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The US visa refusal rate for South Koreans applying for B-1/B-2 visitor visas jumped to 24.73 percent in fiscal 2025, up from 14.97 percent the year before, according to State Department figures. That is the largest increase among 14 major US travel partners compared below, and it falls on the Koreans who cannot use the visa-free ESTA route, a group that includes many of the engineers and technicians Korean companies send to build and service their American plants.
The figure surfaced Oct. 26 in Seoul, when Korea JoongAng Daily reported data the Foreign Ministry gave Rep. Kim Dai-sik of the opposition People Power Party. The newspaper called it the highest rate since comparable records began in 2020. It matters because Seoul and Washington spent the past year trying to repair business travel after the Sept. 4, 2025, raid at the Hyundai-LG battery site in Ellabell, Georgia, where about 300 South Koreans were arrested, many of them on B-1 visas or ESTA authorizations.
Who still applies for a visa in Seoul
Most South Koreans never see a consular officer. Korea joined the Visa Waiver Program in 2008, so ordinary tourists and business visitors stay up to 90 days on an ESTA. The people who apply for a B visa are largely the ones ESTA does not cover: travelers whose ESTA was denied, those with an earlier visa refusal or immigration violation, people who have been to Iran, North Korea, Syria or another listed country since 2011 (or Cuba since 2021), and anyone who needs to stay longer than 90 days.
That pool is weighted toward harder cases, which is why Britain (20.44 percent) and Australia (22.93 percent) also post high rates. Korea stands out on movement, not level.
| Country | Visa Waiver Program | FY2024 | FY2025 | Change (points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Korea | Yes | 14.97% | 24.73% | +9.76 |
| Taiwan | Yes | 5.22% | 9.45% | +4.23 |
| Israel | Yes | 8.64% | 11.32% | +2.68 |
| United Kingdom | Yes | 18.03% | 20.44% | +2.41 |
| Australia | Yes | 20.67% | 22.93% | +2.26 |
| Germany | Yes | 10.02% | 12.22% | +2.20 |
| France | Yes | 8.50% | 9.67% | +1.17 |
| Poland | Yes | 10.99% | 11.63% | +0.64 |
| Japan | Yes | 5.76% | 5.68% | -0.08 |
| Mexico | No | 13.87% | 21.36% | +7.49 |
| India | No | 16.32% | 22.04% | +5.72 |
| Philippines | No | 28.33% | 30.76% | +2.43 |
| Vietnam | No | 22.12% | 22.08% | -0.04 |
| China | No | 25.37% | 20.21% | -5.16 |
ESTA is not the thing at risk
The waiver statute, 8 U.S.C. 1187(c)(2)(A), generally requires a visitor visa refusal rate under 3 percent for a new member. For a country already in the program, the continuing test in section 1187(c)(3) looks instead at its travelers at the border and after entry: the share refused admission or found to have violated the terms of their stay must stay under 2 percent. Consular refusals in Seoul do not feed that number, so the jump does not by itself threaten visa-free travel for most Koreans.
The practical exposure is narrower and costlier. A refused applicant who later seeks an ESTA must disclose the refusal, which can push the next trip back to the consulate. For companies, a one-in-four refusal rate turns business travel into a scheduling risk. After the Georgia raid, the US confirmed in working-level talks that B-1 visitors and ESTA travelers may install, service and repair foreign-purchased equipment at their companies’ US plants, and the two governments agreed to open a Korean Investor Desk at the US Embassy in Seoul, The Korea Times reported in October 2025. Those changes clarify what a visitor may do once admitted. They do not lower the bar for getting the visa.
Reading the cause from the data
The Foreign Ministry told lawmakers the US does not disclose reasons for refusals and that it presumes tighter screening, according to JoongAng, which also noted speculation in Seoul linking the rise to the Georgia raid and to strains over tariffs and intelligence sharing. The table argues for caution on the raid theory. Fiscal 2025 ended on Sept. 30, 2025, less than four weeks after the raid, so the arrests can explain little of a full-year figure. Refusal rates also rose in 11 of the 14 countries listed, including Mexico and India by more than five points, which points to broader tightening rather than a Korea-specific policy. What sets Korea apart is the size of the move, and the data released so far does not explain it.
The political reach is already visible. JoongAng reported that one ruling Democratic Party lawmaker had to switch parliamentary inspection teams after failing to obtain a US visa, and that another senior party figure’s planned October trip fell through amid visa concerns.
The fuller test comes with the fiscal 2026 tables, the first to cover a whole year after the raid and the B-1 clarification. They will also show whether the 23 percent drop in US visa issuance early in fiscal 2026 reached Seoul, alongside this fall’s ESTA fee increase and more than 300,000 visa revocations since January 2025. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the visa changes apply globally; the refusal tables are the clearest public measure of whether that holds.
This article is for general information and is not legal advice.
Sources
- State Department, Adjusted Refusal Rate, B-Visas Only, by Nationality, Fiscal Year 2025
- State Department, Adjusted Refusal Rate, B-Visas Only, by Nationality, Fiscal Year 2024
- Korea JoongAng Daily, U.S. rejects record one in four Korean visitor visa applicants (Oct. 26, 2026)
- The Korea Times, Korean firms breathe sigh of relief after Seoul-Washington visa talks (Oct. 1, 2025)
- PolitiFact, reporting on the Sept. 4, 2025, Hyundai site raid and B-1 visa rules
- 8 U.S.C. 1187, Visa Waiver Program for certain visitors
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