Ok I am bein told several different ways to get my Visa to move over there. And I am severly confused. What is the best way? And I am in Maryland how do I find where to get one?

The best way to get your VISA to live here, IMO, is before you come.

Once you arrive, you will have so much to get done,and you need that VISA in hand for things like your housing allowance application, etc, and if you wait to do it while you're here, you may be required to provide extra paperwork,such as letters from your hubby's commander,etc. It really is better to take care of it before you arrive.

Don't stress, the Korean A-3 visa is really easy to get, very quick and painless. :) And even better, it's *free* :)

There is only one place you can get a VISA.. and that's through the Korean Consulate. :) You can either apply in person at the Korean consulate nearest you, or by mail. ..whichever method you use,There is an application that you need to fill out,and you will have to provide the typical documentation, including your passport, and copies of birth certificates for everyone you're getting the VISA for, a copy of your marriage certificate, a copy of your military ID, and a copy of your husband's orders to Korea. The representatives at the Korean consulate were *very* helpful,and willing to provide info for me when I called.

Where is the Korean Consulate that serves your region? According to http://www.koreaembassyusa.org/ (Home > Consulate Service > General Information) , the embassy that serves Maryland is in D.C. , so that's the one you'll have to work with :)

If you apply in person,and turn in your paperwork before 10-11 am, you can get your VISA the same day,and if you turn it in by mail,the turn around isn't long either, I think most people get theirs within a week or so of sending the papers in. Whatever you do, if you do submit by mail, pay the extra for the express shipping and take whatever options that allow you to track it, and the same thing for the Self-addressed envelope you have to submit for the return of your papers..for one reason,and one alone, so you can keep track of those important papers, like your passport,etc. You don't want those lost in the mail.

One caveat: If you are travelling with step children, or one of the children you're travelling with has another parent, *both* of the birth parents have to be present, I believe, or present an affidavit, to allow the VISA to be issued. I'd contact the Consulate representative to find out what would be needed in that department.

My personal story? We went to the Korean Consulate in Atlanta, since it's the one that served the region I was in. I arrived at 10 am, and by 2 pm, walked out of the office with VISA in hand, after having spent a couple of hours playing tourist at Olympic Park and enjoying a nice lunch with my family. :)

Take a deep breath, it'll be okay. The VISA is the easy thing. :)

I'd worry more about getting your passport back in time, as I understand the wait for those is still a bit longer than usual, and if you don't get your paperwork in in a timely manner, you may have to pay extra to expedite it.

*Hugs*

Dee :)

I did mine by mail. Actually the G1 office on the base we lived near did most of the work for me. She helped me complete the paperwork, told me everything I needed to send in and then she even mailed it in for me. The Visa didn't take long at all to get. What took forever was my no fee passport.

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There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled.

Unfortunately, NCS spouses aren't eligible for no-fee passports, we have to have tourist passports and the passport office on bases won't even talk to us because we're NCS. I was under the impression that that was an across the board thing for all NCS spouses , despite their respective services, but if there's an exception to that for Army NCS spouses,that would be *VERY* helpful for those coming in the future to know.

Dee :)

I don't know the answers, it seems reasonable that a NCS spouse would not be eligible for a no-fee passport.
But there is no reason a passport office on a military base couldn't be helpful to dependents who are not on orders. If they have the right forms and are not snowed under, they could even take pictures to save some time and money as a favor to the service member. The military is just now beginning to see the family as at least an important part of the big picture in keeping the member in service. Being civil to everyone goes a long way to a better experience for all.

Mr. Joe,

I couldn't agree more! You'd think that that would be the case, but that wasn't at all what I encountered. When I started looking into getting my passport, one of my first calls was to the passport office on base.. I had already been told that I couldn't get the no-fee passport, so I wasn't asking for that, only for information on what I'd need to apply for the passport,and the procedure, and generally, if they handled any passports other than the no-fee passports.

The passport agent I spoke with informed me that no, not only would they not do anything at all to help me, that I'd have to get my forms and any information elsewhere, but went on to tell me that to his knowledge I couldn't even *get* a passport to go to Korea, and that I should just "suck it up" and stay at home like all the other wives did.

Thank heavens I had enough common sense to know that a) when you get a passport, you don't have to necessarily list where you're going.. and b) even if you do list South Korea as your destination there's no problem - I had civilian friends who had come over a few years prior,and had watched them go through the process at the time, and knew of at least a few spouses who had come here for a visit. If I hadn't had the background knowledge,and had depended upon the passport office at my losing base for help of *any* kind, I wouldn't be here today.

Sadly, I think customer service across the board, at least in the Air Force, has taken a deep hit with all the manning cuts,etc.

Dee :)

Maybe there is an exception for Army because I'm NCS. Unless I just slipped through the cracks somehow. And like Mr. Joe said about at least taking the pictures, I even had my picture taken on base.

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There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled.

Yep, my family got both passports and visa's with the help of people on base at Redstone. Passports were free and the gentleman filled out all the paperwork for the Visa's, all Renee' had to do is drop the Visa paperwork in the mail box.

Seem's their are 2 things now that I can see the Army is better at, passports/visa and moving....over the AirForce....

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CH-47 SI

They must find it difficult...

Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. --Gerald Massey

Sometimes you get a sympathetic person, and sometimes you don't. I came from the same base as Dee, only two years earlier. There was a passport agent there who could not have been nicer or more helpful. It doesn't always matter exactly what the reg says, if somone wants to help! I agree with the grandma, who said you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar! And I hate telephones! It is much easier for someone to blow you off on the phone. You never know who is on the other end, so going strictly by the book on the phone is the only safe way!
Once I had trouble with a SSgt who refused to process my re-enlistment bonus because he didn't interpret the Reg. the same as I did. A box of chocolates later, the same day, and a lady in finance took care of it for me!
It probably doesn't have as much to do with the branch of service as the personality of the people!

Because our follow-on is to Ramstein, we had to secure our no-fee passports before Tom left for the unaccompanied tour to Korea. Since they arrived prior to our leaving to join him here NCS, we were able to use our no-fee passports to travel to Korea. I had no problem getting our Korean visas with them, or entering Korea, departing Korea, or entering Korea again.

So IF you HAVE a no-fee passport, you can use it to come to Korea, even as a non-command-sponsored family member.

Kara