How to get a Korean Visa in Bangkok

I did travel to different places, however, I never tried to get a Visa to go to a certain place. Until my friend asks me to join her in Korea, which makes me so interested. Getting a VISA for the first time is quite intimidating, at first I just research on Google and blog post the requirements on how to get a Korean Visa. I found the official site of the Korean Embassy in Bangkok and found so much information that makes me more so confused, however at the end of the day, it is convenient, fast and easy to get a Korean Visa in Bangkok. So here's my personal story.

I applied for Korean Visa in Bangkok, Thailand because I am currently living in Thailand. Reading and researching a lot of information is quite confusing plus watching those YouTube videos on how they get their Korean Visa makes it more complicated and scary, especially the bank statement. To tell you the truth once I received my salary at the end of the month, I always withdraw it all and save my money by keeping the cash in my safety deposit box. Anyways, here is the step by step guide on how to get a Korean Visa in Bangkok Thailand.

1. Fill-up the form completely

You can get a copy of the form HERE. You can write either in English or Korean, you should write it in block letters with no erasures. For multiple questions you need to check þthe chosen option, if you choose “other” you need to provide more information. The Application Visa form consists of 5 pages, with 11 types of questions. 1st is all about your personal details, 2nd is passport details, there is a question there that if you have other valid passports (other citizenship) if you choose “NO” there is no need to fill up the next questions about the other valid passport, just leave it blank. Furthermore, they mentioned “invitee” which means you or the one who is applying for the visa. 3rd is the contact information, 4th marital status and family details, 5th Education, 6th Employment. 7th details of visit, if it’s only to tour around Korea choose the “Tourism/transit”, for the question address in Korea you can write the address of your hotel booking, if you don’t have any booking yet, you can make a reservation in Booking.com usually their rooms are No credit card needed and Free cancellation. They will also ask if you have traveled to another country other than Korea for the last 5 years since I’ve been to a few Asian countries already, I fill it up. However, it’s hard to keep track of your previous travel dates, just base your travel dates in your passport stamps. 8th is all about details of the sponsor, for this question since I will be financing my own self, I opt for “No” for the question “Do you have anyone sponsoring you for the visa?”. 9th funding details, for the estimated travel cost since I will be in Seoul for 5 days and honestly my budget is 30,000 THB including everything from flight to accommodations to foods and shopping and tours so I wrote 982 USD, I used online conversion. For the question who will pay for your travel expenses, the name of the person, I wrote “myself” and for other questions, I leave it blank. 10th assistance with this form, I opt for No, since no one is assisting me with this or I did not ask assistance for any agency. And the last 11th declaration, your signature and I wrote the date of my visa application, not the date I fill-up the form. Just be honest in answering the form, there is no right or wrong answer, the embassy just wants to know you.

2. Complete all the required documents

a. Bank statement and copies of Bankbook

This is the most stressful part of completing my documents, as I mentioned above I don't keep my money in my bank. I just found out from a blog post that you need to have at least 100,000 THB in your savings account and this huge amount of money must not be deposited in one transaction. So, I asked the friend of my best friend who had already been to Seoul, she said they really had a 100,000 THB in their bank. And going through my research the reason why you need to submit a bank statement as well is that the Embassy wants to know if you really can support yourself financially in Korea. The 100,000 THB is the total savings for 6 months, the Embassy requires a bank statement at least 6 months from your application. I still have hoped because when I found out this "100,000 THB savings" I still have 6 months before my flight to Seoul, It's still within the range of my saving period of the said amount before my scheduled flight. However, due to unexpected events and unexpected expenses I did not come up with the full amount 100,000 THB, I only had an 80,000 THB savings in my bank a week before my application. I am already worried that it might be the reason that I will be denied in getting my VISA to Korea. Anyways, I took the risk and asked for the official bank statement of my bank which by the way I paid 200THB, and photocopy each page of my Bank book. By the way loves, you also have to update your bank book each month with-in six months.

b. Accommodation reservation

As I mentioned above you can make a reservation in Booking.com they have a lot of accommodations that don’t need a credit card, pay at the accommodations and Free cancellation.

c. Travel plan/schedule

If you know me I’m obsessed with travel planning and making itineraries so this part is easy for me. However, if you don’t have any idea yet what to do in Korea and don’t know how to make Travel Itineraries you can use mine, just email me at achora90@gmail.com

d. 1.5-inch photo taken within the last 6 months, front view against a white background must be attached in the application form

e. Valid long-term non-immigrant Thailand visa not the tourist visa

f. Re-entry permit

You need to get a re-entry permit first to the nearest Immigration in your location, I get mine at Jomtien Immigration office for 1000 THB.

g. Copy of Employment Certificate of Thai Company

I requested this in my HR department, at first I thought what they meant is my contract but it’s not. It’s a certificate mentioning that you are really working in the company and it indicates your position and salary, it must be in English.

h. Photocopy of your work permit, first page until the latest renewal date of your work permit

i. Original passport

You have to leave your passport in the embassy, make sure that you don’t have another passport obligations during the application of the visa like Visa extension, 90 days, renewal of passport and etc.

j. The flight ticket is not necessary

It is not necessary that you book your flight yet, as they don’t require copies of the flight ticket. This is also a good thing because if in any cases you are denied at least you did not spend your money yet for the tickets.

Note: the requirements above are for Filipino citizens if you are not a Filipino citizen you can visit the website of the Korean Embassy in Bangkok for more requirements, click HERE.

3. Apply personally in the Embassy of South Korea Bangkok

Application for Korean Visa is only in the morning from 8:30 AM - 11:00 AM, so you need to be early in the Embassy. The Embassy is located at 23 Thiam Ruam Mit Rd, แขวง รัชดาภิเษก Khet Huai Khwang, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10310, you can take MRT from Asok BTS station to Thailand Cultural Center for 21 THB, then walk to Exit 1 and walk for 10-15 minutes to Korean Embassy, just use the Google map and it’s just easy to locate. Moreover, once you entered the Embassy you need to get a queue number to choose the option 1 "All kinds of Visa except for Marriage Visa" The application of Visa in the embassy is very organized, you really have to wait for your queue, sometimes the person ahead from you takes a long time to deal with the office staff due to missing documents, or incomplete documents, they will let the person complete it first before proceeding to another queue number. The queue number cut off at exactly 11:00 AM, but if it’s already 11:00 AM and your number it’s not yet called don't worry, they will finish all the queue number as long as you get your queue number before 11:00 AM. They will give you a form which the date of pick-up is written and you need to bring it on the day for your passport with visa pick-up.

For Filipino citizens, there is no Visa fee if you will stay in Korea for less than 60 days. However, if more than 60 days you have to pay 1,280 THB. For other nationalities please click HERE for the visa fee.

4. Wait for 7 working days

5. Pick-up the Passport with Visa

The queue for picking up the passport and Visa starts from 1:30 PM until 4:00 PM. The queue number is still the option 1 "All kinds of Visa except Marriage Visa" at the counter 1.

Before I received my passport and just waiting for my queue number to be called I was so nervous what if I’m denied, one of the reasons that I’m thinking of is that I did not reach the 100,000 THB bank statement. However, when it was my turn, I received my passport and the kind lady staff smiled at me and asked me to check my name in the Visa attached in my passport if it’s correct, my heart was so happy during that time, and she said Enjoy Korea.

And that's it loves, I hope I helped you in this matter because when I was researching on how to get Korean visa in Bangkok, I only found one blog post and they used a travel agency because they are going with it and it was also outdated already. So, it's kinda stressful. LOL! I can't wait to share with you loves all my Korea travel Diaries soon and Good Luck to your Korean Visa application.