KMK: Visa Trip

I just got back from my visa trip to Chicago. I’m so glad I live so close to the windy city because otherwise I don’t think I would have had the time to complete the visa process. Originally, I thought I would be getting my visa taken care of, by doing the infamous Japan visa run, when I reached Seoul, but apparently those trips have become a rarity due to a change in South Korean law.

So now, as I understand it, you have to complete your visa before you arrive. Which would be a problem if you started the process late because even after you get your approval number from your future boss in South Korea, you still have to submit your passport and paperwork and a processing fee to the Korean consulate nearest to you and then wait anywhere from three to five days.

I drove down this morning with my brother at the wheel and his young son, nine months, strapped into the car seat in the back. The trip from where we live takes about ninety minutes which meant I would suffer through ninety minutes of musical torture. My brother and I have strikingly different tastes when it comes to music. Common ground arrives only when it comes to James Brown and Michael Jackson. In his six disc changer he had a Thriller CD along with Five Jay-Z albums. I don’t mind a little Jay-Z for a song or two, but the thought of five albums ready to leap out and pound me senseless made my ears bleed.

Happily, Michael Jackson provided most of the entertainment on the drive down. I whipped out my MapQuest instructions to help guide us and my brother actually looked mortally wounded as if MapQuest jabbed him in the eye. He told me he knew where we were going and that MapQuest would only give us roundabout directions. Despite living so close to Chicago, I’ve only been there a handful of times and having a map with directions seemed like a good backup plan to me.

So, while MJ wailed about Billie Jean and his Human Nature, we motored down to Chicago under clear skies. That all changed once we hit Chicago proper and the gridlock that comes along with that. Thankfully, the Korean Consulate General in Chicago resides in the NBC Tower which is just a block off the Magnificent Mile. MM is a wide street in downtown Chicago where all the offices and shopping plazas, boutiques and restaurants stretch on for blocks in either direction. Here is the building so you know what to look for:

The Korean Consulate is on the 27th floor in suite 2700. There are a few things you need to bring with you besides your passport. Luckily, the folder that had my passport also had these other documents.

1. Valid passport and 1 copy of its personal data page
2. 1 completed visa application (you can pick this up at the consulate)
3. 1 Photo (2 x 2, color – basically a passport photo)
4. $45 cash or money order payable to Korean Consulate General
6. A self-addressed pre-paid envelop if you want them to mail your passport otherwise you have to pick it up.

I had everything except the proper type of photo. I just ran across the street to Walgreens and picked up a passport photo in about three minutes, then delivered everything to the nice lady at the desk and that was it. Now I have to wait five days and return to pick up my passport. I’m glad I went today because any later would have been cutting it way too close. I would have definitely had to delay my trip if I had been forced to do everything by mail or I could have paid overnight fees to make sure everything happened on time.

Remember, start the visa process as soon as you can!