The U.S. FBI website has all the information they thought we needed to get our FBI Criminal Background Check for our E2 visa renewals. However, having gone through the process, with WAY too many bumps and frustrations along the way, I have chosen to make a guide to help others out. If my miserable experience will help even one person to avoid going through the same, I think it was worth it. SO, feel free to share this with your friends, co-workers, acquaintances, etc. (Anyone you think might benefit from it.)

Things I have learned:

*If the person (giving me the info) didn’t experience it himself, DON’T LISTEN TO IT! Word of mouth is a great way to get information in Korea. However, I was given too much misinformation by too many different people whom had not actually done it themselves. They simply “heard” that’s how to do it.

*NOT waiting until the last minute is best. You WON’T likely be able to get this done in one day. The paperwork states that it will take 4-6 weeks to process.

HELPFUL phone numbers:

US Embassy 02-397-4114 (Seoul) M-F 8:30a-4:30pm

Seoul Global Center (for those of you who know me personally, I call these folks my “phone friends”) 02-120 dial 9 then 1 for English. This line is amazing and will make your life easier! They can translate for you, look stuff up (bus info, subway info, costs, doctor locations, etc.)

Korea Tourism Organization (can do the same as the Seoul Global Center but not as friendly–in my opinion): 02-1330 dial 2 for English

• Print & fill out the application form. You cannot save an edited copy so scan and save it if you want a copy for your own records.
• Go to the embassy/consular and get (I recommend 2) Fingerprint card. There is an office is BUSAN and in SEOUL. The “fingerprint card” link is on the website. If you absolutely cannot make it to Busan or Seoul for the card, I recommend VERIFYING with the consulate that printing and using that (linked above) form will be ok.
• Go to a major police station in your area. Since you likely won’t know where that is. I recommend calling one of the two helplines I mention in this blog. 02-1330 or 02-120. Tell them where you are located and that you need to find a DISTRICT POLICE OFFICE or the local CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION OFFICE.   This service is free.  I would get 2 sets just to be safe. There are pretty strict requirements about the quality, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
• Fill out the Credit card payment form for payment. You CAN send an $18 (US) cashier’s check but I haven’t been able to find any place (even banks) that do CASHIER’S CHECKS. To be on the safe side, use the credit card form.
• OPTION 1: Snail mail Now take the fingerprint card(s), the application form, the credit card payment form, and an envelope with your current address (in Korea). It can be in English/Romanized or written in Korean. Go to the DISTRICT POST OFFICE. Again, if you don’t know where this is in your area, call the numbers mentioned above. You’ll need to go on a WEEKDAY as they don’t do the international return stamp on the weekends. Tell them you want: 반신권 (Pan Shin Gwan) —Return service– They will give you a large international stamp. It costs 1,100 won.  Mine looked like this: 

Place it into your return addressed envelope.  You can mail it regular mail, which will cost about 1,030 won; or you can EMS it, which will costs about 16,500 won. Regular mail will take 7-15 days and EMS will take 3-5 days.

• Option 2:  IF you have a FedEx account, you can have the results sent back via FedEx by entering your FedEx account number on the application form.
• Option 3: IF you do NOT have a FedEx account but want to use FedEx. You must go to a HUB FedEx location and create an account. I was TOLD this is easy — since I didn’t do it myself (see my blunder blog if you want to know the story),  I cannot speak with authority on this. I do know that FedEx tends to be much quicker but also a lot more expensive. It depends on what options suit your needs best.

• Results The paperwork says that the processing time is 4-6 weeks. If you use snail mail, you can expect 2 weeks there and 2 weeks back, for a total of 8-12 weeks. Yea, 2 months!

If that is not enough information, here is the FBI Checklist  posted on their site.

Best wishes in your future endeavors! I hope this guide helps! Feel free to pass it on.

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Apparently, there is yet more!! I got this information from: www.thewaygookeffect.com

The State Department explicitly says this:

Please include a cover-letter ( see example) with your name, telephone number, address and email address. Please indicate the name of the country where the document will be used. We suggest using a self-addressed stamped envelope for faster return of your documents. Documents received without a return envelope and postage will be returned through the State Department regular mail, which can result in a 2-3 week delay. You can use Fed/Ex, UPS, and express mail services for faster receipt/return of your documents. However, you must enclose a prepaid airbill and envelope.

Mail to: