South Korea To Reopen Visas Service For Bangladesh On October 24

South Korea has announced that it will be reopened to receive visa applications from Bangladeshi nationals for Korea entry, starting from October 24, after two rounds of closure for about 16 months over the coronavirus pandemic.

The Embassy of South Korea in Dhaka made the announcement on October 21, saying it will receive the visa applications from Sunday. In the statement, it said, “the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Bangladesh is pleased to announce that it will resume receiving Korea entry visa applications from Bangladeshi nationals starting from 24 October, Sunday, 2021”.

The decision has been made in consideration of the improved Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh and the low number of coronavirus-positive cases among the Bangladeshi arrivals in South Korea, the embassy said. The Korean embassy has advised all the travelers from Bangladesh “to be fully vaccinated before arrival and take strong precautionary measures before, during, and after arriving in Korea” to avoid Covid-19 infections.

However, if a noticeable Covid-19 positive case among Bangladeshi arrivals in Korea happens again, restrictive measures on a visa application can be reinstated by the Government of the Republic of Korea as happened previously in April 2021. Earlier, South Korea had stopped issuing visas to Bangladeshis on Jun 23, 2020, after many passengers with Covid-negative certificates tested positive for the disease.

The East Asian country resumed issuing visas in February but suspended the process again on April 16 amid a surge in infections driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus early this year. The embassy had warned that it will stop receiving visa applications again if the number of coronavirus cases among arrivals rises.

Bangladeshis who are willing to travel to South Korea for more than 90 days for study or research can apply for visas now. Short-term stay for official or business purposes will also be allowed. Short-term non-urgent visas for purposes, such as sightseeing and medical tourism, will be limited.