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When will my nonimmigrant visa (NIV) be finished?
In general, NIV processing takes about five to eight working days once
we receive all application materials in good order. Re-applications can
take several more working days. Please note that NIV processing time may
very with our workload. The Embassy is closed on both U.S. and Korean
holidays, and weekends. There is no visa processing when we are closed.
Please call our 24-hour toll information line at 060-700-2510 to learn
the status of your NIV application. You may also call DHL
Ilyang (1588-0002) or Hanjin
(1588-0011) to inquire about the delivery status of your passport.
Please add several days for delivery.
Please note that during our busy seasons, near the end of the calendar
year, around Lunar New Year and in the summer, NIV processing times may
vary with our workload. While we try to process all NIV applications as
quickly as possible, please do not count on expedited processing during
these busy periods.
Please understand that U.S. law requires us to process each application
separately on its own merits. We can never give assurance of visa issuance.
What does my appointment time mean?
Your appointment time is the time when we are expecting you to appear
at the first floor of the U.S. Embassy Seoul, Nonimmigrant Visa (NIV)
branch, to begin your NIV application processing, one of 400,000 applications
we process annually. Your interview will not be at that time, it will
be later. For example, if your appointment is at 9:00 AM, please be inside
the Embassy at 9:00 AM. Your interview is only the last part of your NIV
processing on the day of your appointment. We try to interview applicants
within one hour upon their arrival at the Embassy, but given our large
volume and high complexity of applications, we can never guarantee that
NIV processing can be finished in time to suit anyone's plans. We do try
to process applicants as quickly as possible. Please know your appointment
time and number. Please arrive in time for airport style security screening
as you enter the Embassy. Please bring your application materials completely,
correctly and legibly filled out.
I'm not a Korean citizen.
Can I apply for a nonimmigrant visa (NIV) at the U.S. Embassy Seoul?
Yes, anyone physically present in Korea may apply for an NIV here. NIV
applicants are interviewed by scheduling an appointment through Visa Information Web
Services at www.us-visaservices.com.
Spouses and minor children of U.S. Forces Korea personnel may come for
an interview without an appointment by joining appointment cases at the
first floor of the Embassy between 8:30-11:00 or 12:30-3:00, Monday-Friday
(except Wednesday afternoon). USFK applicants should only come after they
thoroughly review our website for downloadable forms and information,
and fully comply with all NIV instructions.
Please use this website to download the
NIV application (DS-156/DS-157) and learn more
about visa requirements and application procedures. Please understand
that application does not equal eligibility for a visa.
U.S. law requires that all visitor and student NIV applicants show sufficiently
strong family, social, professional or economic ties to a residence abroad
to ensure that their stay in the U.S. will be temporary. Section 214(b)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended (INA), states that
"every alien shall be presumed to be an immigrant until s/he establishes
to the satisfaction of the officer, at the time of the application for
a visa, that s/he is entitled to nonimmigrant status." This means
that we are required to view each NIV applicant as intending to immigrate,
and therefore ineligible for an NIV, until the applicant proves otherwise.
We must caution non-Koreans that establishing such ties while someone
is away from home, and in Korea temporarily, can be difficult. Please
be aware that applicants form certain countries or backgrounds, or engaged
in certain fields of study, may require additional, quite lengthy processing.
NIV processing usually takes up to seven working days, during busy periods
longer, after we have received all application materials in good order.
Please apply early to avoid last minute problems.
I lost my passport that contained a valid U.S. visa. What can I do?
If you lost your passport that contained
a valid U.S. visa, you must apply by appointment. In addition to the required
application materials, you must submit your new passport, entry/exit records
from Korean Immigration and a signed and dated police report (translated
into English). Please call our toll number, 060-700-2510, to set-up an
interview appointment.
Can I travel to Guam without a visa?
If you hold a Korean passport that is valid for at least six months past
your date of entry, you may seek entry to Guam for business or pleasure
for 15 days or less without a visa. You must travel on a registered carrier,
have a round-trip or onward ticket in your possession when arriving in
Guam and cannot be otherwise ineligible for a U.S. visa. A visa waiver
traveler to Guam cannot extend, adjust or change his/her status while
in the U.S., including Guam, and cannot travel from Guam to another destination
in the U.S.
