By Kim Da-ye
Big-spending Chinese and Southeast Asian tourists will be able to receive multiple-entry visas valid for five years starting Monday, the Ministry of Justice said Thursday.
The ministry currently issues multiple-entry visas valid for up to three years to Chinese tourists who can prove they are financially independent and are not likely to overstay their visas.
“It is the first time that we will introduce a five-year visa for them,” said Kim Du-rack, an official at the Justice Ministry.
The government will start issuing the “Korea Priority Card” to big-spending tourists that will enable them to get a five-year visa and enter the country through fast-track immigration or automated immigration kiosks.
To obtain the preferential card, tourists have to have spent $30,000 (32 million won) or more in Korea in the past five years; own a platinum credit card; and have a deposit of 50 million won ($46,700) or more in a designated bank.
While the card will be issued to any qualifying foreign tourists, the main beneficiaries of the program are expected to be Chinese and those from countries that do not have a visa-waiver agreement with Korea. Many of them have to get a single-entry visa each time they want to travel to Korea.
To use the “Smart Entry Service (SES),” the automated immigration kiosk, travelers must register their passport and biometric information, including fingerprints and facial images, at the enrollment centers at international airports in Korea and at selected immigration offices in advance. The SES has been available only to Korean nationals and a limited number of foreigners living here.
The holders of the priority card can also enter and leave Korea through the fast-track immigration usually reserved for diplomats, pilots and flight attendants.
The priority pass will be issued in the form of a membership card or be integrated into a credit card. The justice ministry official said that counterfeiting the card will be meaningless because the authority will use the information of the VIP visitors stored in its database when issuing a visa or registering them for fast-track immigration.
Tourists can apply for the card at Woori Bank’s branches in Korea and abroad, and offices of the Korea Tourism Organization.
For holders of platinum credit cards, the ministry will require bills from the last six months that show their usage.
Applicants can also qualify by depositing 50 million won or more at Woori Bank, the justice ministry’s partner bank for this program. The overseas branches of the bank will issue a credit card integrated with the priority card.
