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Final Preparations

Remember, you will need a student visa in order to enter Korea! Here I explain the visa application process and some few extra steps I experienced as a person of Korean descent. 

Are You of Korean Descent?

If you are of Korean descent, please pay close attention to this section! If not, go straight to the Required Documents section :^D

 

You should expect a warning email from MIX asking students of Korean descent to call the Honolulu Korean consulate to confirm their citizenship status. There have been a couple cases where students had to withdraw from the program because they were unaware that they had Korean citizenship. However, this does not mean that those with Korean citizenship cannot study abroad in Korea. They just can't obtain the D-2 student visa that most exchange students will need to apply for. They will need to enter Korea with their Korean passport. 

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According to the Korean General Consulate website: 

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  • Korean nationality laws state that a child born anywhere overseas to parents of Korean citizenship might be dual citizens in certain cases even if the birth is not registered in Korea because they have inherited the Korean nationality from their parents.

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  • A child born overseas up to June 13, 1998, automatically follows their father’s country of citizenship.  If the father became naturalized before the child’s birth, the child DOES NOT have dual citizenship.  If the father was a Korean national at the time of the child’s birth, the child IS A DUAL CITIZEN and the birth must be registered in Korea.

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  • A child born overseas beginning June 14, 1998, to a father and mother who became naturalized (or never had Korean heritage) before the child’s birth, the child DOES NOT have dual citizenship.  If either the father or mother was a Korean national at the time of the child’s birth, the child IS A DUAL CITIZEN and the birth must be registered in Korea.

In my case, my father is from Korea, but he was naturalized in the 1980s, way before I was born. Therefore, I do not have dual citizenship. I called the Korean Consulate to confirm this, and although the person on the phone told me that I'm probably not a Korean citizen, she also insisted that I come in person to check for sure. She couldn't guarantee anything on the phone, which was understandable. ​

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I eventually became quite busy during the semester, and didn't give myself any time to visit the consulate with my dad. I sort of ran with the lady's words that I probably wasn't a Korean citizen, but looking back on it, I should have still visited the consulate in advance to give myself a peace of mind. Don't be like me and find time to actually go in person.

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So I waited until I really needed to go to the consulate to submit my visa application documents. When the lady skimmed through my documents, the first thing she asked me was "Oh, you're Korean?" shooting me a slightly concerned look. I explained to her my situation and that my dad was naturalized before I was born, but of course that wasn't enough. 

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I needed my dad's naturalization papers, his passport, and my birth certificate, all of which I did NOT bring... I mentally face-palmed myself, questioning why I didn't bring my dad and why I didn't call the consulate beforehand to see what specific documents I needed to bring. The drive back home with my mom was silent, and we urgently searched for those documents with my dad. I returned to the consulate on the same day with my dad.

 

My dad also technically needed to know his Korean ID number and Korean permanent address, but he let the lady know that due to the fact that immigrated to America when he was a teenager, he couldn't provide that information. The employee also tried to search up my Korean grandma's records, but there was nothing that could help us. I ended up having to type up a letter explaining our situation on behalf of my dad. The lady reassured us that everything should be okay, which calmed my nerves a bit, but a lot of the stress could have been easily avoided. 

Fast forward, I have received my Visa Grant Notice! Just as the lady said, everything turned out okay, but do yourself a favor and confirm your citizenship status in person at the consulate. They do walk-in, and are open on the weekdays from 8:30am - 4:30pm (closed on the weekend and on holidays). 

Required Documents

MIX provides a helpful Visa Guide, which serves as a checklist for keeping track of the necessary documents. I knew that it would suck to be missing a document and then get sent back home to come another day, so I made sure to carefully look over this checklist before visiting the consulate.

Here's what you will need. ​

  1. Completed Visa Application Form 

    1. If there's a section you don't understand, leave it blank and just fill it out at the consulate. ​

  2. $45 (they only accept cash!)

  3. VALID Passport (1 color copy) 

    1. I advise printing out a few more copies, just in case. ​

    2. If you don't have a copy machine, use Genius Scan (document scanner app) and scan your passport. It'll export the picture as a PDF and you can just go ahead and print it out. 

  4. Passport size photo (2"by 2") 

    1. I went to Longs Drugs to get my picture taken and printed out. ​

  5. State Issued ID (1 color copy) 

  6. Business Registration Certificate (사업자등록증) (or Registration Number Certificate) of your partner university

    1. You'll receive the Business Registration Certificate from KUBS in that emailed Visa Package that I mentioned earlier. ​

  7. Letter of acceptance issued by partner university

    1. KUBS will provide you with this. ​

  8. MIX's Letter of Recommendation 

    1. Your advisor will email you a LoR to use. ​

  9. Bank Statement under your name

    1. Funding or supported by others has to have a document that proves reliable relationship to you (ex. Original Birth certificate if your parents supporting you).

    2. I would redact sensitive information like your account number. 

  10. Proof of enrollment from your home university:

    1. Official transcript

    2. Verification of Enrollment (VOE)

      1. Note: If you order an electronic VOE via email, you will have to print out the email that has the document as an attachment to show that it's official.​

      2. These two both take about a week to receive, so try not to wait last minute to order them! 

  11. Study Plan signed by you

    1. ​Short write-up of what you will be doing in Korea

    2. I just wrote a little less than a page on some of my academic and recreational plans.

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After the employee confirms that you brought everything and gives you the final OK, they'll give you a paper to take home that shows you how to check on your visa status. I expected the visa to get accepted in around 2 weeks or so, but it surprisingly only took less than a week. This is definitely case-by-case, so please do not wait to submit your visa application! 

Have any questions or comments? Feel free to send me a message!

Thank you!

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