US rejects record 1 in 4 South Korean visitor visa applicants, over four times Japan's ra…

The U.S. turned down nearly 1 in 4 South Korean applicants for business and tourist visas in the year to September 2025, a record high and more than four times the rate for Japanese applicants.

The adjusted refusal rate for South Koreans applying for B1 business and B2 tourist visas reached 24.73% in U.S. fiscal year 2025, up 9.76 percentage points from 14.97% a year earlier, according to South Korean Foreign Ministry data released on Oct. 26 by Rep. Kim Dai-sik of the main opposition People Power Party.

The figure matches the State Department's published table for fiscal 2025. It is also the highest for South Korea in the department's tables going back to fiscal 2006; the previous peak was 21.2% in fiscal 2014.

The adjusted rate leaves out applicants who were refused but later issued a visa in the same year, for example after submitting additional documents. South Korea's rate had ranged from 14.44% to 18.03% in fiscal 2021 through 2024, after 8.46% in 2020.

The figures exclude South Koreans who travel under the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which lets them visit for up to 90 days without a visa once approved through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).

The number of B visas issued to South Koreans fell 21.2% to 12,226 from 15,508 a year earlier, The Korea Herald reported.

South Korea's rate was more than four times Japan's, which slipped to 5.68% from 5.76%, according to State Department figures. It also exceeded the rates for fellow program members the U.K., at 20.44%, Germany, at 12.22%, and France, at 9.67%, though Ireland's was higher at 25.12%.

Rates for China fell to 20.21% from 25.37%, and Vietnam 22.08%, nearly unchanged from 22.12% a year earlier.

The Foreign Ministry told Kim's office that Washington does not disclose why visas are refused, making the exact cause difficult to determine. "We presume that tighter visa screening policies may have had an impact as immigration has become an increasingly contentious domestic political issue in the United States," the ministry said, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.

Posts from applicants refused at B1 and B2 visa interviews appear regularly on South Korean online communities for U.S. travel and study abroad, with many complaining they were not told why, the Seoul Economic Daily reported.

Some observers suggest immigration authorities under President Donald Trump may have classified South Korea as a country of heightened scrutiny, the newspaper said. On Sept. 4, 2025, U.S. immigration agents detained more than 300 South Korean workers at the construction site of a Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution battery plant in Georgia.

Kim Dai-sik questioned whether relations with Washington also played a role. "We need to closely examine whether our government’s diplomatic and defense policies toward the U.S., as well as changes in Korea-U.S. relations, have contributed to U.S. visa refusals," he said, according to The Korea Herald.

Rep. Jung Chung-rae of the ruling Democratic Party, a former party leader, moved from the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's Americas audit team to its Europe team on Oct. 8 after his U.S. visa was not issued in time.

Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok also postponed a planned October trip to the U.S. after meetings with members of Congress proved hard to schedule ahead of the midterm elections, the Seoul Economic Daily reported.

People Power Party Rep. Na Kyung-won wrote on Facebook on Oct. 15 that the trip had fallen through. She listed the hold on Jung's visa and the cutoff of U.S. intelligence among the problems in relations with Washington, and urged President Lee Jae Myung and his party to first consider ways to normalize the alliance.