Visa Instructions for ELT’s
These instructions are for American citizens. Instructions for other countries will be similar, but please check whether or not your country is part of the “Hague” agreement for whether or not you will need to submit the Apostille. Americans WILL need to add the Apostille as will South Africans. For other countries, please call the nearest Korean consulate in your country or the appropriate government agency. I would be happy to post your findings in your respective country so that others may benefit.
Please allow six to seven weeks for the entire visa process if submitting documents by mail.
You will need:
valid passport
a visa application form (CLICK HERE for form)
two recent photos (2"x2" color)
Handong Business License
Handong Invitation Letter
Handong employment contract
proof of Bachelor's degree (either original or copy authenticated by Korean consulate)***This is not always a requirement...please check with the consulate regarding this
$45 cash or money order (no checks or credit cards)
notarized criminal background check at the state or federal level with attached Apostille
Criminal Background Check with Apostille
This is the most challenging part of the visa and the first step besides making sure you have a valid passport. The criminal background check MUST be at the state or federal level by the state department (not local checks or internet checks). It must also be notarized BEFORE you submit it to the applicable department of your state. Some listings can be found at the Atlanta consulate (the link is below) on their “Apostille” page or look at this link: http://www.asktheconsul.org/E2ec07.ht for information on the office that handles Apostilles in your home state. For example, you might go to the criminal justice department at the state capitol to get your background check, then get it notarized by a notary public, and finally take it to the Secretary of State (at the state leve, not federal) for the Apostille (which is basically just a certification of your background check recognized by many countries including Korea). You should do all of this in the state in which you are a citizen. Please note that it is not necessarily the Secretary of State that does the Apostille in your state; it could be another department. If you have the time, the mail would be a more convenient method to complete all of this, but please be advised that it is a bit of a headache to complete all of this in a timely manner that way. State departments are not always very efficient by mail. In driving to the capitol, it is possible to do everything in one day in person. If you have a criminal record, your visa WILL be rejected.
Your visa type will be C-4. There are two different types of visas. One is single entry (S), and the other is multiple entry (M). You can request either type. Single entry is fine if you are coming to Korea and then leaving the country with no return. Otherwise, for instance, if you plan on traveling outside of Korea after the camp and then returning to Korea, you would need a multiple entry visa. A C-4 visa is good for up to 90 days. You would be cutting it close with a 30 day visa when you include the travel time to and from the airport to Pohang and any other sightseeing you want to do on the front end or back end of your work contract. There is no extra charge for the 90 day visa so I would recommend it, and only a slight charge for a multiple entry visa.
For further information, go to https://www.koreanconsul.org/jsp/eng/visa.htm for the English page of the Korean Consulate in Atlanta, GA. It would be a good idea to call and verify this information, but honestly, it is hard to communicate with the employees at the consulate. Their office hours are Monday-Friday 9-5, but they close for lunch from 12:00-1:30 PM. If you go in person, take a postage-paid return mailer envelope with you unless you want to go back and pick up the visa. The processing typically takes only a couple of days. With mailing, you might be looking at a week for the total process…not too bad. If mailing your documents, simply put everything in an envelope addressed to the Korean consulate. They will return your passport in the mail with a visa sticker inside, assuming you enclosed your postage paid return mailer (don’t forget to include the return mailer if mailing documents!). Contact information for the Atlanta consulate is:
CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA
229 PEACHTREE ST
Suite 500, INTERNATIONAL TOWER
ATLANTA, GA, 30303
TEL : 404-522-1611
FAX : 404-521-3169
Another helpful link from Korea is: http://www.g4f.go.kr/. Just go to the visa section under the "immigration" heading in the middle of the page. There is a lot of information provided there. Please contact us with any additional concerns or questions.
camp@handong.edu
