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← Airport entry refusal

Airport legal assistance

USD 3,300 · Up to 3 hours of attorney work

When intake is open, you can sign the agreement and pay with PayPal online without contacting the office first. Contact options at each step are available if you need help.

  1. Prepare
  2. Details & signature
  3. PayPal payment
  4. Email documents

Admission, suspension of return and other outcomes are not guaranteed. Airport attendance, interpretation and litigation require a separate agreement.

1. Documents to prepare

Start with records showing the refusal reason and existing evidence addressing it. Do not delay checking current availability while collecting every item. Start with the records you already have.

This is a preparation guide for attorney review, not an official mandatory airport checklist. Not every item is needed, and no document guarantees admission. No files are transmitted at this step.

Five priorities to prepare first

  1. The complete refusal notice: include both sides and the marked reason. Whether or not you signed, record notification, signing and any objection submission times separately. Keep objection instructions, applications and decisions received. If there is no notice, write down the words you were told and when.
  2. Separate three flight records: your flight into Korea, your originally planned departure and any newly assigned return flight after refusal. Give the airline, flight number, airport, terminal, date, time and time zone. Keep both booking confirmations and issued e-tickets. Mark departures from Korea in Korean time (KST).
  3. Your passport identity page and existing visa or entry authorization: initially prepare relevant pages, masking passport numbers, the machine-readable zone (MRZ), barcodes, QR codes and other unique IDs. If available, also check your submitted arrival declaration and the purpose and accommodation stated in your visa application. Do not send the entire passport; the office will explain any further identification needed.
  4. One factual memo: record the timeline from arrival, your actual purpose, accommodation, people you will meet, who pays, planned departure, inspection questions and your actual answers. Note the interpreter’s language and anything you did not understand. Mark unknown facts as “unknown”.
  5. The strongest existing record addressing the disputed reason: choose the relevant categories below. For example, use actual bookings and plans for a questioned tourism purpose, relationship and invitation records for a questioned host, or evidence of the real payer and available funds for funding concerns.

Open only the categories relevant to your case. Tell us when a record is unavailable or cannot be obtained.

Tourism, accommodation or itinerary questioned

These records help check where you actually planned to stay, what you planned to do and whether existing bookings match your answers.

  • Records of accommodation booked before arrival: show the original booking date, guest name, actual address, check-in and check-out dates, current booking status and any payment receipt. If a confirmation was reissued later, distinguish the original booking date from its reissue date.
  • A realistic daily itinerary: list cities, transport and places to visit, linked to existing activity, event or transport bookings. Distinguish confirmed bookings from plans.
  • If plans changed, keep the original booking, change or cancellation confirmation, the date of the change and the real reason. If companions arrived separately, explain their flights and meeting plans.

More bookings do not automatically make the case stronger. Do not create bookings you do not intend to use or present new records as if they existed earlier.

Visiting family, a friend, a partner or a host

These records help establish whom you are visiting, why, where you will stay and who will pay.

  • A dated confirmation signed by the actual host: give the host’s name, relationship and how you met, visit dates and purpose, accommodation address and actual arrangements, costs covered, and a telephone number and time to reach the host now. Distinguish prior visit plans from support newly offered now.
  • If the relationship is disputed, prepare the relevant marriage, birth or family record, or selected dated communications and meeting records. Do not send unrelated family members’ information or entire chat histories.
  • For joint bookings or travel with others, document the actual relationship, who booked and paid, each person’s itinerary and plans to meet or leave. If the host pays, also see the funding records below.

An invitation does not ensure admission. The host’s account must also be truthful and consistent with existing records.

Business, events, study, treatment or urgent family visits

These records help verify the actual purpose, dates and relevant people or organisations.

  • Business or events: prepare the counterpart’s invitation and business details, meeting agenda, date, location, contact person, original emails and event registration or attendance confirmation.
  • Study or training: prepare actual admission or enrolment confirmation, course content, dates, location, organiser contact, payment receipts and pre-trip correspondence. The appropriate immigration status for the activity must be checked separately.
  • Treatment: prepare records confirming the appointment was booked before the trip, its original booking date, scheduled date and time, purpose, clinic contact and any deposit receipt. Send health or treatment records only after the office identifies what is needed and addresses separate consent.
  • A funeral or critically ill family member: only where genuinely applicable, prepare evidence of the death or funeral arrangements, or the relevant condition, plus proof of the relationship. Exclude unrelated medical history.

Evidence of a purpose does not replace a required visa or permission to work. Describe the activities you actually intend to undertake.

Available funds or the person paying questioned

These records help establish the funds actually available for the trip, their source and the real payer.

  • Self-funded travel: prepare a bank statement or balance record showing your name, date, currency and balance, with relevant salary or transfer entries where needed. Mask account numbers while retaining the dates, amounts and parties needed for review.
  • Family or host funding: prepare a statement identifying who covers which costs and for how long, the relationship, actual payment or transfer records and relevant evidence of the payer’s ability to cover those costs.