The following passport holders are eligible for the Guam visa waiver:
U.S. visa waiver travelers, as well
as Indonesia, Malaysia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Solomon
Islands, Taiwan (residents thereof who begin their travel in Taiwan and
who travel on direct flights from Taiwan to Guam without an intermediate
layover or stop except for stops in a U.S. territory enroute), the U.K.
(British National Overseas, British Dependent Territory passports), Vanuatu
and Western Samoa.
For Information on the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, click
here.
I have a number receipt to pick-up my passport at window # 3 on the
first floor of the Embassy.
When can get my passport?
Please call our 24-hour toll information line at 060-700-2510 to learn
the status of your NIV application. If your passport with NIV is ready
for pickup you come to get it 830-1130 or 1230-1600, Monday through Friday.
The U.S. Embassy is closed on weekends and on both U.S. and Korean holidays,
and no NIVs are available during these times.
What qualifies as evidence of finances?
Does the U.S. Embassy accept guarantees of financial support for NIV
applications?
Evidence of finances may include bank books, income tax certificates,
certificate of employment/business registration or proof of scholarship.
While we highly recommend that you submit evidence of your financial situation
to help us determine your compelling social and economics ties to Korea,
such documents are not required to apply for an NIV. No NIV decision is
based solely on an applicant's finances. Guarantees of financial support
from persons other than the applicant may have little bearing on a visitor
visa application.
What visa do I have to apply for? F1? J1? B1/B2? G?
NIV type is determined by the purpose of travel stated on your NIV application
(DS-156/DS-157). Please refer to "Visa
Classifications " on this website to learn more.
What are my chances of getting a visa?
Please be assured that we adjudicate each visa application on its own
merits as quickly as our resources permit, in accordance with U.S. laws
and regulations. In Fiscal Year 2002 we adjudicated over 360,000 NIV applications,
most within two working days of receipt, finding over 93% of all applicants
eligible for a visa.
Please understand that no one, not a travel agent or us, can say in advance
if an applicant is ineligible or eligible for an NIV. While U.S. law does
not permit us to offer advance assurance that we can adjudicate an application
in time to meet the applicant's desired travel plans, or that any particular
applicant is eligible for a visa in advance of actually applying, we strive
to offer the best possible service. For further information on the visa
process please refer any interested parties to our website, available
through links at www.unitedstatesvisas.gov.
How can I help my friend get a visa?
Applying for a visa can seem complicated at times, and be a source of
anxiety for the applicant. Understandably, many Americans want to help
a friend, colleague or loved one through the visa process.
While the fundamental rule of applying for a visa is that an applicant
must qualify based on his or her own circumstances.
If you wish to convey information to us in support of an application,
please send it directly to the applicant, who can share it with us during
his/her interview, or who can include it with a mail-in submission.
One of the most common misconceptions regarding nonimmigrant visas is
that someone can act as a sponsor or offer to guarantee a person's return
to their home country. We receive many such well-intentioned letters.
Unfortunately, U.S. immigration law makes no provisions for offers of
guarantee or the like.
We have more information on helping
someone obtain a visa.
How do I arrange an interview?
To arrange an interview, simply call 060-700-2510
to access the automated system. This is toll system operated by a Korean
company at rates approved by the Korean government. Each applicant must
make an individual appointment, but a family may make one appointment and come in together.
When one calls 060-700-2510 to make an appointment,
before actually scheduling that appointment there is approximately four
minutes worth of information that one must listen to. This information
explains all of the ways to apply for a visa without coming to the Embassy,
and then goes on to review important information for persons who will
have an interview. This brief explanation saves some people from the trouble
of coming to the Embassy, and allows those who do come to be better prepared.
Since most visitor (B1/B2) visas we issue
are valid for ten years, and most student (F)
visas are valid for five years, the one-time toll call and the five or
so minutes one spends listening to the recorded information are very small
investments.
Updated September 17, 2004
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