Korea asked to relax visa rules

Mongolian Ambassador Baasanjav Ganbold

By Kang Hyun-kyung

To get a Korean tourist visa, Mongolians must submit a bank balance statement proving that they have Mongolian tugrig worth $10,000 or more in their bank accounts.

The financial statement is one of 10 visa documents Mongolians are required to submit to the Korean Embassy in Ulaanbaatar in order to obtain a visa that will allow them to stay here for three months. The nine other materials include a criminal record certificate and a certificate of employment.

Mongolian Ambassador to Korea Baasanjav Ganbold claimed that Korea is stricter than any other countries in terms of visa documents, calling on the government to relax its visa rules.

“Mongolians, who have invitation letters from their family members or relatives in Korea, must prove that they have bank balances of $5,000, whereas for those who have no such invitation, it is $10,000,” Ganbold said during a recent interview.

“No other foreign embassies in Ulaanbaatar require Mongolians to submit such a bank balance statement to get a tourist visa. Korea is the only country requiring Mongolians to submit the financial statement.”

The envoy noted that $10,000 is huge amount by an average Mongolian’s living standard.

Given that the average monthly income of a Mongolian worker is $300, those who have no invitation letters, have to save all their income for nearly three years without spending a penny to have a bank balance worth $10,000.

The Korean Embassy in Ulaanbaatar added the bank balance statement to the list of supporting visa documents for Mongolians in late 2012.

“Each embassy can add or remove particular documents to issue a tourist visa. They make their own decision based on their assessment of the host country,” an official from the Immigration Service of Korea said on condition of anonymity.

Mongolian Ambassador Ganbold claimed that Korea’s demanding visa policy discouraged Mongolians from embarking on medical tourism in Korea.

“Sick people usually need to get a visa as soon as possible. Even though they submitted all those required documents, they have to wait two to three weeks to get their visas. Coupled with the strict document rule, the lengthy visa process makes it difficult for Mongolians to come to Korea for medical treatment,” the envoy stressed.

He said Mongolians prefer Korean hospitals over those in China or Russia because Korea has Westernized, efficient and cutting-edge medical facilities.

“Plus, there are some Mongolians here who speak Korean fluently so that Mongolian medical tourists can rely on them when they meet Korean doctors.”

Under tourist visas, both Mongolians and Koreans can travel to each other’s nations for three months. These tourist visas are single-entry only. This means that Mongolians, for example, must go through all the hectic and lengthy visa procedure again if they want to visit Korea again.

Express visas are not available.

Tightening screw

The way Korean tourists get a visa to Mongolia is a lot easier and simpler than their Mongolian counterparts.

Koreans are required to submit three documents only, namely a passport, a visa form and a receipt of visa fee, to get a tourist visa to Mongolia.

They can get the visa three days after submitting these materials. Express visas are also available.

Mongolian Ambassador Ganbold called on the Korean government to streamline the visa process.

Of the 10 visa documents, he suggested that the Korean government remove or reduce the amount of the bank balance statement as soon as possible.

“We also want the Korean government to ease rules for a multiple-entry visa so that medical tourists can visit Korea as many times as they want.”

Under the current system, Mongolians who have ever travelled to one of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries are allowed to get a multiple-entry visa to Korea.

Ambassador Ganbold pointed out that this rule is also unrealistic, considering that few Mongolians have ever travelled to OECD countries because they are too far from their country and too expensive to travel to.

Stricter visa documents appear to be part of the Korean government’s tightening the screws on illegal immigration.

Nearly 180,000 foreigners in this country are undocumented people, according to the Ministry of Justice.

In 2008, the Immigration Service drew up a five-year plan designed to cut the number of illegal immigrants in the face of the rise of undocumented foreigners.

Ambassador Ganbold said that the rate of illegal Mongolian immigrants in Korea has sharply decreased in recent years.

In 2011, 4 percent of Mongolians who arrived in Korea that year stayed here despite their visa expired.

The figure for 2012 decreased to 2.5 percent and last year it dropped again to 1.7 percent.

Currently approximately 24,000 Mongolians are living in Korea as marriage migrants, manufacturing sector workers or students.