Korea to ease visa rules to encourage tourism

Korea will ease visa regulations for tourists from major South Asian countries beginning next week, opening the door wider to visitors from the region, which has emerged as a major source for the Korean tourism sector, the Ministry of Justice said yesterday.

The measure comes after Seoul first enacted simplified visa regulations last August for Chinese, as an estimated 1.7 million tourists visited Korea from China last year, up 42 percent from the previous year.

Under the new rule, those who earn more than $10,000 a year, pension recipients, professionals such as doctors, Korean university graduates and families of marriage immigrants will be eligible for double-entry visas valid for three years, the ministry said.

With concerns over an influx of illegal immigrants, the special visa benefit has been limited to those who have visited member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and some well-off people.

The ministry said it will require visa applicants to submit fewer documents to prove their economic and employment status and issue visas for group tourists as a whole with guarantees from local tour agencies.

Seoul will also issue double-entry visas that will allow visitors to enter the country twice within a set period for tourism and brief visits between overseas trips, it noted.Family members of those who have double-entry visas will be automatically given the same visa to allow them to travel together, officials said.

“We expect the new visa rules to attract more tourists from China and South Asia.The government is working on improving the immigration system,” said a ministry official.The number of visitors from 11 selected Asian nations increased 21.1 percent last year from the previous year.

Source = joins