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Tourist Visa to Korea

By Mustachio @mustachio2011
Holding an ordinary Philippine passport and going to South Korea? You need a visa! Except if you're going to Jeju Island only, then you don't need one :-)
For employees, these are the requirements for a tourist visa to Korea:
  • Visa application form - completed and signed.  Write "not applicable" if appropriate; do not leave blanks. It is important to fill out the contact number of your hotel in Korea.
  • 1 pc. passport sized colored photo - taken within the last 6 months
  • Original passport - should be valid for at least 6 months
  • Photocopy of passport info page
  • Previous passports with valid and previous visas (within the past 5 years) to US, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and/or Korea
  • Photocopy of valid and previous visas (within the past 5 years) to above mentioned countries, including entry stamps
  • Original certificate of employment - should indicate salary and length of stay in company. Must include a valid landline number of company.
  • Original personal bank certificate 
  • Photocopy of ITR (Income Tax Return)
  • If personally invited by a Korean - invitation letter and photocopy of inviter's passport
For those other than employees, if you're a businessman, student, etc, you can find the list of requirements here.
Visa feeStaying for 59 days or less in Korea - FreeStaying in Korea for 90 days - Php 1350* But because I am in Cebu and the embassy is in Taguig, I chose to apply thru a travel agency, rather than fly to and from Manila. Service fee will vary from Php 2000 to Php 2500, depending on the agency.
Application procedure
  • Complete the required documents. Arrange accordingly: Passport, visa application with photo glued on the form, photocopy of passport, photocopy of visas and entry stamps to above mentioned countries, rest of supporting documents.
  • File your application at the Consular Office (Monday to Friday, 9AM to 11AM only).
    • First time travelers and those who do not have visas from above mentioned countries, submit documents to Window 1 or 2.
    • Frequent travelers and those who have confirmation of visa issuance number, submit at Window 3.
  • Do not forget to get your releasing slip/claim stub upon submission of documents.
* For me, I just prepared all my documents, gave it to the agency, paid their fee, and waited...Easy as 1, 2, 3!

Processing time3 to 5 working days. Could be more depending on the consul.
Releasing is from 2PM to 4PM only.
* It took more than a week for the agency since it had to ship my application to its Manila branch and back.
Contact details
Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines
122 Upper McKinley Road, McKinley Town Center,
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City
(02) 856 9210
email: philippines@mofat.go.kr
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