This is not a universal minimum-balance or statement-period requirement. Never send passwords, one-time codes or full card numbers.

Concerns about work, extended stay or plans to leave

These records help show your actual ties outside Korea and return arrangements. If you live outside your country of nationality, use records for the country you actually intend to return to.

  • Work: prepare current employment confirmation, approved leave dates, the expected return-to-work date and a verifiable employer contact. For your own business, select records of its actual operation and commitments requiring your return.
  • Study: prepare enrolment, term dates and classes or examinations requiring your return. Where relevant, records of residence, immigration status, caregiving or other continuing commitments may also help.
  • Prepare your originally issued departure ticket and any evidence of permission to enter the next destination. Distinguish plans made after inspection from your original plans.
  • If repeated visits are questioned, list each prior entry date, departure date, length of stay and actual purpose, supported by existing flight or travel records. Visit counts alone do not determine compliance.

Employment or a return ticket alone does not guarantee admission. Do not create employment or leave confirmations that misrepresent your circumstances.

Inconsistent answers, misunderstandings or interpretation issues

These records help identify the disputed answer and whether existing evidence explains a misunderstanding or discrepancy.

  • For each issue, record: question asked / answer actually given / meaning understood through interpretation / factual correction / reason for the difference / supporting record. Identify any uncertainty in your memory.
  • Prepare existing bookings, dated emails or messages and host confirmations that allow the answer to be checked against the facts. Selected messages should retain dates, senders and the necessary surrounding context.
  • Keep originals and add translations or notes separately. Do not delete unfavourable material or change your account; tell the attorney about conflicting evidence too.

The purpose is to explain the facts, including contradictions, rather than erase earlier answers or coordinate a new account.

Relevant previous refusal, immigration violation or criminal matter

These records help establish what was actually decided, the reasons and outcome, and any later action.

  • Prepare the actual notices or decisions concerning a previous refusal, departure order, deportation or other relevant measure, including reasons and dates, payment records for applicable penalties and evidence of actual departure.
  • For a relevant criminal matter, prepare the applicable judgment, summary order or non-prosecution decision and reasons showing the underlying facts and outcome. Identify relevant settlement, compensation or payment records, subsequent changes, and dates of prior lawful short visits where needed.

No conviction, an acquittal or payment of a fine does not by itself establish that an entry restriction has ended. Confirm the necessary scope and separate consent before sending sensitive criminal or health records.

Transit, Jeju visa-free entry or the travel route questioned

These records help compare your actual route with the entry conditions you were relying on.

  • Prepare issued tickets for every segment from origin to final destination, connection airports, terminals and times, and any airline instructions about baggage transfers.
  • Prepare visas or residence permissions for the onward destination and the exact exemption or official guidance you relied on. Describe any intended travel between Jeju and other parts of Korea.

Transit and visa-free conditions require individual review of the route and circumstances. Do not assume permission to enter Jeju permits travel elsewhere in Korea.

An airline’s demand for a new ticket or return costs

These records help establish who requested payment, what was requested, the stated basis and whether you paid.

  • Prepare the original return ticket and fare terms, the newly offered flight and fare quotation, invoices, receipts and payment records. Distinguish reservations from issued or paid tickets.
  • Keep return instructions from the airline or immigration authority, the date and time of the request, the department or contact person and the communication. Preserve original messages or emails where available.

These records support review of the basis and conditions of the demand. Providing them does not automatically waive or refund airfare.

How to organise the email after payment

After signing and paying, email info@kimnhyun.com with your case reference in the subject. Using the email address from your application helps us match the records. Select and send attachments in your email service; case document files are not uploaded to this website.

  • Suggested filenames: 01-notice, 02-flights, 03-visit-purpose, 04-interview-notes, 05-supporting-records. Keep originals and organise copies.
  • Send existing readable photos, PDFs or other records with relevant contents and dates visible, plus a short Korean or English explanation. You do not need to translate or notarise everything before initial review; the office will identify any further translation needed.
  • Mask national ID, passport and alien registration numbers and unnecessary information about other people. Confirm the scope and separate consent with the office before sending sensitive health or criminal records.
  • If appropriate, use password-protected attachments and share the password through a separate contact method, not in the same email. Ordinary email is not inherently more secure.
  • Do not backdate or fabricate records. Distinguish existing bookings from later plans and label unknown facts as unknown. Sending an email is separate from the office confirming receipt.

Factual memo for the email body

Case reference:
Current airport and terminal / how to reach you:
Refusal notification time and reason given:
Assigned return flight and departure time (KST), or “unknown”:
Actual visit purpose, dates, accommodation and host:
Who pays / originally planned departure:
Disputed question and actual answer / interpretation language:
Discrepancy to explain and the supporting file:
Unavailable records and facts not yet confirmed:

After signing and paying, email the necessary records to info@kimnhyun.com. The office checks the case reference and the records actually received.

