Updated South Korea Visa Application for Foreigners in Hong Kong
A few years back, before the pandemic, I created a blog post about applying for South Korea visa in Hong Kong for those that hold foreign passports. I was reading back my blog post and realized, it was not really very helpful LOL. During the pandemic, I got hooked into BTS 😀 and have been wanting to go back to South Korea since.
A lot has changed since the last time I applied for South Korean visa in HK. They were still issuing visa stickers then now, in lieu of the stickers, successful applicants will need to go the Korean Visa website and download a visa certificate to show to the immigration.
Requirements:
The basic requirements for South Korea visa application are still the same, applicants still need to provide proof of identification and proof of income if they are supporting themselves. Note though that requirements may differ based on the type of visa being applied for. The following are the requirements I passed for a Single Short Term Tourist Visa – C-3-9.
- Completely Filled-out Visa Form.
- Reservation Notice (Printed).
- ID Picture for South Korean Visa application (Printed and Soft Copies).
- Physical Passport (more than 6 months before expiration).
- Photocopy of your Passport and HKID.
- Bank Statement showing the balances for the last 3 months.
- Employee Certification (With salary if possible).
- Other proofs of income.
- Cash for visa fee if your passport requires payment. Visa fee may range from 320 HKD to 720 HKD depending on the type of visa and the passport. Certain passports like mine are also exempted from fees.
Process:
The application process is pretty smooth as long as you pass all the requirements and filled the visa form out properly.
Visa Form
Visa application forms and types can be filled out or downloaded from the Korea Visa Portal E-Form (Visa). Visas could be single, double, or multiple entry for 1, 3 or 5 years. Short-term tourist visas are under C-3-9. Make sure to completely fill-out and submit the form online. For purpose of entry, I have put Tourism/Transit and for the Status of Stay, I chose C-3 (Short-term General).
To make sure you are submitting the right visa application form, you can go the the General Guide page of the website > Visa Navigation Page > Type the Continent your passport belongs to > Country of your passport > Purpose > Your desired length of stay.
Once you have completed and submitted the e-form, make sure you print out the completed form with the barcode.
Offline Visa Application
South Korea visa application is not completed by just submitting the e-form. An in-person submission at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Hong Kong of all the requirements is a must. To process the visa offline, the applicant must first make a reservation at Reservation Site. Applicants will be required to log in as guest by providing their contact number where the OTP will be sent.
Make sure to choose “Reservation to Visit a Diplomatic Mission” and follow the process in the site. Be sure to also print out the reservation once done.
Location: 5/F, Far East Finance Centre, 16 Harcourt Road, Hong Kong. It’s the building opposite exit B2 of the Admiralty Station.
When you arrive at the location, you will be asked to take a number on the left side of the entrance and wait at the seats for your number to be called. There’s also an additional form which you can fill out while waiting. The process should be smooth as long as you properly fill out the forms and submit all the documents. It took ~5mins to check all the documents I provided. After verification, I was given a receipt to show in visa collection day (if approved).
Visa Application Status
The visa application takes about a week to process, applicants can monitor the status in the Korean Visa Portal > Check Application Status tab – Application Status. Choose Diplomatic office and fill out the details with your passport number, name, as shown in your passport, and date of birth.
The visa status will remain as Under Review until Approved or Denied. Once approved, it will generate a certification to download and present upon your arrival in South Korea.
Visa Collection
Once approved, you will receive an SMS from the KRConsulate stating the visa may be collected on or after the collection date. The visa collection needs no reservation, applicants may come to the Consulate from 1:30 – 4:30 PM to collect. It’s important to bring with you the original collection receipt and identification.
Good luck on your application and enjoy South Korea!!! Feel free to visit my other travel blogs, will also be posting new South Korea blog! 🙂