Automated Validation of Korean C-3-9 Tourist Visa Applications using Object-Oriented Programming and Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

This research presents a prototype application deployed on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) App Engine to automate the validation process for Korean C-3-9 Tourist Visa applications. By leveraging Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) principles and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, the system efficiently scans PDF application forms to ensure completeness of data required. This automated method will boost applicants' confidence and encourage them to analyze their own applications, which could shorten processing times and increase overall effectiveness. This research offers time-saving solution in validating the required fields especially with the fluctuating numbers of tourist in South Korea in 2023 which is 349,956 (tourism.gov.ph, 2023).Given the potential for widespread use not only for applicants but also for officials, this research also explores various network efficiency techniques for future improvements following cloud infrastructure via GCP. These techniques seek to improve the system's overall efficiency, high performance, security, manageability, and adaptability to various visa kinds.