CU, operated by BGF Retail, announced on the 1st that it is partnering with KB Visa to provide visa agency services for foreign customers.
CU plans to offer visa agency services tailored to all situations foreign nationals may need in South Korea, from marriage to employment, investment, immigration, and permanent residence. By scanning a QR code attached to CU stores and filling out a simple form, customers will be immediately connected to a professional administrative agent to receive the desired service.
In particular, real-time progress updates will be available from the start of the process through review and completion. The service supports four languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese. The service fees are about 50% cheaper than the industry average, with a domestic lowest price of 20,000 won for visa extension.
CU will operate visa agency services in over 50 stores located in areas with a high proportion of foreign residents, such as Daerim and Hongdae in Seoul, and will survey customer satisfaction before expanding to 1,000 stores within the year. Additionally, plans are in place to introduce a CU startup package for foreigners and a hiring linkage program for foreign workers.
Yoo Seong-hwan, head of the service platform team at BGF Retail, noted, "In the future, CU will continue to develop new products and services that can attract both domestic and international customers to convenience stores."