The Korean Ministry of Law will commence the closure of its visa stamping service within its overseas consulates from the 24th February 2020 onwards.
What has changed?
From the 24th February 2020 the visa stamping service at the South Korean consulates in foreign countries will start to close. This will be a staggered closure over a period of time. Once the process is adopted, applicants should continue to compile their documents and submit them with their visa application at the Korean consulate. However, whereas previously the applicant submitted their passport and returned to collect it once the visa had been endorsed, now they are only required to visit the consulate once and do not need to hand over their passport. On submission of the visa application, the receiving officer will advise the applicant of the approximate expected date of issuance. Around the time the visa is due to be issued, the applicant should check the state of the processing via the online visa portal website. Once the portal confirms the visa is issued, the applicant can print a copy and will use this paper copy to enter Korea.
Who is affected?
All individuals applying for an entry visa to South Korea at the Korean consulate within their country of nationality or residence.
What to expect / impact?
The change should streamline the process so that there is no need to submit the individual’s passport or return to the consulate to collect the issued visa.
For more information regarding the new process to obtain your issued visa, please contact the Sterling Lexicon immigration team at immigration@sterlinglexicon.com.