Applying for a Japan transit visa in South Korea as a Filipino

My husband and I will be flying to the US next year with Japan Airlines. Since we will have a layover of 7 hours at Narita Airport, I thought that it would be a waste of time if we just stayed inside. Hence, I decided to apply for a transit visa. I was not feeling very positive about this process because the first time I went to the Japanese consulate in Busan to apply for a tourist visa, I was not accepted. I was told that since I am on a D-10 visa (at that time), I am not allowed to apply and the lady at the consulate suggested that I go back to the Philippines to do so. I previously wrote about that experience in this post. With only three months left on the validity of my alien card (but I am planning to apply for an extension in January 2019), I was also worried that it might affect my chances of getting approved.

I first searched online for what documents are needed when applying for a Japan transit visa in South Korea but I was only able to get information about the transit visa on the website of Japanese embassies in other countries. In the end, I just decided to follow the requirements for a Japan tourist visa that were outlined in a document I downloaded from the consulate of Japan in Busan (which was thankfully in English).

List of documents needed when applying for a Japanese tourist visa in South Korea

Aside from the basic documents though, I also provided a photocopy of my US visa, a photocopy of my marriage certificate (I gave the original copy too but it was returned to me), a copy of my husband’s alien card (front and back) and a letter explaining the issue with my alien card (where I mentioned that I will be applying for an extension in January 2019). As I am on an F-3 visa now, the bank certificate I provided was under my husband’s name. The bank certificate I gave did not show three months of deposit and withdrawal history (which is the one required for a tourist visa) and just showed the amount in each of my husband’s accounts and the total amount for all. I was thinking that since I was only applying for a transit visa, the consulate might not be so strict in this regard. I am glad that they accepted it.

A copy of the Schedule of Stay I provided during application

On the day I went to Busan to apply for my visa, I arrived at the consulate before 1:30PM so the gate was closed. I asked a guard if I can wait by the gate and he said it was no problem. Before 1:30PM (maybe around 1:28PM), the gate opened and we (including the other applicants) entered the building. Our belongings were x-ray scanned and then we proceeded into the inner room. There are 4 windows and seats in this area with window 1 for the visa application. I approached window 1 once the blinds were lifted and seated behind was the same lady who did not accept my application the first time I applied. She asked for my documents, passport and alien card. She checked the documents and asked a few questions (in English) such as if I have a US visa and if I wanted a double entry instead of a single entry visa. Although we also have a layover in Narita Airport on the way back to Korea, it was less than 2 hours so I said that a single entry would be fine.

Once she was finished checking the documents, she gave me a small green piece of paper and told me to come back tomorrow. I asked if I have to pay any visa fee and she said that Filipinos do not have to pay which surprised me. I think this might be the case only for certain types of visa like a transit and tourist visa. I also asked if I will find out tomorrow whether I got the visa or not but she said that I am most likely to get one.  I inquired as well if there is a passport delivery service but she said no and that I have to personally come back to get it.

This piece of paper will be given after your documents have been accepted

On my way back to Daegu, I was wondering if I really heard right that I will get my passport back the next day because that seems really quick. I did come back to the consulate the next day, handed the small green paper and got my passport with a Japanese transit visa attached.

My Japanese transit visa

When I was checking the website of the consulate of Japan in Busan recently, I noticed that some of the information has changed since my post last year about Japanese visas. Here is the updated info as of November 2018:

• Application time: Mon to Fri, 9:30-12:00 and 13:30-17:00 (excluding holidays)
• Issuance of visa result: Mon to Fri, 9:30-12:00 and 13:30-17:00 (excluding holidays)
• For non-Koreans, a visa issuance fee (31,000 won for a single visa, 61,000 won for a multiple visa, 7,000 won for a transit/pass visa) is required when issuing a visa. Depending on the nationality, visa fee may be exempted. Please check during the time of application.

My US Tourist Visa Interview Experience at the US Embassy in Seoul

This post will focus on what happened during my US Tourist Visa Interview at the US Embassy in Seoul. I will not be covering the procedures (i.e. filling the DS-160 form, paying the visa fee and scheduling the interview) prior to the interview as there are already many resources on the internet that will be able to help in that regard.

However, I would like to mention a little bit about my experience while trying to schedule a visa interview in Seoul. Before I even finished my DS-160, I was already searching for information online about visa interview times. I really prefer to go to Seoul in the late morning or early afternoon to avoid staying there overnight since I will be coming from Daegu. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any information regarding the interview times.

