Korea Short-Stay Visa Requirements

Short-stay visa applications for Korea, for purposes of tourism and/or business, may be lodged up to 3 months before the intended travel date.

  • Application Form printed in A4 sized bond paper (must be computerized or typed using Arial font size 12 and should follow the same page numbers; fields not applicable should be left blank)
  • 1 passport sized colored picture (with collar; colored, white background without name plate); to be glued on first page of application form
  • Original Passport (should be valid for more than 6 months)
    1. Affix signature on PAGE 3 for newly issued passports
    2. Fill up emergency contact page at the back
    3. Submit photocopy of passport biometric page
  • If applicable: Old passport/-s showing previous travels for the past 5 years + photocopy of biometric page
  • If applicable: photocopies of OECD visas/stamps issued within the last 5 years (such as those issued by the US, Schengen countries, Canada, Japan, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc). Kindly refer to the following link for a complete list of OECD Member Countries: http://www.oecd.org/about/membersandpartndaughterers/list-oecd-member-countries.htm.
  • If employed:
    1. Original Certificate of Employment with position, salary and length of employment (must be printed on official company letterhead with contact details of company and date of issue)
    2. **Photocopy of income tax return (ITR) or Form 2316 7) For self-employed applicants:
    3. Clear copy of DTI/SEC Registration; SEC Registration must include pages with the names of stockholders
    4. Clear copy of latest business/mayor’s permit
    5. **Photocopy of ITR (Income Tax Return) or Form 2316, with pages including net income and total revenue 8) If seafarer: 
    6. Original Certificate of Sea Service
    7. Clear copy of first page of seaman’s book
    8. Clear copy of POEA contract
  • For retired senior citizen: Copy of senior citizen ID
  • If applicable: copy of PRC card or IBP card
  • Original Philippine-issued Personal Bank Certificate (must include account type, current balance, account opening date and 6 months average balance or ADB)
  • Philippine-issued Personal Bank Statement showing transactions for the past 3 months (original or certified true copy)
  • If foreign national residing in the Philippines: clear copies of ACR I-card and Philippine visa (must have stayed for a minimum of 2 years in the Philippines; foreign national to also provide proof of stay for minimum of 2 years)
  • For family members travelling together: proof of relationship, such as the NSO/PSA marriage contract and/or birth certificate (clear copy)
  • For students and/or those with sponsors (submit those that are applicable)
    1. Original School Certificate
    2. Copy of school ID
    3. Photocopy of NSO/PSA birth certificate
    4. Documents of sponsor (must be the parent/-s, any immediate family member or relative)
      1. Proof of relationship such as NSO/PSA birth certificate and/or marriage contract (clear copy)
      2. If sponsor is employed: Certificate of Employment on official letterhead showing salary, position and length of employment + copy of ITR or Form 2316
      3. If sponsor is self-employed: Copy of business registration from SEC/DTI + Copy of business/mayor’s permit + copy of ITR or Form 2316
      4. If sponsor is an OFW: Copy of employment contract + copy of residence/work visa
      5. Original Philippine bank certificate of sponsor (must include account type, current balance, account opening date and 6 months average balance or ADB)
      6. Philippine bank statement of sponsor (original or certified true copy) showing transactions for 3 months
      7. Affidavit of support (if sponsor is not an immediate family member of the applicant)

If invited by a Korean national: submit invitation letter + copy of the inviter’s passport or identification card

If invited by a company in Korea: submit invitation letter + copy of Korean company business permit

If travelling for business: submit an endorsement/guarantee letter from company in the Philippines

  1.  **Submission of the income tax return or ITR is waived for any of the following applicants:
    1. Those who have travelled to South Korea more than two times within the last 4 years.
    2. Those who have travelled at least once, within the last 5 years, to any OECD member country (except Japan) such as the the US, Schengen countries, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, among others. Kindly refer to the following link for a complete list of OECD member countries: http://www.oecd.org/about/membersandpartners/list-oecd-member-countries.htm.
  2. The following are eligible to apply for multiple-entry visas, as long as they can submit their original statement of account for the past 3 months and copy of their credit/ATM card (front portion only). They are also exempted from submitting their Bank Certificate and  ITR when applying. (Valid until December 31  2019.)

 .          BPI Gold Master Cardholders : multiple-entry visa to Korea valid for 3 years.

  1. BPI SkyMiles Platinum Master Card and BPI Amore Visa Platinum cardholders : multipleentry visa to Korea valid for 3 – 5 years.
  2. Gold BPI Express Teller Debit Cardholders : multiple-entry visa to Korea valid for 3 – 5 years.
  3. BDO Gold Cardholders (Gold Visa Credit Card, Gold MasterCard Credit Card, Gold UnionPay

Credit Card, Gold JCB Credit Card) : multiple-entry visa to Korea valid for 3 years

  1. BDO Elite Cardholders (Platinum Visa Credit Card, Titanium/Platinum and World Elite MasterCard Credit Card, Gold/Platinum/Cathay Pacific and American Express Charge Cards issued by BDO, Diamond UnionPay Credit Card, Diners Club Premiere) : multiple-entry visa to Korean valid for 3 – 5years

Note: Eligible applicants are not automatically issued a multiple entry visa. Issuance of visa whether single or multiple entry is subject for approval of the Consul in-charge. In case cardholder is unable to submit credit card statements for the past 3 months, he/she will be required to submit his/her recent bank certificate (original) and his/her bank statement showing transactions for the past 3 months (original or certified true copy).

The standard processing period, once lodged, is from 35 to 40 working days.

Additional visa fees will be charged by the Embassy for those intending to stay for more than 59 days and/or for foreign nationals. Additional visa fees will be charged by the Embassy for those intending to stay for more than 59 days and/or for foreign nationals.

Express/expedite service may be allowed for the applicants listed below, with processing to be a minimum of 5 working days from the date of lodging. The Embassy will charge an additional Php 1,000 per pax for the express/expedite request.

  1. The applicant who is invited by Korean government and public agency
  2. The applicant who is invited by Korean company, school and organization
  3. The family members of Koreans (parents, spouse, children, family of spouse, etc.)
  4. The applicant who needs urgent medical treatment, with accidents and with humanitarian reason