US Embassy in Korea Resumes Student Visa Issuance After 4 Months... Excluding Immigrant Visas (Comprehensive)

Due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection, the U.S. Department of State issued travel alerts for levels 2 to 4 and suspended visa services in affected countries. On the 19th, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Jongno-gu, Seoul, there were no citizens waiting for visa issuance for purposes such as studying abroad, employment, or expatriate assignments. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The U.S. Embassy in Korea announced that it will partially resume visa issuance services that were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 16th, the U.S. Embassy in Korea stated on its website, "Starting from the 20th, we plan to resume the issuance of certain non-immigrant visas such as F, M, and J for students and exchange visitors." This comes four months after routine visa services were suspended in most countries, including Korea, on March 20.

They added, "We plan to process visa applications as quickly as possible, but due to backlog, applicants may experience longer waiting times."

Accordingly, it will now be possible to obtain visas for long-term stays for purposes such as studying abroad. Until now, under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), it was possible to visit the U.S. for tourism and business purposes for up to 90 days through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), but long-term stays for studying were difficult.

Recently, the U.S. government announced a policy to restrict visa issuance and deny entry for those taking classes solely online, but this was withdrawn following opposition from major U.S. universities. As of last year, the number of international students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions was approximately 1.09 million, of which Korean students accounted for about 4.8%, or 52,250 students.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Korea did not disclose when other visa services, such as immigrant visas, will resume.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.