Visa-free travelers burden Ethnic Koreans in US

By Jane Han

Korea Times correspondent

NEW YORK ― Living in a four bedroom house in the suburbs of New York may seem spacious and lavish, but not when you have two high school kids, two dogs and all the mess they make. And this is what Kim, the father of the house, and his wife hope their relatives and friends in Korea will understand.

So close to the Big Apple, the Kims have naturally found themselves hosting dozens of aunts, uncles, cousins and their friends on vacation over the past 10 years. But now with the visa waiver program (VWP) in effect, the situation is getting out of control.

"Since traveling to the U.S. became so easy, we're having even more people invite themselves to stay at our place," says Kim, "but the truth is that we can't always leave our door open for visitors."

The couple, who run a dry cleaning business in Manhattan, says two relatives already asked if their middle school children could visit for a month each during summer vacation.

"We couldn't say no because it's just hard turning down family," says Kim, "but I must say, guests are burdensome both time and money wise."

Because of this obvious burden, Lim, another resident of New York, always found her way out of hosting children of family and friends.

Her method was simple: She "helped" by aggressively searching for summer camps that provided room and board. Passing on the information, she made sure to stress the importance of experiencing "real American life" by living with other peers.

But that was when students needed a proper visa to travel to the U.S. Not anymore.

Since the VWP allows Koreans to travel to the U.S. for business or pleasure for up to 90 days without securing a visa, Lim is no longer left with a compelling excuse to avoid guests.

"I guess I just have to learn to be hospitable," she says, "especially since I'll probably have more people asking me for favors."

Lim is probably right. According to Korean Air, the nation's No. 1 carrier, flights to major U.S. destinations including New York, Los Angeles and Seattle are nearly fully booked until August.

The VWP, together with the improving economy and summer travel season, is consistently boosting outbound travel to the U.S as the number of Korean travelers entering Los Angeles reached 10,400 in the first quarter of this year, up more than 70 percent from the same period a year earlier.

And the outlook is even brighter.

"We're expecting the number of visitors to the U.S. to go up by at least 3 to 5 percent this year," said an official of Samho Tour, a travel agency based in Los Angeles. "I don't know what this means for individuals but it's great news for Korean businesses."