I paid the visa fee on the morning of October 02 through Citibank (there is one branch in Daegu near Daegu Bank station in Line 2) and in the evening, I scheduled my visa interview. I remembered making an account at this website (https://cgifederal.secure.force.com/) and answering questions before I was able to see the availability calendar. I also saw a notice flashing on the side saying that the earliest available date for an interview was October 18. However, when I actually got to the calendar, the earliest one available was October 24 and there were only two time choices: 8:15AM or 8:30AM. Beside each time was the number of slots available (e.g., 8:30 (7)). Finding 8:15AM too early, I chose 8:30AM. I looked at the other dates in November and December to check for interview times and they were mostly between 8:15AM to 10AM (in intervals of 15 minutes). Since I am still hoping to get an earlier date, I checked the website again on October 11 and saw that there was one available slot for October 18 at 1PM. I hurriedly booked that time and got a new appointment confirmation. I checked the availability calendar again after a few days (out of curiosity) and saw a note that says if I re-schedule my current appointment, I would have exceeded the number of times allowed to change and that I would be asked to pay for a new visa fee.

On October 18, I took the train from Dongdaegu station to Seoul. Since electronics and big bags are not allowed inside the embassy (only one cellphone is allowed), I left my bags in a small locker (2,000 won) at Seoul station and only carried a purse, containing my wallet and passports, and a clear sleeve folder, containing my supporting documents. I then rode the subway from Seoul station (Line 1) and got off at Gwanghamun Station (Line 5). It just so happened that a massive rally was happening at the same time in that area so it was really busy. I first went to the front of the embassy but was informed by a security personnel that the entrance for visa applicants was on the side. I have provided a picture below to serve as a visual guide to the location of the side entrance.

Applicants are advised to arrive 15 minutes before their appointed time but when I got to the side entrance at 12:45PM, there was already a long line for the non-immigrant visa applicants. They were in line under the blue or green (can’t remember the exact color now) awning of the side entrance. There is a separate line for applicants of American Citizen Services. A pre-screening was conducted before applicants were allowed inside the embassy. Cellphones should be turned-off at this point. There is a window where a staff checked my appointment confirmation form and passport. He asked for my name and looked at the picture in the passport to confirm that it was me. He instructed me to go to the second floor. I stood outside the door a bit and waited for a clicking sound before entering (it seems to be magnetically locked). Once inside, the staff took my phone, gave me an ID number for it and placed my belongings in the x-ray scanner.

I immediately proceeded to the second floor by taking the stairs (there seems to be no elevator) and a staff, standing by the entrance of the room, asked me about my visa purpose. I said that it was for tourism and she instructed me to go first to the desk. I asked the staff at the desk what documents she needed and she requested for my passport and DS-160 confirmation page. She placed two barcode stickers at the back of my passport. I then fell in line for fingerprint scanning. When it was my turn, I gave the staff my passport and DS-160 confirmation. She asked for my alien registration card and inquired if I had been refused a visa before. I told her that it was my first time applying for a visa. She scanned my fingerprints, returned my passport and alien card and told me to fall in line again. It was easy to figure out where to go since I was following those who were in front of me. This part was the actual visa interview. I immediately noticed that there were only two consuls doing the interviews. The interviews are done in booths (similar to the Philippines) so you can hear the questions being asked as well as the answers of the applicants.

South Korea is part of the US Visa Waiver Program so for short-term tourism and business purposes, they do not need to apply for a visa. I noticed that most of the people in line with me during the visa interview were either students who were accepted in a US university, professors attending a conference or businessmen attending an exhibition or doing business-related work in the US. I think that some of the businessmen who needed to apply for a visa were those who had travelled to Iran or Iraq in the past (because they were asked about it by the consul). I also noticed that some visas were not immediately approved as they were asked to provide more documents or undergo an evaluation (by a doctor I think). There was a guy who seemed to have been arrested before and had to provide the case files to the consul.

When I got in line for the interview around 1:30PM, there were more than 25 people ahead of me. We were all just waiting quietly and nobody even tried to talk to anyone. Some of the interviews took 5 minutes and some took around 10 minutes. The two consuls did not really seem hurried. They can both speak Korean but when it got more complicated, the female consul asked somebody else for help. The male consul is a Korean who might be an American citizen now or he might have been born in the US. My turn came and I got interviewed around 2:40PM by the male consul. Just a little bit of background about my situation: I hold a Philippine passport and I am currently a housewife. My husband is British and I have been to the UK twice now. These are the questions he asked during the interview (these are not in order because I cannot remember clearly now and not exactly verbatim as well):

- What is your purpose in going to the US?

