Hi Kim,

That is a nightmare! O man, good luck with the Busan Consulate. I have a question. Did they still make you pay the visa fee even though it was rejected?

D

Mr Dwango,
They did not charge the application fee when it was rejected. After being denied and before I knew I could get the visa at the Busan consulate I looked into passport and visa agencies in the states. I've had many friends use the agencies and they worked fine. However, I called one agency that some friends were using to ask if I could still get my visa through them even though I had already tried once and was rejected. They said there was no guarentee because I might have been in the system and that I would not be refunded by the agency if it did not work. So once again!- If you send it home to family or friends DO NOT LET YOUR FAMILY/FRIENDS mention that you are not in the US. If you use an agency you should be fine OR you can just call an agency that uses the Busan consulate. I am going to try to use the Kangsan travel agency if I receive my passport back with enough time....
There is also a Kangsan travel in Seoul and Daegu and I believe both will send your passport to Busan but you might want to make sure of that with them. Good luck!

Hi Ms.Kim,

Thanks for the info. I was wondering if the embassy in the US can now whether one is living in Korea regardless of whether you tell them or not? Is it possible to know by looking at the passport? Also, did they ask your friend if you live in the US or did he just tell them?

Thanks!

Er..you may try their rush service for visa application.

Im guessing the embassies in the states could figure out that the person is not currently in the States if they looked into it but some of my friends have used agencies and they too had to send their passports home. Im assuming they were submitted to the embassies with their applications and none of them had any problems. Im pretty sure my friend just mentioned it without realizing that me not being there was an issue. Lesson learned I guess.