Korean Job Discussion Forums

PGF · Joined: 27 Nov 2006

Can anyone recommend a good agency in Seoul to get a visa for my Korean wife? please.

She was denied a tourist visa before we were married. The embassy said that now that we are married, it is even harder for her to get a tourist visa.

I just wanted to get her home to meet the family. However, now I want to know how to get her there permanently.

Also, once she's home, can she come and go or must she stay for a certain period of time? I've heard conflicting accounts.

Again, agency names and numbers would be most helpful.

Thanks

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

cbclark4 · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: Masan

Call the Embassy.

If your married she cannot get a tourist Visa.

She has to get a Fiancee Visa or a Dependent Visa.

It's not too difficult you have to collect all the Documentation and submit it.

http://seoul.usembassy.gov/immigrant_visas.html

http://seoul.usembassy.gov/visa_categories.html

PGF · Joined: 27 Nov 2006

thanks, PM sent.

the 6-12 bothers me.

What I really want to know is whether or not she can come and go as she pleases after getting her visa

or if she'll have to sit in the states for two years and go for citizenship before she can return to her home, korea....

my wife does not have strong family ties here. But, she has no desire to live in America... (definitely not a marriage of convenience).

Ultimately, I'd love to send her home for awhile to be immersed in the lang and culture and then return. I have no strong desire to keep permanent residence in the states.....for now.

but, one day, I'd like to set up a homestay.......

For now, I just want to get her home for a few months....

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

I'm sort of curious if anyone can answer this question....

My wife has a tourist visa (from long before we were married), and she's been to the USA 3 times since (once with me). But since we married, she has not returned there.

Do you think she'll have any problems going there again, now that we're married? Her original tourist visa doesn't run out for a few more years.

PGF · Joined: 27 Nov 2006

jaykimf · Joined: 24 Apr 2004

jaykimf · Joined: 24 Apr 2004

lastat06513 · Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:36 am Post subject:

You will need to prove that you are gainfully employed in Korea so that if you were to visit the US, you and your wife would have something to come back to if you visit the US.

I would say, go ahead and schedule for an interview online and gather the following documents:

1. Both you and your wife's passports and copies
2. Both you and your wife's ID cards and copies.
3. (I would strongly recommend this) a copy of her bank account.
4. A copy of your bank account.
5. A letter of employment from your school
6. A letter of employment from her work, if she's working.
7. Tax statement showing that you pay taxes in Korea
8. A copy of your rental agreement
9. A copy of your itinerary of the places you will go and things you will see (date-by-date from arrival to departure)
10. Copy of both you and your wife's flight itinerary that shows when you plan to leave and when you plan to return.
11. (possibly) a copy of your Korean father-in-law's bank account, that could be used as emergency funds if something happens in the US.
12. 2 copies of your application, they will stamp the results on both
13. A letter from your employer that he acknowledges and approves of your travel plans (meaning, you will have a job to go back to when you return to Korea)
14. - Make sure all of this is written or translated into English
15. Copies of any kind of investment you have in Korea (car, home, business, etc.)
16. Copy of your marriage lisence or certificate

~ For the visa interview, make sure the both of you know intimate and personal information about each other (IE- when is your American father-in-law's birthday, what chinese character corresponds to your husbands birthdats, etc.), they might try to throw a loop in there somewhere....

- Ironically, if a soldier was to get a tourist visa for his wife, it is almost automatically given to her because they have a specialist in the NIV section that deals with USFK personnel and contractors....and in some cases, they don't even need to leave the base since they can make out all the documents and submit them to ACS for their spouse's tourist visa.

Usually, an initial rejection won't reflect on a future application, and if it does, they will either call you or send you an email why. But to be on the safe side, I'd call the NIV section of the US embassy and find out what could be done (if anything could be done at all) to help her get a visa to the US.
If she was rejected before when she was single, it was because she was single (the US embassy has the habit of not issuing tourist visas to single Korean women under the age of 30 because of the possibility they will overstay or look for some guy to marry them for visa purposes)....I'm not being discriminatory about, its just the way they work over there......

wanderer · Joined: 25 May 2003

cbclark4 · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: Masan

kprrok · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC

Wow, all of you got shaf-ted somehow. My wife got a tourist VISA no problems, we even told them at the embassy that we were married and planning to hold a wedding ceremony there for my family. They had no problems.

We did show lots of ties to Korea, our jobs, our plans for the future, our savings, etc. The only thing is, if she has a tourist VISA, she must have a return ticket, no one-ways.

As for the IV route, I believe they have to stay in the country for one year or maybe two if they're looking to get the permanent VISA. If they leave, it starts over. I may be wrong here, it's been a while since I looked into it since I'm not looking to move back anytime soon.

KPRROK

Unposter · Joined: 04 Jun 2006

If your wife is not gainfully employed at a stable job, it can be hard to get a tourist visa. But, I think if you sign some paper saying that you are not going to settle down in the U.S. together yet and demonstrate that you have financial ties in Korea, you should be able to get a visa.

Does your wife know why she was rejected?

My wife has come and gone to the U.S. many times on her tourist visa without problems. She can even go through immigration as a U.S. citizen with me. You just explain that you are married. We have never had any problems atleast.

Good luck to you!

Atavistic · Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:42 pm Post subject:

lastat06513 · Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:46 pm Post subject:

I got my ex-wife a tourist visa to the US and she didn't work.
I used all the docs I listed above for my packet and they asked her several questions in Chinese (she was a Chinese national) like "What zodiac sign was your husband born under?" and "How did you meet each other?" and he looked at the paperwork (which proved that I had a job to go back to [which wasn't true]) and they stamped APPROVED, primarily because I gave them a copy of my supposed travel plan and a copy of a confirmed ticket reservation for a certain date and a confirmed return date.
If she is your wife, it doesn't necessarily mean she won't get a visa.
Again, I would contact the NIV section of the US embassy rather than take alot of hearsay for people here......