The attorney reviews the refusal grounds and supporting or conflicting evidence and provides initial assistance, including one principal response document, within the agreed scope and time limit. Not every submission procedure is available in every case. Raising an objection does not automatically suspend return. Admission or stopping return is not guaranteed.

Basis and reference: Immigration Act, Article 12 · Korean Embassy in Nigeria: entry-refusal guidance. These preparation examples draw on official guidance and individual case materials; they are not a uniform mandatory airport checklist. Reviewed: 28 September 2026.

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Privacy and international transfers
Airport legal assistance privacy notice (2026-09-28)

1. Controller and rights
Kim & Hyun Law Office; privacy contact: Attorney Kim Hyun-jung. 502, East Wing, Jeonggok Building, 16 Beobwon-ro, Seocho-gu, Seoul. info@kimnhyun.com / +82 2 3477 7600. Request access, correction, deletion, restriction or withdrawal of consent. We verify identity and explain any legal retention requirement.

2. Information and purposes
Email and authentication records protect access to your application. Traveler and signer names, authority, contact, airport, inspection stage, return time, language, visit purpose and related parties support conflict checks and legal review. Agreement text, typed signature, consent notice, server timestamp, agreement hash, payment reference and verification status, documents and file metadata support representation, evidence and refunds. Website providers process IP/browser information and login storage. Case records are not used for advertising targeting, AI training or public case stories.

3. Minimisation and separate consent
Consent to ordinary processing and international transfers separately before requesting a login email. Do not upload case documents to the website. After payment, email them directly to info@kimnhyun.com with your case reference. Submit health or criminal information only where necessary and with separate consent. Mask national ID, passport and alien registration numbers in initial documents. If originals are needed, the attorney will explain a separate procedure. Provide others' records only with lawful authority.

4. Retention and deletion
The office retention standard for contract, payment, consent and work records is five years after closure; unnecessary sensitive detail is excluded. Submitted files should be removed within 90 days of work ending; applications that do not proceed within 90 days of final handling; test records within seven days. Records needed for a legal duty or ongoing dispute are kept separately until that reason ends. Staff reviews expired records monthly. Provider backups, security and delivery logs follow contractual deletion cycles; deleting operational data does not instantly erase every copy.

5. Processors and international transfers (separate consent)
Supabase Pte. Ltd., privacy@supabase.com: email/authentication, case particulars, agreement, consent and payment-verification records are stored in the Tokyo, Japan project. New case documents are not uploaded to this web store. Previously uploaded files and metadata remain subject to existing access controls and retention standards. Encrypted transfers occur at login, submission and access for authentication and private case administration. Office retention standards and provider backup-deletion terms apply. Support/security processing follows its DPA and subprocessor list; this is not a promise of Japan-only processing.
Vercel Inc., privacy@vercel.com: in the United States and its service network, web requests, connection information and submitted agreement and case particulars are processed to provide pages and intake APIs. New file uploads are disabled. Access to previously stored files involves permission checks and issuing download links. Encrypted transfers occur at access/submission. Supabase is the long-term web intake record store; provider security/operational logs follow its retention policy.
Plus Five Five, Inc. (Resend), support@resend.com: in the United States, email address, authentication link/code and delivery records are processed to send login mail. Office alerts contain only a case reference and administrator link, not case text or attachments. Encrypted transfers occur when authentication or notification is requested. Delivery records follow provider contractual retention/deletion terms.
You may refuse these transfers. Online login and engagement submission would then be unavailable; call the office to discuss another way to engage us. Case document emails travel directly from your email service to the office mailbox, not through this website's Resend delivery function. Sending and receiving email services also process email transmission and storage.

6. PayPal
PayPal processes account, card and payment details you enter directly on its checkout under its own privacy policy. The office does not collect card numbers or your PayPal password; it retains transaction references and verification records. Check the checkout and policy applicable to your account/country for the PayPal entity, processing countries and retention. Signing alone does not complete payment or guarantee admission.

7. Choices and protection
Refusal of consent prevents online intake but does not prevent a general telephone inquiry. Cases with no sensitive information do not require sensitive records. Web-stored contracts and existing files are not published; access-controlled temporary download links are used. Check the recipient address and case reference before emailing documents. If needed, use encrypted attachments and send the password through a separate contact channel. Opening the email composer does not send files or confirm receipt. Case information is not sent as advertising conversion data from this intake screen.

Provider policies: https://supabase.com/privacy · https://supabase.com/legal/customer-resources/data-processing-addendum · https://vercel.com/legal/dpa · https://resend.com/legal/privacy-policy · https://www.paypal.com/kr/legalhub/privacy-full

Mask national ID, passport and alien registration numbers before submission.