U.S. Visitor Visa Refusals for South Koreans Jump to 24.73%, While Issuance Falls

A sharp rise puts travel and business plans under pressure

The United States refused visitor visas to South Korean nationals at an adjusted rate of 24.73% in fiscal 2025, up from 14.97% a year earlier, while the number of visitor visas issued fell by more than 3,000. The increase has prompted calls in Seoul to investigate whether tighter immigration screening and friction between the allies are making travel more difficult.

The U.S. Department of State's fiscal 2025 refusal table records South Korea's rate above Japan's 5.68%, Germany's 12.22%, France's 9.67% and China's 20.21%. The figures cover B visas, used for temporary business trips, tourism, medical treatment and family visits.

South Korea's increase was 9.76 percentage points. Put simply, the adjusted refusal rate rose from about 15 in every 100 applicants to about 25 in every 100. Relative to the previous rate, that was an increase of roughly 65%.

The reporting period matters: fiscal 2025 ran from October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025. It therefore covered several months before President Donald Trump returned to office, as well as most of the first year of his second administration.

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which submitted information to People Power Party Representative Kim Dai-sik, has pointed to stricter U.S. immigration policies as a possible explanation. The exact reasons for the national increase remain unknown, the ministry said, because it lacks detailed information about the refusals.

For families and businesses, the practical concern is straightforward. A refused visa can interrupt a planned visit, prevent attendance at negotiations or complicate arrangements to send personnel to the United States.

What the adjusted refusal rate measures

The State Department labels its figure an adjusted refusal rate. It measures the final outcome for applicants during the fiscal year, accounting for cases in which an initial refusal was later resolved and a visa was issued.

The calculation subtracts refusals that applicants subsequently overcame from total refusals, then divides that result by issuances plus the remaining refusals. Each applicant counts once during the fiscal year according to the final status of the case.

An applicant who initially receives a refusal but later supplies information that resolves the problem may finish the year counted among those issued a visa. The published percentage therefore describes final outcomes rather than every refusal decision made along the way.

South Korea's 24.73% figure covers nationals applying for B visas worldwide. Many other South Korean visitors travel through the Visa Waiver Program, using authorization through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, for eligible visits of up to 90 days.

The B visa applicant group includes people seeking longer visits and people unable to use that program. Certain travel histories involving countries such as Iran, Cuba or North Korea can affect eligibility for visa waiver travel, depending on the applicable rules and exceptions.

How unusual was the increase?

South Korea's refusal rate had stayed between roughly 14% and 18% from fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2024. It stood at 18.03% in 2021, 17.38% in 2022, 14.44% in 2023 and 14.97% in 2024 before jumping to 24.73%.

The longer series shows that fiscal 2025 was the highest rate since the current calculation began in fiscal 2012. The lowest rate during that period was 7.69% in fiscal 2019, making the latest figure more than three times that level. An earlier peak of 21.20% came in fiscal 2014.

Figures before fiscal 2012 used a different calculation, so the most useful historical comparison begins with that change in methodology. The pattern since then includes both earlier periods of high refusals and several years below 10%.

Japan and China fell as South Korea rose

Japan's adjusted refusal rate declined from 5.76% in fiscal 2024 to 5.68% in fiscal 2025. China's fell from 25.37% to 20.21%. South Korea's rate was therefore more than four times Japan's and 4.52 percentage points above China's.

Other countries also recorded increases, although the changes cited were smaller than South Korea's. Britain's rate rose by 2.41 percentage points to 20.44%, France's increased by 1.17 points to 9.67%, and Taiwan's climbed by 4.23 points to 9.45%.

New Zealand and Norway moved in the opposite direction. Their rates fell by 0.85 and 3.26 percentage points respectively, ending fiscal 2025 at 21.94% and 16.18%. Germany recorded 12.22%, while India and Vietnam recorded 22.04% and 22.08%.

The wider State Department table puts the comparisons in perspective. Ireland's rate was 25.12%, slightly above South Korea's. Across 197 nationality entries, South Korea ranked 114th when ordered from the highest refusal rate, and its rate was 6.55 percentage points below the median of 31.28%.

South Korea's most striking feature was its sharp increase and its position relative to several major partners. Countries also have different applicant populations, especially where many routine visitors can travel without obtaining a B visa.

Fewer visas issued, more paperwork reported

The number of U.S. visitor visas issued to South Korean nationals fell from 15,508 in fiscal 2024 to 12,226 in fiscal 2025. That was a decrease of 3,282 visas, or about 21.2%, reversing growth in issuance since 2022.

The issuance count and refusal rate describe different parts of the process: one counts visas granted, while the other measures the share of final applicant outcomes ending in refusal. Together, they show fewer visas issued alongside a higher rate of unsuccessful applications.

Nam Jong-beom, a U.S. immigration attorney at SN Law Firm, described growing difficulties for ordinary applicants, while saying employees of large companies generally faced fewer problems. He also described greater demands for supporting documents and difficulties obtaining approval after a previous refusal.

