Korea Visa Got Approved. Mumbai Jurisdiction
I wanted to share my Korea visa journey because I know a lot of people are currently stressing over the visa process.
Me and my friend booked our flights without doing proper research and later found out that the Korea visa process can be damn difficult. We almost gave up.
Unfortunately, my friend's visa was rejected, while mine got approved.
From my experience, documents are the key, more than just your bank balance. They seem to care a lot about whether your income and financial profile look genuine and consistent, even though it's a tourist visa.
I'll share my friend's profile first.
She is a freelancer. Since she was a freelancer, she initially didn't have a Business Registration Certificate or GST. So, we decided to apply with her father as the sponsor.
In the meantime, she managed to get her Business Registration Certificate and GST as well, around one month before our Korea travel date.
Her profile/documents were:
* Sponsored by father
* Father's documents, including bank statements
* Father's retirement letter instead of salary slips
* Her own bank statement
* Her Business Registration Certificate
* GST certificate
She was from Delhi and applied through VFS Delhi. VFS told her that the required bank balance was around ₹6 lakh.
And yes, her visa still got rejected. (We both cried alot)
Now coming to my profile, which got approved. (Sad and happy at same time, with more of anxeity now)
I am originally from MP, so my visa jurisdiction was Mumbai, although I've been living in Delhi for the past 5 years.
I couldn't apply from Delhi because VFS said that to apply from Delhi, I needed an Aadhaar address for Delhi. I don't have that because I live with relatives here. So I applied through Mumbai.
My documents were:
* Last 6 months' salary slips with wet stamp and wet signature only, no digital signature
* NOC/Employment Letter clearly mentioning that I have been working with the organisation since XX date, my designation, that my leaves have been approved and that I will resume work after returning. Again wet stamped and wet signed. On letter head of company.
* ITR for the last 3 years
* Passport original
* Aadhaar photocopy
* 2 photographs, 4.5 × 3.5 cm, white background. The photos should not have been used for another visa
* Travel history: Azerbaijan, Thailand and Bali, her was azerbaijan and thailand.
One more thing about my finances: my closing bank balance was around ₹2 lakh, and in the previous months it was generally around ₹1 lakh for every month There was no sudden large deposit made just before applying to show funds.
This is something I noticed during the process: they seem to care a lot about whether your income is genuine and your financial history is consistent, even though you're applying for a tourist visa.
So, based on my experience, I wouldn't recommend suddenly depositing a huge amount into your account just before applying. A consistent bank statement and a genuine source of income seem much more important than simply showing a high balance.
I applied on 5th August and got my visa approved on 18th August. 9 working days. Sat Sun don't count.
One thing I noticed: on 15th August, my status changed to "Under Review". If you're applying from Mumbai and seeing "Under Review", based on my experience, that's a positive sign. Mine was approved shortly after.
Now the sad part: I was supposed to travel with my best friend, but since her visa got rejected, I'm travelling solo now.
My travel dates are 3rd September to 14th September, and I'll be flying from Delhi.
If anyone else is travelling to Korea around the same dates, let me know. Would be nice to connect since this trip was originally planned with my best friend and has now turned into a solo trip.
Also, feel free to ask me anything about the visa process or documents. I'll share whatever I know from my experience.