🛂 Visas & Entry Rules

Fill it in free on the official site e-arrivalcard.go.kr from 3 days before you arrive (Korean time). You can change it before immigration with your issue number or email. If you didn't do it in advance, you can still fill it in at the airport before immigration.

Your passport nationality, passport type, purpose and length of stay determine whether you need a Korean visa. Check the official K-ETA eligibility guidance and your responsible Korean mission; K-ETA and an arrival declaration do not replace a visa when one is required.

For a short visit such as tourism, a US passport allows a visa-free stay of up to 90 days. Until 31 December 2026, a temporary K-ETA exemption applies to designated countries. If it covers you, you can enter without K-ETA, but you must submit the free e-Arrival Card before you arrive.

Check the official K-ETA and e-Arrival requirements for your passport and entry status. A K-ETA exemption does not automatically exempt you from the e-Arrival Card.

K-ETA is pre-travel authorisation for eligible visa-free travellers; the e-Arrival Card is an arrival declaration. A traveller entering visa-free with valid K-ETA approval is exempt from the arrival card; someone entering with a visa must still submit it unless another exemption applies, while a traveller exempt only from applying for K-ETA generally still files it unless another exemption applies.

Apply only through the official k-eta.go.kr website or its official app. If the verification email is missing, first check the entered address and spam filters, then use the official help channel rather than paying a lookalike site.

You can reuse a valid K-ETA for multiple eligible visits, including a third trip, while its conditions and passport details remain valid. An exempt visa-free traveller may apply voluntarily to avoid arrival-card submission, but the fee still applies. Holding K-ETA does not remove the declaration requirement when entering with a visa.

At ages 75 and 76, you fall within the K-ETA age exemption if you are citizens of a K-ETA-eligible country. Age exemption does not itself grant visa-free entry or remove the separate arrival-declaration requirement.

If your connection stays airside without Korean immigration clearance, Korean entry documents generally are not required; ordinary passports of Egypt, Sudan, Syria and Yemen are exceptions requiring a direct-airside transit visa. If you collect baggage landside, change airports or take a domestic flight, establish permission to enter Korea first.

A US visa or Green Card may support Korea’s conditional tourist-in-transit route. The official airport guidance links this route to travel toward a qualifying country or travel from it after a stay toward your home country or another country; possession of the document alone is insufficient.

A Canadian visa or permanent-residence document may support a qualifying tourist-in-transit visit to Korea. The complete itinerary matters: a Canadian document and separate tickets alone do not establish eligibility.

The official airport summary of this transit route lists the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and 32 European countries; it does not list Japan. Do not rely on a Japanese visa alone for entry into Korea. A European document still needs checking against the current country, document and itinerary conditions.

Only if you are allowed to enter Korea. Staying airside needs no Korean entry documents for most passports. Leaving the airport means passing immigration: you need visa-free entry (with K-ETA or e-Arrival Card), a Korean visa, or a transit exception that fits your passport, documents and route.

“11 — Others” does not tell you the specific reason for refusal. Check the official result and ask the refusing mission how to request clarification and when a fresh application is allowed.

Check the Korean embassy’s current simplified-document notice and its attachment for your exact applicant category and credit-card product. A card or bank name alone does not establish eligibility, and a document waiver does not guarantee a visa.

Use the receiving office’s official appointment system and published alternative submission routes. A fully booked calendar does not authorise a walk-in or an application at a different jurisdiction.

An invitation is supporting evidence for some Korean visa applications, not a universal entry document or permission to enter. The required inviter and format depend on your actual visit purpose and the mission handling the application.

Whether your medicine needs advance permission or a customs declaration depends on its ingredients, quantity and import conditions. Check both MFDS and Korea Customs guidance before travel.

Declare excess medicine before leaving Customs and ask whether it can be cleared with additional treatment documents or must be held for return. Incheon publishes a formal route for excess self-treatment medicine; neither a prescription nor paying duty guarantees release.

Assess customs obligations on every entry, based on what you are bringing in that time. The general duty-free allowance is US$800 for qualifying taxable goods; gifts and expensive new purchases can count even when intended for someone else.

For Korea, Korean mission guidance requires a passport valid throughout the stay rather than a universal six-month balance. A wet or damaged passport is a separate acceptance risk and should be assessed by its issuing authority before travel.

Use KDCA’s current Q-CODE notices for health declarations; historical COVID-era “special entry procedures” are not a reliable checklist for a new trip. Health reporting is separate from visas, K-ETA and the arrival card.

Check entry documents, travel bookings, phone connectivity and payment arrangements before departure. Your passport nationality and travel dates determine the entry check.

Japan no longer requires a COVID vaccination certificate or pre-departure COVID test under the published border measures. Prepare your passport and any status-specific entry documents, and consider Visit Japan Web to complete the applicable arrival and customs procedures online.