Cancellation of appointments for Korean visa applicants are not allowed, South Korea’s embassy in Manila said Friday.
The cancel button has been removed by Korean government on their website on Nov. 18 to prevent “fraudulent appointments.”
This came as the embassy discovered that some brokers are cancelling their own appointments to be sold to those who are really applying for the visa.
“This step was taken because the Embassy detected numerous cases where brokers reserved fraudulent appointments and sold their appointment slots to someone in need by cancelling their appointments on pre-coordinated dates and times,” the embassy said on Friday.
“Therefore, you are advised to take an extra caution when you make a visa appointment via the online platform,” it added.
For those needing to cancel their appointments due to unexpected reasons, the embassy advised those who will do so to “use the function of revising the Notes in the Check reservation tab.”
“You are asked to put ‘Reservation Cancellation’ in the field of Notes at the Check reservation tab,” it said.
It also warned that applicants who will miss their appointments without requesting to cancel their appointments “will be blacklisted” and “their access to the online platform will be denied.”
“Please note that due to high volume of applications and shortage of consular staffs, waiting period for visa appointments is much longer than pre-pandemic times. Therefore, please be reminded that you must book your flights after securing a visa,” it said.