Melo Villareal
South Korea cuts visa processing time for Filipino Passport Holders
Manila, Philippines — Good news to those who are mulling to visit South Korea soon: the South Korean Embassy in Manila has recently announced it is going to cut down the Korean visa processing period this coming February 2020.
Specifically, the embassy says the period will be reduced to 10 to 15 days, thanks to their additional staff, according to a post from the Philippine News Agency.
“The Embassy has allotted additional visa staffs for faster processing of Korean visa applications,” reads the statement of the embassy last Jan. 20. “Therefore, by the end of February, the current visa processing period of 25-27 days will be reduced to 10-15 days.”
On top of that, it is good to note that the embassy is going to retain the reduced processing period in the coming peak season from March to April.
Remember that if you are planning to go to South Korea, it is prudent that you have to apply for a Korean visa first prior to buying your airline tickets. It is because the issuance of the visa is subject to the approval of the consul in charge.
It can be remembered that since June 201i, the embassy has only accepted walk-in applicants for: government employees with an official business trip, spouses and children of Koreans, holders of visa issuance number, as well as for those with humanitarian reasons to travel to Korea urgently.
Also in 2018, the embassy made a decision to process all temporary visitors’ visa applications via travel agencies. It is because of the increase in the number of visa applications.
In the meantime, in November last year, the embassy announced three ways on how travelers could go to the country visa-free.
It said on its website that you could go to South Korea visa-free if you are a tourist in transit to three countries; a visitor to the Jeju island, and foreign transfer passengers.
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Also read: Top 12 Best Places To Visit In South Korea
