In January, North Korea began loosening some of the restrictions on US tourists, allowing them to visit year-round in closely supervised tour groups. Now, according to Jaunted, the North Korean government has arranged for a “tourist train” to bring tourists over from China.  Tourists on the train will be taken on a four-day tour of the country (the maximum length of stay allowed by the North Korean government).

North Korea may hope to invite more tourists to visit with the tourist train, but foreigners of all nationalities should still expect an experience more reminiscent of a lockdown than a vacation if they choose to enter the country. The subarctic relations between North Korea and the US make the process of gaining admittance to North Korea even more arduous for Americans.

To catch the tourist train, you will need a North Korean visa.

Here’s what you will need to get one:

• 1 passport photo with a white background
• A  copy of the 1^st page of your passport
• 1 North Korean visa  application  form. On the form,  make sure to give  “tourism” as your reason for traveling.
• Luck.

Since the US and North Korea want nothing to do with each other,  there is no North Korean embassy in the US to accept your visa application. You won’t be able to apply for the visa until you arrive in China. Once you’re there, however, you can apply at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, China.  The process usually only takes a day, assuming that North Korea actually issues you a visa. To see how likely that is, you should contact the Permanent Representative of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the United Nations before you get your heart set on this particular destination. Here is his contact information:

The Permanent Representative of the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea to the United Nations
820 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Tel: (212) 972-3105
Fax: (212) 972-3154

The company that you arrange your tour with may also be able to help you with your visa, and may request that you forward your details several weeks in advance of your trip.

Of course, to take the train from China into North Korea, you also need a multiple-entry Chinese tourist visa. See Chinese Tourist Visa Requirements for details.

Due to the fact that the US has no North Korean Embassy, RushMyTravelVisa is unable to expedite a North Korean visa application for you. However, we can help expedite your visa to China, as well as helping you apply for other visas you may need for your trip.

Contact us for visa help today!

Tags: North Korea, North Korean visa

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Destinations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.