South Korea adjusts visa processing time
The Korea Visa Application Center announced an adjustment to the visa processing time for short-term visits.
Effective Tuesday, March 17, the processing time for a short-term visit visa, C-3 in official documents, will be 20 working days. It used to be 18 days.
The processing time of express applications, however, will remain at five working days.
Applicants may visit KVAC on the next working day after they receive an SMS notification regarding their visa application status.
This processing time adjustment comes just weeks after a previous notice. On Feb. 25, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines announced that KVAC's visa processing period would stretch from 16 working days to 18.
KVAC also simplified Korean visa applications for Filipinos recently. Applicants are no longer required to present three months of bank statements. Students now need only submit an Original School Certificate or a copy of their student ID. Additionally, multiple applicants have to present only one copy for common documents, such as invitation letters and family relationship documents.
For BTS fans in the Philippines, there is still time to apply for a short-term visa to catch BTS' kick-off concert for their Arirang World Tour on April 9 at Goyang Stadium in Gyeonggi Province, just outside Seoul. There will be two more shows in the same venue on April 11 and 12 before the group travels to Tokyo, Japan.
BTS will have a two-night show in Manila on March 13 and 14, 2027.