- How long have you been living in Korea?

- What is your job (or what do you do)?

- Is your husband Korean?

- How did you meet?

- How long have you been married?

- When did you get married?

- What does your husband do?

- Do you have kids?

- Have you been to other countries besides Korea?

- You went to the UK to visit family?

The consul did not ask to see any supporting documents. I also noticed that he was typing a lot while I was giving my answers. This made me a little worried because I do not know what he was taking note of.

He then asked me to put 4 fingers of my left hand in the scanner. When that was done, he said that my visa has been approved and that I will get it next week. The female consul, on the other hand, was telling applicants that they will get their visa in 3 to 5 days.

This post is really long but I hope that it will give applicants an idea of what to expect when going for their US visa interview in Seoul. My experience is based on an afternoon appointment so things might be a bit different for those with a morning appointment. Since it seems that there are a lot more applicants in the morning, I think that there would also be more consuls doing the interview that time. I actually thought that the whole process will not take long so I decided not to eat lunch before going to the embassy. From the time I fell in line outside to the time I finished the interview, it took around two hours. I would suggest eating first before heading to the embassy. 

How to get to the Philippine Embassy in Seoul from Noksapyeong Station: A Visual Guide

I recently went to the Philippine Embassy in Seoul to renew my passport. I searched online for directions on how to get there and found the information in this website: https://www.philembassy-seoul.com/map.html. The directions given via subway look easy enough to follow but after doing it myself, I found that it is not as straightforward as I expected. For this reason, I am writing this post to provide a visual guide on how to get to the embassy from Noksapyeong Station (Line 6) in Seoul.

Directions:

Come out of Noksapyeong Station Exit 1 and cross the street (on your left).

Go past the dome and elevator until you reach another crossing.

Cross this street and keep walking (just a very short distance) until you reach another crossing.

After crossing, turn left and walk towards the bus stop.

Take the Yongsan 03 minibus and get off at Gayarang stop.

This is the building across Gayarang stop.

Walk up towards the top of the hill for around two to three minutes then the Embassy will be on your right. I was not able to take a picture of the front of the Embassy but a quick google image search would show what it looks like. I knew that I was close to the embassy when I saw a restaurant displaying a Philippine flag.

NOTE: I found a sign for the Philippine Embassy stop if you take the Yongsan 03 minibus. However, when I was in the bus, I did not hear any announcement that it will stop by the Philippine Embassy. I only heard that the next stop would be Hyatt Hotel so I decided to get off at Gayarang stop and walk towards the Embassy.

It is also possible to walk from Noksapyeong station to the embassy if you have a lot of time and do not mind the exercise. The embassy is located close to the top of a hill so walking there might be a little difficult. I decided to walk, instead of taking the bus, back to the station which took about 15-20 minutes.

This is the path to take if walking to the embassy or walking back to Noksapyeong station.

KIIP Level 5 Test

The KIIP Level 5 Test in Daegu was administered at Yeungjin College on April 28, 2018, Saturday (2^nd test for the year). Applicants for both the permanent residency test and nationality test took it at the same time. However, the two groups were placed in separate classrooms. I only applied for the permanent residency test and so did not attend the additional 20 hours of class. A Korean friend told me that I can also attend the additional hours and take the nationality test if I wanted to.

For the KIIP tests, applicants have to be at the test venue (room) before 12:30 PM. By 12:30 PM, the test administrators instructed us to put everything inside our bag (just leave the ARC card or passport on the table), turn-off our mobile phones and place our bags at the front (they laid a mat on the floor). They then distributed the OMR cards, pens (ballpen and markers), writing test answer sheet and the questionnaire. The test started at 1PM.

The test was divided into 3 sections. The written test (objective questions) had 36 multiple questions with a 50-minute time limit (1:00-1:50PM). There were questions about vocabulary, reading comprehension, history and government. I find the Level 5 written test questions easier than the Level 4. It seems there were less reading texts and it was shorter too compared to Level 4. There was not a lot of questions from the Level 5 lessons. After the written test, the test administrators distributed the writing test question and we started the test at 1:55PM. We were only given 10 minutes to finish it. I felt that 10 minutes was not enough to write a 200-character essay. I usually write in pencil but a test administrator saw me and said I should write using a pen. I really prefer writing in pencil because I can easily erase it. The question for this test was about our experience of a Korean Traditional Culture. I wrote about the time I wore a Korean hanbok. There were two additional questions: about how it was different from our hometown and how we felt when we experienced it.

