Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle

**Must read before applying for your visa***

▷ How to submit your visa application 

- You may either submit your visa application in person or by mail

※ All consular visitors MUST make an appointment in advance (☞ CLICK)

* If you were unable to make an appointment, please submit your visa application by mail.

※ Consular Jurisdiction of Seattle

Our jurisdiction is Washington, Oregon, Montana and Idaho. Applicants who do not live in these area, please contact appropriate Korean Consular Office in your respective area. 

□ H-1 Visa (including WEST Program)

※ All Korea Working Holiday Visa applications must be made in your home country.

□ Introduction

The Working Holiday Program (WHP) was created under the mutual cooperation and establishment of Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) between the Republic of Korea and 6 participating countries (Australia, France, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and United States) with the purpose of providing opportunities to individuals from each respective country to travel to Korea, while allowing them to earn and save money through short-term employment.

□ General Visa Information

※  U.S. participants should be bona fide post-secondary students or recent graduates (within 1 year after graduation), and provide evidence of status from his/her post-secondary institution.

□ Ineligibility

Individuals of the WHP cannot engage in the following job categories that are against the spirit of the WHP agreement or national laws:

  - Adult entertainment-related businesses

  - Dancer, singer, musician or acrobat

  - Requiring specific licenses or skills, such as in the field of medical practices, lawyer, professor, pilot, etc.

  - Foreign language instruction (if an individual desires to work as a foreign language instructor after their arrival in Korea under WHP, the individual will be required to change their visa status to E-2); and

  - Those who desire to take training or educational course in pursuit of an academic degree other than a Korean language training course will be required to apply for a student visa (D-2).

  - Related to journalism, religion, academic research, or instruction of engineering-related technical skills.

  - Those whose main objectives for coming to Korea are not travel, but solely to seek employment, will be ineligible to participate in WHP.

□ Required Documents

  - A completed visa application (attached)

  - A valid passport (passport must be valid for more than 6 months at the time of application submission) 

    A notarized copy of your passport - by mail

  - A passport size photo for the application (2” x 2” passport photo must be glued down on the application form)

  - Fee $45 for US citizens 

* Money Order only - by mail

  - Activity Plan (please check the attached sample)

  - Proof of a round-trip airline ticket

  - Health insurance that will remain valid throughout your stay in Korea (minimum coverage: KRW 40,000,000)

  - Proof of financial support or other documents that show you have sufficient funds to support yourself (such as last 3 months bank statements) - minimum of KRW 3,000,000

•       - Criminal record check

•      - Medical certificate

  - Proof of student status or proof of highest academic qualifications such as an original diploma or a sealed transcript

    : To qualify, you should either be presently enrolled in a university or have graduated within less than a year.

□ Processing time : Currently, it takes 3-4 weeks

We do not provide any expedited services. Thus, please plan accordingly for your travel plans and submit your visa application considering the aforementioned visa processing time.

* PLEASE BE NOTED THAT THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS.

※ The required documents may differ among respective Jurisdiction Korean Consular Offices, so please contact the nearest Jurisdiction Korean Consular Office for detailed information.

□ Application Process

  - You can apply for a visa at the nearest Jurisdiction Korean Consular Office in your country.

  - Once you submit all the required documents to the Jurisdiction Korean Consular Office in your country and apply for a visa, your visa will be issued upon review.

  - Please ensure that you have correctly completed all the required information before submission. Any inconsistencies or false information within the submitted documents may result in visa denial.

  - Upon your visa application, you may be asked to submit additional documents or be requested for an interview, so please ensure that you apply with plenty of time.

  - Please note that submitted documents will not be returned.