How to Appeal for Denied Korean Visa Application?

Visa Application is indeed a struggle to every applicant especially when the application gets denied. Sadly, no one could ever tell whether your visa application will be approved or not except the consul who reviews your application. Many factors affect the success rate of the visa approval but you will never know until you get DENIED.

I have applied for several visas in the past. From Taiwan E-Visa, to Greece Schengen Visa and now, Korean Visa. Luckily, I haven’t been denied of a Tourist Visa yet but unfortunately, my boyfriend had. Vince and I are planning to visit Korea and that required us to Apply for Korean Visa. We went through the same process of visa application. We prepared all the requirements and submitted them to the travel agency for processing. I couldn’t wait until our visa gets released so I checked the status of our visa application online. As soon as I saw the status my application as approved, I checked Vince’s thinking that he’d be approved as well but to my surprise, the status of his application was DENIED.

Know how to check the status of your Korean Visa Application Online HERE.

To reconfirm the result of Vince’s visa application, I immediately called the travel agency but they told me that they wouldn’t know the result unless our passports have been returned by the embassy. We waited until finally, we were able to claim our passports. I got the Korean visa on my passport while Vince had a piece of paper stapled at the back of his passport stating that he got denied with the reason “YOU FAILED TO QUALIFY FOR THE VISA CATEGORY THAT  YOU HAVE APPLIED”. So it’s true. It was disappointing and saddening. We already had our tickets booked and of course, we were already excited. Vince already lost his hope but I didn’t. I searched over the internet and found this blog on How I Applied for Appeal for my South Korea Visa by Mariel. It was so helpful and it really gave me the hope that we, too, can appeal and get approved of a Korean Visa.

Disclaimer: These are just reference for those who are planning to re-apply and the result of the appeal still depends on the Korean Consulate.

First, we prepared the same requirements we provided the first time we applied:

• Duly filled out Application form (download here). Should be Typewritten.
• One (1) recent passport-sized photo with white background pasted on the application form.
• Valid Passport. Must be valid for at least 6 months from the travel date.
• Photocopy of Passport Bio-page
• Original & Photocopy of valid visa/s and arrival stamps to OECD member countries for the past 5 years (If applicable only)
• Original Certificate of Employment (must include applicant’s position, date hired, compensation, office address, HR landline number(mobile number is not allowed), HR e-mail address)
• Original Personal Bank Certificate (must include account type, current balance, account opening date, ADB)
• Original or Certified True Copy of Bank Statement or passbook for the last 3 months
• Photocopy of Income Tax Return or Form 2316 Copy

Note: If you don’t have the Income Tax Return or you lack any of the required documents, you may submit a letter of explanation addressed to the Korean Embassy.

This time, we also attached some supporting documents including:

• Letter of Appeal which states your purpose of travel, justification of your purpose and your travel company.

• Copy of Flight Booking Confirmation
• Copy of Hotel Booking Confirmation
• Detailed Itinerary of your stay

• Copy of the Passport Bio-page and approved Korean Visa of your travel companion.

Since the Korean Embassy in Manila does not accept appeal, we filed our re-application at Korean Embassy in Cebu since they accept appeals. Unlike the Korean Embassy in Manila, the embassy in Cebu still accepts walk-in applicants as of yet. But since we cannot go to Cebu to file our appeal, we had to seek assistance from travel agency and this time, we processed through Hankookceb Makati branch. Hankookceb processes visa appeals for Php1,500 per applicant which already includes shipping of all the application requirements to Cebu and back to Manila.

Our documents arrived in Hankookceb Cebu branch last October 8. They were able to submit our re-application right then at the Korean Embassy. According to the agent, it will take ten (10) working days to process and result will be released on October 22. I felt mixed emotions. I wanted to check the status of application online but somehow I’m scared of what might be the result so I just waited until October 22.

On October 22, lunch time, I checked the status online and voila…

The next day, Hanookceb Manila branch contacted me and told me that Vince’s passport is already available for pick-up in their office in Makati. The whole process of re-application was more intense than I thought but it’s like an achievement getting the visa after being rejected the first time.

Now, we’re feeling more excited to experience autumn together in South Korea for the first time!

Hope this helps! 🙂