VisaFormer South Korean nationals should check criminal-record exemptions before ordering a US background check
A current-rule guide separates nationality-loss reporting, the criminal-record exemption and federal apostille steps for U.S. applicants.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Check the nationality record before the visa application
Former South Korean nationals who became U.S. citizens should check their Korean nationality record before preparing an Overseas Korean F-4 visa application. This guide focuses on that first-generation route, using New York's published visa checklist. Descendants applying through a parent or grandparent need a different set of relationship records.
The Korean consulate's nationality guidance explains that a Korean national who voluntarily naturalises abroad loses Korean nationality on acquisition, even if the loss has not yet been reported. Reporting records an event that has already happened; leaving the report unfiled does not preserve citizenship. The reporting pack includes the form, recent photograph, valid U.S. passport and naturalisation certificate, with originals available for verification and copies for submission. If several foreign citizenships were acquired successively, the guidance says to document the first acquisition. Check the receiving consulate's requirements for the report.
Separate the visa evidence from the criminal-record exemption
New York's F-4 checklist requires the visa application, passport valid for more than six months, a recent colour photograph, applicable citizenship and name-change evidence, and the Korean Basic Certificate reflecting nationality loss. It lists USD45 for U.S. citizens, payable by cash or money order. Confirm current local payment and submission arrangements before filing.
For applicants not exempt, it requires an original FBI Identity History Summary issued within six months before the visa application, with a federal apostille. A state apostille is expressly not accepted for that federal record. Its listed exemptions include people aged sixty or older, children under thirteen and specified recognised contributors or patriots and bereaved family members. Former Korean nationality alone is not listed as an exemption from this criminal-record requirement. Establish whether the exemption actually applies before ordering a paid check.
Request the FBI record with matching identity information
The FBI's own instructions explain direct electronic and mail requests and the separate option of an approved private channeler. The direct Identity History Summary costs USD18 per person; paying extra to the FBI does not buy faster service. Channelers can charge additional fees and have eligibility restrictions, including U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residence and physical presence in U.S. territory.
For a mailed request, submit the applicant information form, fingerprints and payment. The name on the fingerprint card must match the application. Poor-quality fingerprints can cause rejection or delay. The FBI accepts ink or live-scan fingerprints, but a live-scan submission mailed to it still needs a hard-copy fingerprint card. Follow the selected request method's instructions rather than mixing an online payment with an incomplete paper package. This is the record-request stage, not the later apostille or Korean visa decision.
Send a federal record through the federal apostille route
The State Department's apostille preparation page identifies FBI background checks as federal documents. It instructs applicants to use an original or certified copy carrying the relevant official signature, title, agency seal and issue date. It specifically warns against notarising the original document, because doing so invalidates it for that process.
For this application, keep the FBI record and federal apostille together. A notarised copy with a state-level certification is not the federal apostille New York's checklist requests. Check the document itself before sending it away: an incomplete or altered record can waste both the authentication fee and the time available within the visa checklist's six-month issue window.
Budget for authentication and leave time for both stages
The State Department's separate service instructions require Form DS-4194 naming the destination country, the document and a non-refundable USD20 fee per document. Mail requests use check or money order payable to the U.S. Department of State, with a prepaid return envelope. The page distinguishes that payment method from card or contactless payment for in-person service.
Its published mail target is five weeks after receipt, excluding the time needed to obtain the FBI record and deliver the visa application. Routine drop-off is a different service with its own hours and turnaround. Emergency appointments are reserved for qualifying urgent family circumstances, not simply an approaching planned move. Before paying for records, male former nationals should also ask the Korean mission to assess the military-service-related F-4 restrictions described in the embassy's separate guidance. Neither a clean FBI record nor an apostille resolves that eligibility question.
