Korean Consulate Visit. Time for my visa.. finally.

Today, I went to the Korean Consulate in Boston. Their website sucks, so I'll give you the links here. You can't get from the Korean language home page to the English version.

Boston consulate links:

http://www.kcgboston.org - This is useless unless you are bilingual
http://www.kcgboston.org/bbs.php?table=board_60 - This is for visa information for Boston
http://www.kcgboston.org/inc.php?inc=602&lg=en - This is for directions and hours.

Your school should supply you with all the necessary paperwork. The most important thing is the visa issuance number, which you receive once all your paperwork has been sent to Korea, and passed through immigration there. Your school/recruiting agency will give this number to you.


Things to bring to the consulate in Boston:

Visa Issuance Number
One passport photo
Visa Application
Health Statement (they have copies there)
Passport
$45 in cash or money order. No checks or credit cards.

It's always a good idea to call the consulate ahead of time, to make sure that nothing has changed. Other consulates may also require to see your diploma, transcripts, copy of your criminal background check, etc.

Once you get there, you will have to fill out some forms, then you will have an interview with the Consul General. For me this was really simple. I just sat down with the consul, and made idle conversation with him for about 5 minutes. He was very nice. He told me that Seoul is very safe, but I should still be careful if I go out drinking at night. Then he told me that I should try to go to Japan and China while I am there. I told him that I would be careful, and that I wanted to travel. That was really about the extent of the interview.

Thursday I have to go back and pick up my passport. I hope my Korean visa is more impressive than my Chilean visa.. my Chilean visa is just a stamp. I've seen some very cool visas before, I want one. hehe.



Chile Update:
Ahora tengo la fecha para mi viaje a Chile tambien. La Sarita y yo llegamos en Santiago el 17 de Junio, y quedamos alli hasta el 1 de julio. Más que las fechas.. no tenemos planes fijados... asi que quieres reunir con nosotras, nos avisen pronto! ¡Queremos ver todos en Santiago!