South Korea to introduce five-year visas to attract wealthy Chinese from January 2017

South Korea is all set to introduce five-year renewable visas from January 2017 to attract wealthy Chinese.

Named hallyu, the visa allows its holders to stay for up to 30 days any number of times. Eligible for it would be Chinese tourists who book specialised four-day travel packages, which cost $2,500 (17,350 yuan)

According to Ctrip, one of China’s leading tour operators, eligible for the visa would be only one percent of Chinese tourists.

South Korea expects the number of Chinese tourists visiting its shores to touch eight million in 2017, which would be an increase of 33 percent compared to 2016.

Xu Xiaolei, China Youth Travel Service Co’s spokesperson, was quoted by China Daily as saying that his company witnessed a reduction of around 20 to 30 percent in the number of Chinese visiting South Korea in the second half of 2016 when compared to the first half of the same year.

Xu was of the view that the new visa may attract people belonging to some of the second- and third-tier Chinese cities who would not need to provide more documents to obtain this visa.

If you are looking to travel to South Korea, contact Y-Axis to get professional help to file for a visa from one of its several offices located all over India.