Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Toronto

READ THIS ARTICLE BELOW AFTER YOU'VE FIRST READ: [VISA] * MUST READ * How to apply for visa to Korea step-by-step guide.

APPLICATION BY APPOINTMENT-ONLY

You must make an appointment online for visa application.

Please note that your appointment time is not your time of arrival at the office. Please plan to arrive 10-15 min early to be ready for your appointment time. Appointment times are released automatically by the system approx 2 weeks in advance and you cannot make an appointment by email or phone call to the Visa Department. If you attempt to apply by walk-in, you will be turned away and asked to make an appointment online.  

EMERGENCY VISA APPLICATION

For emergency visa application (emergency visa is restricted only to those attending an immediate family's funeral in Korea or visiting a critically ill immediate family in Korea), we are able to make some exceptions for last-minute appointments. Please visit this link for more information. 

KEEP AN EXTRA COPY OF YOUR PASSPORT FOR YOURSELF

In advance of your appointment date, please make an extra photocopy, scan, or take a photo of your passport so that you have your passport information handy to check visa status and to book your flight if necessary. Due to the volume of applications we process, we are not able to provide your passport information by phone or email after your application. 

BEING ACCOMPANIED BY SOMEONE ELSE

The applicant must visit alone and not bring a family member or friends to the office to prevent overcrowding indoors. The visa department is fully bilingual and can answer any question in Korean or English. If the applicant does not speak either language and wants to be accompanied by a friend or family member, one person may be accompanied. 

Exception 1: If you require a family member or other caregiver's assistance (interpretation or otherwise), you may be accompanied by them. You do not have to prove why you need assistance.

Exception 2: If you're applying for a spousal visa, your spouse may accompany you. 

Exception 3: If the applicant is 17 or younger, they may be accompanied by a parent but please note the parent is also welcome to visit on their own and apply on behalf of the child. The child does not have to accompany the parent.

MASKS MANDATORY INDOORS AT ALL TIMES

Please wear a mask. It is mandatory to wear a mask in the Consular Office at all times. Your nose and mouth must be completely covered at all times except for if/when you are asked to briefly lower your mask to confirm the applicant's identity . All masks (fabric, disposable, medical-grade) are acceptable. For your safety, please keep your mask on at all times and maintain a 2 metre distance from all other visitors. Please maintain 1-2 metre distance with the staff even through the glass partition. We have a mic & speaker system so you can hear us and speak to us.

WRITING UTENSILS IN THE CONSULAR OFFICE

Please bring your own writing utensils and print and/or photocopy your own forms and documents at home. Our support staff work hard to sanitize the consular office daily but our forms, writing utensils, printer, and photocopier are NOT constantly sanitized.

PARKING

There is no public parking available onsite at the Consulate. If arriving by a personal vehicle, please park your car (street parking or at a parking lot) and make sure you adhere to the street signs & make appropriate payments as necessary.

WHAT TO DO UPON ARRIVAL AT THE CONSULAR OFFICE

Plan to arrive 10-15 min ahead of your appointment time. Upon your arrival, please prepare all your documents in the order listed in the visa guidelines on our website. Please take out your passport from the case if it is in a case and make sure you also have all additional documents outside of folders or binders including additional requirements during COVID-19. Please also have your debit card out if you plan to pay by debit.

If your documents are not in order, you may be asked to return to your seat/table to reorganize your application. If your documents are not ready when your name is called, you may lose your appointment time entirely and may not be able to apply that day. 

Please take a seat 2 metres or more apart from other visitors and approach the Visa Department only when your name is called.

Application Tips:

1. Submit all required documents at the time of submission. If you are missing even one of the elements, your application will not be accepted and returned to you.

2. We do not accept photos of documents. Documents must be clearly printed (i.e. original or scanned & printed or photocopied) or your application will be rejected.

3. Photo size requirement is 3.5 cm by 4.5 cm on a white or off-white background. Photo must be taken by a professional photographer at a facility capable of producing passport/visa photos (not at home) and be stamped at the back. It must have been taken in the last 6 months and must not have been altered/enhanced digitally.

4. For those of Korean descent, you may be eligible to apply for the F-4 visa (which affords you similar status in Korea as a Canadian PR status) if you and your immediate family members who obtained Canadian citizenship formally submitted documents to renounce their Korean citizenship. Please visit this page on our Korean site for a detailed step-by-step guide. There is a Korean language proficiency requirement for F-4 visa application. If you have difficulty deciphering the application process in Korean, please seek help from Korean-speaking parent(s) or friend(s).

Supplementary documents:

Supplementary documents can be sent in ONLY with explicit approval & request by the Visa Department at the time of application in person or if you receive a phone call or email from the Visa Department. If you have been approved for and requested to submit supplementary documents to the visa department (torvisa@mofa.go.kr), please strictly adhere to the following instructions. If the instructions are not followed, your application will be delayed and may eventually NOT be approved.

