April 2016: Invite relatives to visit Korea

To those who are asing about how to invite relatives to visit Korea, I want to share my family’s latest experience. This information is for Korean citizens, spouses of Korean, those with F-2, F-5 or F-6 visa.
My sister and her children bought their Air Asia tickets to Korea in May 2015. Their flight is in April 2016. They paid about 35,000 pesos for 7 people ~ 4 adults and 3 kids.
Their trip was on the 3rd week of April. They applied for their visas on the first week of April. I scanned the signed invitation and passport and sent them by email. The invitation letter was not notarized. Here’s the sample invitation letter.
Here are the four cases:
1. Philippine passport holder with U.S. resident visa

SINGLE 59-DAY VISA, stamped at arrival
SINGLE 59-DAY VISA, stamped at arrival

My eldest sister has a Philippine passport and she is also a green card holder. She has visited Korea for a week in 2011 and she has been here on layovers several times the previous years. Her documents were Mayor’s permit, ITR, bank certificate and a copy of her US visa. She was granted on SINGLE 59-DAY VISA.
2. Self-employed with BPI Gold Membership
3 YRS MULTIPLE VISA
Invite relatives to visit orea ~ 3 YRS MULTIPLE VISA

My niece, her husband and two children applied for their visa on the same day my eldest sister applied for hers. She presented her documents: Mayor’s permit, ITR, bank certificate, marriage certificate, birth certificate of the two kids and proof of her BPI Gold Membership. Their visas were released after three days. They were granted MULTIPLE VISA FOR 3 YEARS FOR 30 DAYS STAY EACH VISIT.
3. OFW in Singapore
My nephew is an OFW in Singapore. He applied for his visa in Singapore and was given a SINGLE 59-DAY VISA.
4. Common-law wife
My nephew’s common-law wife (not married but they have been together for a long time) and his daughter applied for their visa in Manila. She presented her partner’s documents: Certificate of Employment, ITR and their joint bank account and the birth certificate of their child along with the invitation letter I sent. Her application was not accepted and she was told to bring her own employment documents. She is not employed but my niece (who has her own business) provide her an employment certificate and tax document. She and her daughter got a SINGLE 59-DAY VISA.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED TO VISIT KOREA

Once again, the invitation letter is not a guarantee that the application will be accepted without the required documents. These documents include:
1. Certificate of Employment
– must include applicant’s position, date hired, compensation, address, office land line number (cell-phone number is not allowed), e-mail address
2. Bank Certificate
– must include account type, current balance, account opening date, 6 months average balance (ADB)
3. Bank Statement
– original or certified true copy of bank statements/passbook for the last 3 months
4. Income Tax Return copy
– with personal tin number
All documents must be issued within 3 months on the date of application.
The above documents are to be submitted with the following:
– Completed application
– Passport
– ID photo
– Invitation letter (optional)
– Copy of visa/arrival to OECD countries within the past 5 years
Once your relative (or friend) has completed the documents, they should go to the Korean Embassy and apply for the visa.
The Korean Embassy is located at McKinley Town Center, 122 Upper McKinley Rd, Taguig, 1634 Metro Manila, Philippines. They accept visa applications ONLY in the morning.