The required documentation has expanded, and reapplication after a prior rejection rarely succeeds.

B1 visas commonly cover activities such as negotiating contracts and attending business meetings. Certain equipment servicing or training activities may qualify under specific conditions. B2 visas cover purposes including tourism, medical treatment and visits to relatives. Permission depends on the activity and circumstances, particularly when a trip involves work at an industrial site.

The Georgia raid falls near the end of the reporting year

U.S. immigration authorities raided battery plant construction sites involving Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution in Georgia on September 4, 2025, detaining more than 300 South Korean workers. The operation brought the status of personnel dispatched by Korean companies into public focus.

U.S. authorities were reported to suspect that some companies used visitor visas or other temporary travel arrangements to send people for activities requiring different authorization. For companies building factories, the central issue is whether the actual work performed matches the conditions attached to a person's admission.

The chronology places the raid within the final month of the statistical year:

• October 1, 2024: The fiscal 2025 visa reporting period began.
• July 2025: A South Korean special counsel team searched Osan Air Base without advance notice to U.S. forces, prompting a U.S. military protest.
• September 4, 2025: Immigration authorities detained more than 300 South Korean workers at battery construction sites in Georgia.
• September 30, 2025: The fiscal 2025 visa reporting period ended.

The Georgia operation occurred after more than 11 months of the reporting period had passed. Understanding the annual jump therefore requires examining screening and decisions across the full year, including the months before the raid.

Businesses face a concrete planning problem: a visitor visa suitable for meetings may carry different conditions from permission needed to perform work at a construction or manufacturing site. The Georgia detentions made that question urgent for Korean investment projects in the United States.

Diplomatic tensions bring competing explanations

South Korean officials and lawmakers have offered different explanations for the increase. The Foreign Ministry has focused on immigration becoming a more contentious political issue inside the United States and the possibility of stricter screening.

Kim Dai-sik, the People Power Party representative who obtained the ministry's information, called for an examination of whether bilateral policy changes had affected decisions.

We must thoroughly investigate whether changes in the South Korean government's diplomatic and defense policies toward the U.S. and shifts in Korea-U.S. relations have influenced visa rejections.

Park In-hwi, a professor in Ewha Womans University's International Studies Department, has suggested that the Trump administration's immigration policies and disputes such as the Osan search may both have played a role. Trade and security negotiations also strained relations during 2025.

Other disputes developed after the visa reporting period, including disagreements involving Coupang and restrictions on intelligence sharing following Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's remarks about a suspected uranium enrichment facility in Kusong, North Korea.

National Intelligence Service chief Lee Jong-seok later acknowledged that Washington had curtailed some sensitive intelligence sharing. Parliamentary scrutiny also exposed concerns about access to senior White House officials, placing visa difficulties within a broader debate about communication between the allies.

Official travelers face a separate set of difficulties

Visa problems have also affected South Korean officials. Representative Jung Chung-rae changed to a European parliamentary audit team after his visa for an official visit to Washington was not issued in time. Visas for National Intelligence Service personnel assigned to Washington were also delayed.

Representative Jin Sung-joon, chair of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, initially received a refusal for an A-2 visa, the category used by foreign officials traveling on government business. U.S. officials requested records relating to his 1991 conviction under South Korea's National Security Act. He was pardoned in 1995.

Jin's visa was issued after South Korea's defense and foreign ministers raised the matter with their U.S. counterparts. He then departed for Hawaii to lead a bipartisan delegation to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. His case involved an official visa category, while the annual 24.73% statistic covers B visitor visas.

Foreign Minister Cho Hyun described U.S. visa measures as "a bit haphazard" and said U.S. representatives themselves sometimes could not explain or resolve the problems. Robert Rapson, a former acting U.S. ambassador to South Korea, said faster action could have prevented the public controversy.

Shin Ji-min, an immigration attorney at Shin Law in New York, offered a screening explanation for difficulties involving officials.

With identity and security screening strengthened under the second Trump administration, there is a possibility that checks on past activities or records will become stricter even for official visas.

A senior South Korean presidential official took a different view from politicians connecting the cases to broader disputes, saying visa matters should be handled separately. The immediate policy task is to obtain clearer explanations of screening practices and keep business, family and official travel predictable.

Key Points

• South Korea's adjusted U.S. B visa refusal rate rose to 24.73% in fiscal 2025 from 14.97% in fiscal 2024.
• The reporting period ran from October 2024 through September 2025.
• Visitor visas issued to South Koreans fell by 3,282, or about 21.2%, to 12,226.
• Japan and China recorded falling refusal rates, while Britain, France and Taiwan recorded smaller increases than South Korea.
• The Georgia immigration raid occurred in the final month of the reporting period.
• South Korean officials have cited tighter screening and called for investigation into possible diplomatic factors; the exact causes remain unknown.