Getting a Korean Visa through a Travel Agency

Starting July 1, 2018, Filipinos traveling to South Korea must now course their Korean visa applications to designated travel agencies.

Around April of 2018, my friends and I discovered that there would be a Kingdom Hearts concert in Korea on October 6. As avid fans of the series, we knew we just had to go.

First, we had to get concert tickets. However, getting the tickets proved to be a challenge which I will discuss on a different blog post. Thankfully, we were able to bag ourselves VIP tickets to the concert. Next, we had to book our flights. Everything fell quite nicely into place as Korean Air had a promo with BDO at that time. With this, we’ve also secured our flight. Now, it’s time to get ourselves a Korean Visa!

Preparing the Documents

Currently, I’m self-employed and own a business so the documents I would normally need are the following:

1. Filled-up Visa Application Form with a 45 x 35 mm passport picture
2. Business registration form from DTI or SEC (photocopy)
3. Business permit or Mayor’s permit (photocopy)
4. ITR (Income Tax Return) or Form 2316 (photocopy)
5. Original Personal Bank Certificate
6. Original or Certified True Copy of Bank Statements/Passbook

However, since I’ll be applying under BDO’s promo, I won’t need the ITR and Bank Certificate. Instead, I’ll simply need to present either:

1. Eligible BDO Credit Card
2. Original hard copy of recent Monthly Billing Statement (MBS) upon application within the promo period

Or

1. Eligible BDO Credit Card
2. Recent electronic Monthly Billing Statement (MBS)
3. Original Copy of Certification from BDO. This certification may be requested from the BDO Customer Contact Center and takes 10 days to process and few more days for the delivery.

Although I requested for the certification, I actually received a hard copy of my billing statement. So it looks like I’ll be using that one. I also have a business under my name so I’ve got my DTI and Mayor’s Permit as well. With that said, let’s move on to the next step!

Submitting the Documents to a Designated Travel Agency

After preparing the necessary documents, I looked for the nearest accredited travel agency near me. Based on the list here, the nearest agency would be JTB Travel Saloon in Vertis North – a mall I actually love and frequent!

On my first visit to the agency, I asked them to check the documents I have. Apparently, there were a few more guidelines I had to follow.

After performing the necessary revisions and photocopying the additional documents, I went back to JTB Travel Saloon. This time, a different agent checked my documents. Once she verified everything, I paid the PHP 600.00 Korean visa processing fee.

Note: A day after submitting my documents, one of their agents asked me to provide them with a scanned copy or picture of the front of my credit card. Since I used AMEX and the CCV was located in front, I had to blur it out for safety reasons.

Waiting for the Results

On the 6th working day, I received a text from JTB Travel Saloon that my passport was ready for pick-up. Unfortunately, they are not allowed to disclose the visa application results. Good thing is, I had errands the following day so I could drop by Vertis North already.

The verdict? 5-year, multiple entry visa to Korea! Special thanks to BDO and AMEX for the promo! And that’s it! Off to Korea we go! For complete information on applying for a Korean Visa, you can also visit The Poor Traveler’s blog post here. As for JTB Travel Saloon, you can visit their web page here.