You must follow the following format in the TITLE of the email:

Visa Accept No / Entrance Purpose (type of visa) / Application Date / Full Name (Last name first followed by first & middle names as stated on your passport) / Name of supplementary document(s)

Title example: VX000 E-2-1 2021-02-02 HONG GILDONG Name(s) of supplementary document(s)

* If you did not receive the Visa Accept No at the time of application, you may leave that field blank. 

If there are multiple documents, you must send ALL supplementary documents in the SAME email as a single PDF file. If you send multiple emails within a quick succession (i.e. due to one of the files not being attached), we will accept the LATEST email only. Document(s) must print clearly in black & white as a document, NOT a photo. Screenshots and photos will NOT be accepted. Do NOT alter the PDF document in any way. If you alter the document and/or if we suspect the document has been edited or otherwise tempered with, your application may be denied, it may be entered into your long-term records, and you may be denied any visa applications for a period of 3 years.

Failure to follow the above instructions will result in a delay in your visa processing and may result in your visa application being denied.

Family members of Korean nationals:

If your family (spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild) is a Korean national and you would like your visa processing to be expedited, please submit AT THE TIME OF VISA APPLICATION a Family Relations Certificate issued in the last 3 months (must have your name in it) with their valid Korean passport and valid Canadian visa (front & back of their PR card, if they are permanent resident of Canada) proving your relationship and their Korean citizenship. There is no guarantee but we may be able to reduce the number of days it takes to process your application. 

WHAT TO EXPECT DURING THE APPLICATION PROCESS

Once your documents are confirmed to be in order, please pay with DEBIT CARD with TAP but please be prepared to pay with CASH (exact change only) if our system is down. Our system is not equipped to accept credit cards.

During your application, we may ask you to take a seat while we review your documents and enter your application into our system. You will be given a confirmation & instructions document once your application has been successfully submitted. This page will give instructions on how to track your visa status and how to print your visa but you can als refer to this page if you lost that document. You do not need the Visa Accept document to check your application status. 

PASSPORT TO BE RETURNED BY MAIL RATHER THAN PICKED UP?

Even though we are no longer issuing visa stickers and have made the change to Visa Grant Notice you can print at home from visa.go.kr, you must still submit your passport for us to access the chip on your passport and process your visa. You must submit your passport at the time of application.

If you wish to have your passport to be returned to you by mail rather than come pick it up in person, please submit a prepaid Xpresspost return envelope with your complete address (including postal code) and phone number written on the envelope AT THE TIME OF APPLICATION. (You must keep the tracking information to track the return status yourself).

Please note that we are not responsible for any postal accidents or damages nor are we responsible for any delays in processing. Due to COVID-19, mail processing has already been delayed but recently, there was a COVID-19 outbreak at Canada Post processing facility, which has resulted in significant delays in mail processing and delivery. PLEASE CONSIDER THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH HAVING YOUR PASSPORT MAILED BACK. 

MORE QUESTIONS STILL?

Questions not addressed on our website or in the automated email reply:

If you have questions about visa NOT covered on our website, Korea Visa Portal, or in the automated email reply, you may email the Visa Department. This will help us update the website and automated reply accordingly.

Email address: torvisa@mofa.go.kr

Title format: FULL NAME (last name first followed by first and middle names) - VISA TO _________(visiting purpose)_________ NOT COVERED ON THE WEBSITE

Example title: HONG GILDONG - VISA TO STUDY AT SEOUL UNIVERSITY NOT COVERED ON THE WEBSITE

Form to fill out in the body of the email:

Purpose of visit (detailed):

Intended length of trip:

Do you have a family member (parents, children, or grandparents) who is a Korean national or are holders of F-4 visa?:

i.e. I am _____(relationship)____ of Korean national (or F-4 visa holder) _______(full name & date of birth of family member)

Intended date of entry to Korea:

* Please note our processing time of 15 business days so choose a date that is at least 3 weeks + 1 day or more from the date your complete application will be submitted.

Any other information for consideration:

As we receive an extreme volume of inquiries, you will not necessarily receive a reply but your input will be taken into consideration when we update our website and automated reply.  

Additional VISA Inquiries:

Please note that due to COVID-19, we receive an extreme volume of inquiries related to visa application, transit through Korea, and special measures in effect. We are also receiving an unprecedented volume of visa applications as visa-free entry has been temporarily suspended while our processing capacity is decreased with limits of how many people may enter and stay in our office at any given time due to COVID-19 restrictions.

At this time, we do not have the capacity to answer inquiries by phone, especially as we are focusing every effort to process the increased volume of applicants. We are prioritizing urgent applications (i.e. visiting family members in critical condition) and we are also frequently updating the website with all relevant information. Please visit our website for the latest information and if you have additional questions not addressed on our website, please follow the instructions on this page to email the visa department.

Thank you for your patience and for your cooperation.

For latest hours of operations & entrance guidelines during COVID-19, visit the main page of our website (make sure pop-up windows are enabled): 

For visa & transit guidelines as well as other consular services, please refer to the Guidelines & FAQ page.