How to Renew Your American Passport in South Korea

I recently came across a predicament here in South Korea that left me clueless. My passport still had a few blank pages left, but my upcoming visas required usage of all of them. Therefore, I became a bit nervous about my 2019 travel plans. Would I have enough empty spaces for all of my future stamps in Asia? Would I even be allowed to enter {insert country here} without any blank passport pages? I decided it was time to say good-bye to my old friend, and welcome a newer, thicker companion.

While I hadn’t exactly budgeted my time or money to renew my American passport in Korea, I knew it had to be done. A lot of the information below came directly from the U.S. Embassy’s website here. You should absolutely follow the full instructions from the website, and never solely use this post as your only form of instructions.

Let’s be clear, I do not represent the U.S. Embassy in any way. The U.S. Embassy will always have the most recent and accurate information available. That being said, in this post I’ve included additional information, from my own experience, that may be helpful to anyone caught in the same dilemma.

Basic Information

There are two ways to renew your passport: in person or via courier service. That being said, only a select few can renew their passports via courier service. If you have lost your passport, or your passport was stolen you must make an appointment with with US Embassy in Seoul. If you meet the following requirements, you may apply to renew your passport via courier service:

You are age 16 or over, and
You have a Social Security number, and
You can submit your most recent passport, and
Your most recent U.S. passport had a validity of 10 years, and
You were issued your most recent U.S. passport at age 16 or older, and within the past 15 years, and
Your name will remain the same as on your most recent passport.

If for any reason, you fail to meet one of the requirements listed above, you also must make an appointment with the US Embassy to visit in person. For example, you got married and changed your name. Or another example, you got your passport when you were 14.

Making an Appointment

In the case that you must make an appointment with the US Embassy, their working hours are Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM. Wednesdays have different afternoon hours. Therefore, for someone that lives 3+ hours away from Seoul {me}, it would mean taking off work. And making one hell of a long day trip.

That being said, if you would rather avoid a courier service altogether, you can always make an appointment to go into the embassy. To make an appointment, follow the instructions here.

Related: 5 Apps to Help You Navigate Life in South Korea

Using a Courier Service

Luckily, I could answer yes to everything required enabling me to use a courier service. The U.S. Embassy uses a trusted courier delivery service to pick up and return your passport to you. While there are no instructions against using another courier service, I wouldn’t risk it.

The company that picked up and delivered all of my documents was ILYANG {the government trusted company}. The total cost to have my documents picked up, shipped to Seoul, and then returned back to my address, was ₩20,000.

The entire process took 11 days. I sent my documents out on December 4th, and I received my new passport on December 14th.

I’m going to be straight up with you. If you do not {A} have a fabulous co-teacher/friend willing to help you call the courier service and translate everything or {B} read and speak fluent Korean, I highly suggest making an appointment with the embassy.

The website is completely in Korean, and they will not ship to certain addresses outside of city limits. For example, they wouldn’t deliver to my address in rural Daegu, so my co-teacher had to use her address closer to the city.

Required Documents

If you are physically going into the embassy, these are the required documents to bring:

Passport application. It must be filled out using the U.S. Embassy website. Applications filled out by hand are not be accepted.
Your previous U.S. passport
One passport photograph sized 2″ X 2″ or 5 cm X 5 cm with a white background taken within the last 6 months/no glasses/no uniforms. U.S. passport and Korean passport photo sizes are different. This is super important to specify when getting your passport photo taken. My friend Gina from Gina Bears Blog had some issues with this. Personally, I went to a professional studio and showed them the exact dimensions from the website. For 10 professional passport photos I paid ₩14,000. I needed extra for my upcoming visa’s so figured why not.
A fee of $110

If you are sending your documents via courier service, you will also need to send those same documents, however, the $110 fee must be paid in the form of an international money order. Keep reading to figure out how to obtain one in South Korea.

Related: 9 Cultural Mistakes You Should Avoid in South Korea… But Don’t

How much does it cost?

To renew your passport costs $110 USD {approx. ₩125,000}. If you are using the courier service to deliver your passport and documents, you must give them the $110 USD via international money order. It must be in US dollars {not ₩} and you can obtain it from your Korean bank.

Not going to lie, this part was a pain in the ass. My bank in rural Daegu didn’t even know what an international money order was. They continuously tried to get me to make a wire transfer {not applicable in this circumstance}, until one of the employees got out their KEB employee handbook and looked it up. I was the branches first international money order guys…

In that case, I suggest loading the U.S. Embassy website on your phone and showing the bank examples of money orders. They also have the U.S. Embassy website available in Korean. This way the employee can read the requirements themselves and get a better understanding of what you require. Fortunately, it all ended up working out, but again you’ll need a co-teacher or Korean speaking friend to help you in this department.

On top of this, note the ₩20,000 courier charge, and the charge for you passport photos {which will vary}.

Will I get my old passport back?

Yes, indeed my friend. I did include a handwritten note attached to my old passport saying, “Please return my old passport to me, thank you”. I read somewhere online that this is a good way to ensure you get it back.

How long does it take?

Like I previously mentioned, the entire process took 11 days. I had my old passport and all necessary documentation picked up on December 4th, and it was all returned to me {with my new passport} on December 14th.

Can I get a 52 page passport from Korea?

Of course you can! And you can bet that I did. Just make sure to check that box on your online application before you print it out and sign it.

What if I am denied?

If you have been denied, you will find out immediately. Your old passport will be returned with a notice attached, explaining why it was returned to you.

I’ve renewed my passport, now what?

In the past, your new passport number would automatically register with the immigration office in South Korea. Now, however, you must manually inform the immigration office of the renewal. You have 13 – 14 days after you are issued a new passport, to contact immigration. According to this website, you can go about this in three ways:

Set an appointment with the closest immigration office to you
Fax your change in passport information to 1577-1346 weekdays from 9am-6pm
Report the change of passport information online at HiKorea

Failure to report the change of passport will result in a large fine. Additionally, make sure you update your employer and your bank. Even though you are simply renewing your passport, you will get an entirely new passport number.