 6months)
My passport still doesn’t have any stamps yet because I haven’t travelled to anywhere outside the country. So I guess that’s one of the reasons why I got denied. People say that the more countries you have travelled, especially if they’re first-world countries, the higher your chances of approval.
4| Photocopy of Passport Bio-page (page 2)
Well, I definitely have no problem with this.
5| Original & Photocopy of valid visa/s and arrival stamps to OECD member countries for the past 5 years (If applicable, and Korean Visas will not be counted)
This one doesn’t apply to me.
6| Original Certificate of Employment
At the time of my application, the following information was specifically required: contact number, address of company and date of issue.
But to make sure, I asked our HR to include my job position (as indicated in my company ID) as well as my compensation package. I thought that the important thing when applying for the visa is that you can prove that you’re financially capable to pay for the trip and that you will return to the Philippines, so I had to ask our HR to specify my compensation package as well as my year of tenure to indicate that I have a long-term job in this country.
[UPDATE] Effective March 1, 2015, the Korean Embassy now mandates the addition of the following information in the COE – applicant’s position, hiring date, compensation package, company address, and landline (not mobile phone) & e-mail address of HR.
7| Original Personal Bank Certificate
As of the time of writing this blog post, it’s specifically indicated that this is NOT the bank statement.
I used my salary account for this matter. Since last year, I had been slowly saving money in small increments — actually, the savings I got from my income.
We’re supposed to apply for the visa later this month (April 2014) and I was on track to having 50,000 Php in my account by that time. But my friend changed plans and we had to apply for the visa much earlier, which means I was around 15,000 Php short.
I thought it was going to be okay, considering that the Sunset Goddess Manila (sunsetgoddessmanila.com) mentioned that the Korean Embassy has confirmed that there’s no minimum amount required for bank deposits.
There was also another blogger who mentioned that she called the Embassy to confirm that there’s no minimum balance required and that there’s no need to mention the average daily balance, but I couldn’t remember the blog anymore. Fukc google.
But to be sure, my friend let me borrowed some money to add into my account so that it would reach 50,000 Php.
Aside from the Current Balance (which should be in the certificate), my bank’s template for the certificate also included the optional Average Daily Balance of my account for the past 3 months. My ADB was only around 15,000 Php.
I guess the Korean embassy may say that there’s no minimum requirement and that ADB isn’t necessary but it’s possible that these still mattered when it comes to approving the application. Sigh.
[UPDATE] Effective March 1, 2015, the Korean Embassy now requires Bank Certificates to have the following information: account type, current balance, account opening date, 6 months average balance (ADB).
[UPDATE] Effective March 1, 2015, additional requirements for South Korean visa include Original or Certified True Copy of Bank Statements or Passbooks for the last 3 months.
8| Photocopy of ITR (Income Tax Return) or Form 2316
I believe I had no problem with this, especially that our Admin Officer furnished this to us… unless the Korean Embassy wanted detailed information that writes down every centavos in our ITR.
[UPDATE] Effective March 1, 2015, the Korean embassy wants to specifically “personal tin number” in the Income Tax Return copy. That’s weird, so you mean to say that some ITRs are without TIN Nos. when submitted?
Submitting Our Application
According to the blog of Marius Oczon (mariusoczon.com – deactivated as of Sept 4 2019), those who will go to Korea for the first time, those whose passport has no stamp yet, and those who have an old passport that doesn’t have travel stamps from OECD countries are advised to apply for the visa personally.
In short, it would have been better for me to process my visa application personally. Unfortunately, the embassy was in Manila (and I thought I could process my visa through the consul here in Cebu). I don’t have the luxury of time and money to travel to Manila and stay there through the duration of the processing (around 5 days).
I heard travel agents can process the visas, too. Unfortunately, you will be charged a processing fee of almost 2,000 Php or so. If you do it personally, there’s no processing fee. But I guess when you’re in Cebu, the agent’s processing fee is cheaper than having to pay for flights and hotel. But then, I read somewhere that travel agents also have the same chances of getting denied just like those who personally process their visas.
Luckily, we had a friend in Manila who’s willing to go to the embassy to process the documents for us. Thanks, Tess!
But then, I also read somewhere (maybe it was in the Korean Embassy website) that first time travellers (like me) should go to the embassy personally as the official may ask for a quick interview. (Maybe a get-to-know kind of thing? I wish.) But then, it was not practical for me to go to Manila. *sad*
To cut this long, depressing story short, I was denied the visa.
Speculations to Why I Was Denied
Some things are obvious contributory factors why I was denied. My passport was still blank. I haven’t travelled outside the country yet.
I had no contact information for my hotel (because I had no hotel yet). Although I had booked return-flights, I doubt if they looked at any extra documents attached with the requirements.
I also had no Korean sponsor or inviter. I also don’t have a relative in Korea.
Perhaps it was because I do not have enough funds as reflected in my ADB, which essentially revealed my saving habits.
Aaaah… Why is it so hard to enter South Korea even as a budget tourist? And why do these Koreans can enter the city of Cebu easily and invade our streets and even establish legitimate businesses here and act as if they dominate over us here in our own place?!
Aaaah… I rest my case. *huhuhu*
