Traveling to Korea with GC

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

I am a USC, and my wife is Filipina. She has her GC, as well as 2 US-based IDs. Will she be required to obtain a visa to travel to Korea with me for 3-7 days? (Korea does not require USC to have a visa for stays under 90 days)

I'm sure someone here has dealt with this before, and we would appreciate your input.

[Hypnos 6,576]

Yes, citizens of the Philippines require a visa in order to visit South Korea.

[Hank_ 9,174]

I am a USC, and my wife is Filipina. She has her GC, as well as 2 US-based IDs. Will she be required to obtain a visa to travel to Korea with me for 3-7 days? (Korea does not require USC to have a visa for stays under 90 days)

I'm sure someone here has dealt with this before, and we would appreciate your input.

I would contact the Korean embassy as having a GC in my mind changes the playing field.

I know my wife could not travel to Canada with her AP card without obtaining a visa but now with her GC its no issue. May be the same way for Korea.

[carton025 38]

Please keep in mind until your gal gets her US passport she is not a US citizen. Yes, like a previous poster stated she will be traveling with a "valid" philippine passport and will need a visa to enter Korea. I hope you know that the GC gives your gal LPR status and permission to leave and re-enter the US within limitations of the GC. Best of luck!

[bmiles62 5]

I am a USC, and my wife is Filipina. She has her GC, as well as 2 US-based IDs. Will she be required to obtain a visa to travel to Korea with me for 3-7 days? (Korea does not require USC to have a visa for stays under 90 days)

I'm sure someone here has dealt with this before, and we would appreciate your input.

I think Canada and Mexico are the only countries that will allow a green card to work for someone from the Philippines. ( If we are talking about countries that do not let Filipinos in without a visa.) My wife is from the Philippines and we went to France last spring. She had to get a visitor visa before we could go. Having a green card might have helped her get the visitor visa but it would not have gotten her into the country.

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Yes, I realize she is still a Philippine citizen, and her GC only gets her in and out of the US without hassle. Called the Seattle consulate, and was told that transition thru Korea doesn't require a visa. But we have to travel from a military airport to Incheon (Int'l airport) to get to Manila. So it seemed to me that a visa would be required. But a call to the consulate later, and I was told she "probably wouldn't need one, but we could get one to be safe".

What does it take to get a visa? A laundry list, one of which we cannot provide, which is an itinerary, since we are traveling space-a on a military flight. Not sure how we can skin that cat just yet.

Another requirement I found unusual... A bank account with her name on it with a balance of at least $3000. Really? Does everyone have such?

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Ok, we got it settled with the Seattle Consulate. Just for future reference, in case any of the fine folks here are traveling TO Korea to visit (transit THRU Korea does not require a visa for Filipinos):

You need to mail to the consulate covering your region:

A pre-paid, trackable return envelope with your home address

The visa application (found online at your covering consulate)

Philippine passport (not a copy, the original)

1 passport photo

A copy of your flight itinerary showing return flight to the USA

A copy of a bank statement with the Philippine citizen's name on it showing a balance of at least $3000

For military, if you are traveling space-a, since you won't have a flight itinerary, send:

A copy of your PCS orders and/or leave form

A letter explaining why you don't have an itinerary

They said it's normally 7-10 days and the passport with visa is returned.

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

Well, we got a reply via email from the Washington, DC consulate, and it changes things a bit. Looks like a visa was NOT required (but we sent her passport off for one anyway):

Thank you for your inquiry. Your wife may not need a visa if she transit in Korea and stay less than 30 days holding her passport, U.S. green card, ticket to Manila and hotel information where she will stay in Korea.

If she wants to get a visa before her trip to make sure, she also may apply for a visa(C-3) with no fee.

When you visit us to apply for a visa, please bring the required documents as below;

1. Required documents for general information of your visa;

· A valid passport & A passport copy

· A completed visa application including phone number & address of your stay in Korea.

· A passport size photo (2”x 2” color)

· Fee: None

· Citizens of other countries must submit their US permanent resident card or valid U.S. visa, flight tickets or flight itinerary, bank/financial statement and hotel reservation information