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| Korea |  Review on November 20, 2017: |
VisaBound
Rating:  | Review Topic: Direct Consular Filing
Location: Seoul Consulate, South Korea
Experience: The process was very nice. From start to finish it took us about 2 hours. The staff is friendly, courteous and helpful. We arrived around 35min early and had to wait for the doors to open at 7:30am. They are sticklers for opening up shop on time.
Arriving Early: Getting to the Embassy early is always a good thing. It helps you calm down and think a little. We arrived around 35 min early and as a result we were the first to be interviewed. For us being early paid off as the line grew quickly after around 7:10am with as many as 20 to 30 people waiting by 7:30am
Bathroom Access: In short, there is none until the Embassy opens at 7:30am. Local neighborhood amenities are quite limited around the Embassy as well. So, plan accordingly. My wife was so nervous about the interview that she went looking for one right after arriving only to find there was no bathroom access until it opened. She had to look around a bit to find one. In the end she found a Holly’s Coffee shop that was open. I would suggest you google the Embassy location and study the neighborhood for local amenities before leaving
Interview Staff: Very professional and friendly. The first person who took our documents and prepped us for the interview was a Korean American female and was very charming and amicable. We found the attitude very reassuring and helped calm some nervous jitter. The second consulate officer that did the interview was caucasian with near perfect Korean. He was to the point yet friendly. So, no need to worry if your english is not very good. The state department trains their people well.
Payment: As of November 20th 2017 the interview fee was 325.00 USD. The fees were increased in December 2016. Please remember to bring exact cash as they do not give nor make change. The cashiers window on the 2nd floor only opens at 8:45am. So, if you are early like we were you may have to wait around 20 min for it to open. Once open it is very quick.
Process: The process is quite straight forward.
1. Enter the main entrance and check your electronics, have your bags X-rayed and receive your visitors badge.
2. Proceed to the 2nd floor and as you enter the room turn right and go to the reception desk to check in and get a sticker applied to your passport. To make this go faster have your color photos at the ready along with your passport.
3. Head up to the 3rd floor and have a seat and wait for your name to be called. Names are called according to when your passport was registered with the secretary on the 2nd floor.
4. When you name is called go to the the window specified and hand it your documents for prescreening verification. They took all of the documents specified in the visa checklist and after verification returned everything except for the I-864, Tax Transcripts and the Color Photos. They did not keep anything from the photocopy collection that we had. We were advised to keep things handy just in case the Consulate Interviewing Officer wanted to see anything specific. If you have any document issues at this point they will inform you of them and tell you what to do. If everything checks out you are told to go down to the 2nd floor and pay your immigration fee. You will get two receipts. One, is for the Embassy and the other is for your records.
5. Head back to the 3rd floor and turn in your receipts to any available open window and remember to secure your receipt in a safe place. Do not throw it away.
6. They will as you to take a seat and wait until your name it called for biometrics.
7. When called they are supposed to take fingerprints and then ask you to take a seats again and to wait for your name to be called for the actual interview. In our case they were done at the same time.
8. Usually the CO will ask one or both of you some questions and then inform you of the result. For us, only my wife was questioned. They asked her only one question related to a previous green card she had and then the interview was over. She was very impressed by the Korean ability of the CO and was very happy with how things went.
Of course, it should be understood that you milage may vary. Our case was somewhat special in that we had already gone through this once before so that may have factored into how our interview played out. We don't know for sure. It's just speculation at this point. Just a hunch.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #22863