Once the writing test was over, we were given time to go to the bathroom and the speaking test started at 2:15PM. This time I did not have to wait too long compared to the Level 3 and Level 4 speaking test. In both those previous tests, I was always among the last people called. However, unlike Level 4, we were not allowed to get our bags while waiting. We can only grab our bags when it was our turn to go to the waiting area for the speaking test. As usual, there were two applicants at a time and we were given two pieces of paper to hand over to the speaking test administrators. The papers were the score rubric for the speaking test. We were asked to read a passage (silently) and questions related to it were asked. The topic of the passage we read was about the Korean education fever and Suneung. We were also asked questions related to Jeju and a place in our hometown that is similar to Jeju as well as some of the Korean national holidays. Speaking is my weakest Korean skill and I felt that I did not do so well in this part of the exam. I was able to say something when they ask a question however I am not really sure if my answers were correct.

Since I know my Korean speaking ability is not that great, I usually study hard for the written and writing portion of the exam. I usually do not aim for high scores; I just hope to get enough score to pass so I do not have to take the exam again. During my Level 5 class, one of our classmates mentioned that he took the exam before and was asked to sing the Korean National Anthem (he did not pass). I was not able to ask which type of exam he took, but just to be sure I memorized it as well. It was not included during the permanent residency test but I heard from another student who took the nationality test that they were asked to sing the first part of the anthem.

KIIP Level 4 Test

NOTE: I only realized now that I have not posted this topic. I took the Level 4 exam last December 09, 2017 and should have posted about it at least weeks after but I have totally forgotten. I have already taken the Level 5 class and exam which I will post about later.

I did the KIIP Level 4 classes at Keimyung University every Saturday and Sunday from 10AM to 2PM. Unlike Levels 1 to 3 in which the exam is conducted on the last day of class, the Level 4 mid-term exam has to be registered through the website (www.socinet.go.kr) and is usually conducted in a different location. The exam location assigned to our class was the Dong-gu Multicultural Center, the same place where I took KIIP Level 3 classes. I found out that there was also a test being administered at the Daegu Immigration Center on the same day.

The KIIP Level 4 test was divided into three parts. The first part was a written test, followed by a writing test and finally a speaking test. The written test had 28 multiple choice questions with a 40-minute time limit. I have to say that 40 minutes is not enough with all the reading texts that had to be done. I think it may also be because I did not know the meaning of some words so I have to read and re-read the text to try and understand it. Some questions that were asked were also from the Level 3 lessons like food and family titles. After the written test, the facilitators distributed the writing test question and answer sheet. Only 10 minutes were allotted to finish it. If I translated the questions correctly, I think we were asked “what job would you like?” and “what effort do you need to make to get that job?”. I wrote down my answer in pencil first on the question page before writing it on the answer sheet in pen. After the writing test, we were given a chance to go to the restroom.

After a 15-minute break, the speaking test started. Those who were pregnant or had kids with them were called first. There were a couple of questions asked during the speaking test. For the first part, we were asked to look at three pictures and describe it to the examiners. What we got were pictures of different volunteering activities. The second question were about other volunteering activities we would like to do. This was followed by questions about our favorite season and the reason. The last question was about a rule that we have to follow in our daily life which if we did not do would result in us paying a penalty. When we informed our teacher about the picture topic, she mentioned that it was the first time that it was used in this exam.

Here is the time schedule that we followed during exam day:

12:30-1PM: Giving of instructions, distribution of answer sheet, questionnaire, and pen

1:00-1:40PM: Written Test

1:40-1:45PM: Distribution of writing test answer sheet and questions

1:45-1:55PM: Writing Test

1:55-2PM: Collection of writing test answer sheet and pens

2:00-2:15PM: Break

2:15-4PM: Speaking Test (wait in the same room and proceed to another location once name is called)

The results became available on Thursday of the following week (though they usually say it comes out on Friday). I was really worried about it since I was not sure of my answers for the written test and my Korean speaking skills are not that good. However, I am relieved to find out that I passed Level 4.