Consulate General of the Republic of Korea — Local services in Houston

I never write reviews, but I had a terrible experience with the Korean Consulate General in Houston and wanted to share. They LOST my passport and the way the situation was handled was incredibly frustrating. A couple of weeks after my visa was approved, my passport had never been mailed back to me, and I began to worry since my departure date was coming up soon. I called the consulate and they claimed that they had mailed my passport back to me two weeks ago in the tracked express mail envelope I provided. They told me that the USPS must have never scanned it. I waited and waited and still no tracking updates, so I called and politely asked if they were absolutely sure it had been mailed, because the package was still not in USPS’s system. Instead of helping or checking for me, I was rudely told, “We don’t lie. We mailed your passport.” That response essentially shut me down, and no effort was made on their end to actually search for my missing passport. I was told to just get another passport. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and trusted that they mailed it.

Before getting a new passport, I turned my attention to the USPS to try and locate my passport. I opened a missing mail search request and even involved my senator’s office to help locate it. However, USPS confirmed multiple times that they had no record of ever receiving the package.

With my departure date quickly approaching, I had to delay my flight, applied for an emergency passport appointment, drove all the way to my closest passport agency (4 hours away!) and paid over $200 for a replacement passport. About a week later, I got a call from my local senators office that my passport had been located and the consulate had it the ENTIRE time!! They never mailed it. Only after my senator’s office contacted them and questioned them, did they suddenly “find” and ship my passport that SAME day, which had been at the consulate the WHOLE time, despite their claims otherwise. If they had checked weeks ago when I politely asked them, none of this would have ever happened. Instead, they just lazily told me to get a new passport, disregarding how long and expensive that process is. Meanwhile my passport was sitting at their office somewhere all along.

This whole ordeal caused me enormous stress, wasted time, money, and energy. I had to delay my flight and risked losing my job if I couldn’t arrive in time. The lack of accountability is appalling. Sensitive documents like passports should be handed directly to USPS to be scanned and logged, not just left in a drop box. They need better systems in place to ensure that passports are not lost again. Apparently my passport was marked as returned in their system when it wasn’t at all. This is not okay. Lost passports are a serious issue and it’s not something to be taken lightly. It can affect someone’s entire livelihood. Until improvements are made, expect unprofessional treatment and a lack of responsibility. Not all staff are at fault, but the way my passport was handled was very unprofessional and revealed serious gaps in oversight. I never, ever write reviews like this. I truly tried to give this consulate the benefit of the doubt, but this experience has been so beyond stressful and honestly, could have been avoided with just a little bit of responsibility and willingness to help. If someone would have just said “Sure, I’ll look around and see if I can find it here.” It would have changed everything. So please, NEVER mail them your passport, because there’s a good chance that they will lose it, blame it on the USPS, and not even try to look for it until you involve your senators office. Then they’ll magically find it after you already...

It took me 170 miles to drive here. So I came earlier than my appointment time and got in the office at 11:40 am. I have everything pre-ready so I can quickly go back home with another round of driving 170 miles. Then, this one lady working for the passport window told me that I have to re-fill the passport renewal form that I have already completed from home, then ask me to scan&print the old passport (which their site told me to bring the old passport itself. Nothing said they need a copy of the old one). While I was doing the scanning, she then tells me it’s 12 now, I have to come back at 1 PM when their lunch time ends. Now, I am just wondering around their building for a nothing. My good hour of time is wasted for nothing. I could have been gone to home already if she wasn’t lazy as old hen. There was literally no customer at all, I was the only one in there. What a great customer care professionalism. I would have never came here if there was only this place existed for either Dallas or Houston. If it was in Austin, I would never had to waste my time. I came here for my parent’s business and I am wasting my time for nothing. Great.

their website for English version never let you log in. I even called their office for a help, the male representative couldn’t even figure out how to resolve the issue. I actually ended up finding a way to log-in. So much technical issues with their website, never updates, it still has old forms up there they don’t even accept it anyways. Such a...

I renewed my entire family's passports here. I drove 3.5 hours from Austin but forgot some very important documents. Despite this, he went above and beyond to help me find a solution. He suggested multiple alternatives—second and even third options—to resolve the issue. In the end, my whole family was able to renew our passports successfully.

He didn’t have to go out of his way to help. He could have simply said, “No, you can’t renew your passports,” but instead, he explored every possible option. I can’t describe everything here, but he has an incredibly flexible and understanding mindset.

I also understand how challenging this job can be. Officials must strictly follow the rules to prevent major issues, yet being too rigid can lead to customer dissatisfaction and negative reviews. Balancing these situations must be very difficult, and I truly appreciate the effort it takes.

After completing the renewal process, I was so grateful that I asked for his name, and he told me it was "천일영." Thank you so much for your kindness, problem-solving attitude, and open-minded approach. I truly appreciate it!

I hope this review brings him a small moment of joy in the midst of his...