British Embassy in Seoul

Out-of-hours emergency assistanceBritish nationals who need emergency assistance outside normal office hours should call +82 (0)2 3210 5500 where they will be given details on how to proceed to contact Consular staff at the Global Response Centre. They will be able to offer advice on urgent issues.

Make a Consular appointment
For all notarial and documentary services, you need to make an appointment. You can do so by visiting our Clickbook.

Emergency travel documents
An emergency travel document enables British nationals abroad whose passport is lost/stolen or unavailable because it is being renewed or has been sent for visa application, to make a single or return journey to the UK or another country of residence, via a maximum of five transit countries.

Passport renewal
For information on how to apply for your first passport or renew an existing passport, please visit the overseas passport section of this website.

Please note that our embassy cannot deal with individual enquiries about passport applications.

Visas
For information on whether you require a visa for the United Kingdom and how to apply, go to the UK Border Agency website.

Please note that our embassy cannot deal with individual enquiries about visa applications. For all visa enquiries, please contact the UK Border Agency or VFS Global South Korea.

Notarial and documentary services
Information about official documents, certificates available at British Embassy in South Korea. UK law says we have to charge for some services. See our list of consular fees.

Registering a birth or death
Information on how you can register a birth or death which occurred overseas.

List of lawyers and interpreters
A list of English speaking lawyers, translators and interpreters who may be able to help you with official translations in Korea. Please note that inclusion in this list does not constitute official endorsement by the British Embassy or the UK government.

Prisoner pack
Korea - Prisoner Pack explanation of the legal and prison system to British nationals.

Travel advice
Travel advice for Korea: Information, news and updates to ensure you stay safe, avoid problems, and make informed decisions when living or travelling in Korea.

Living in South Korea
We also produce a guide for British nationals who live in South Korea who need information about services that are not provided by our Embassy, but that you may find useful in specific circumstances.

How else we can help

In addition to the services listed above we can also:

• provide information about transferring funds

• provide appropriate help if you have suffered rape or serious assault, are a victim of other crime, or are in hospital

• help people with mental illness

• do all we properly can to contact you within 24 hours of being told that you have been detained

• offer support and help in a range of other cases, such as child abductions, death of relatives overseas, missing people and kidnapping

• contact family or friends for you if you want

• make special arrangements in cases of terrorism, civil disturbances or natural disasters

UK law says we have to charge for some services. Details of our current fees and the standards of service you can expect to receive are on display in all our consular offices. (If you want to pay by credit card you can use our Credit Card Authorisation Form)

What our consulates cannot do for you

Although we try to help British nationals in a wide range of situations, we cannot:

• get you out of prison, prevent the local authorities from deporting you after your prison sentence, or interfere in criminal or civil court proceedings

• help you enter a country, for example, if you do not have a visa or your passport is not valid, as we cannot interfere in another country’s immigration policy or procedures

• give you legal advice, investigate crimes or carry out searches for missing people, although we can give you details of people who may be able to help you in these cases, such as English-speaking lawyers

• get you better treatment in hospital or prison than is given to local people

• pay any bills or give you money (in very exceptional circumstances we may lend you some money from public funds, which you will have to pay back)

• make travel arrangements for you, or find you work or accommodation

• make business arrangements on your behalf