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Residence to Seoul, a vibrant metropolis the place popular culture meets historic Buddhist heritage, scenic countryside peppered with historic villages and nature preserves, and a fantastic southern coast lined with unspoiled seashores, South Korea is a tremendous stylish nation to go to in 2025.
There’s only one draw back in the event you’re heading there this yr:
If you happen to’re arriving from the US, you’ll now be required to finish a mandatory online form earlier than coming into, which is in keeping with different Asian locations which have lately ramped up paperwork and introduced in comparable mandates.
You Cannot Enter South Korea With out Finishing This Kind In 2025
As quickly as February 24, 2025, in the event you’re flying to or coming into South Korea by way of a cruise port, you will not have the ability to cross the border except you’ve got submitted an Digital Arrival Card (e-Arrival Card) previous to arrival.
It is value noting vacationers have all the time needed to fill out a customs kind touching floor within the nation, however earlier than the e-Arrival Card was launched, they may achieve this within the arrivals corridor, the place stacks of paper types had been obtainable.
No extra: the objective is to totally change the paper kind with the net model by yr’s finish.
It’s unclear at this level whether or not South Korea-bound vacationers will have the ability to board their flights with out displaying proof they’ve accomplished the shape, although we strongly discourage you from leaving it till the final minute.
Everyone knows how laggy these official web sites might be, and the very last thing you need is to be barred from boarding since you lack all the right documentation.
For now, nonetheless, this appears to not be the case, as throughout the rollout, set to final till December 2025, passengers shall be allowed to decide on between filling the shape on-line or the paper model when arriving in South Korea.
Based mostly on our intensive touring expertise, every time there’s an choice to submit a customs kind upfront, achieve this to keep away from further queuing and lengthy waits.
South Korean border authorities have additional confirmed that, as of proper now, passengers would not have to pay to submit their info upfront: the shape is totally freed from cost.
That being stated, they’re suggested to ship it three days earlier than departure to make sure immigration guards obtain the data in time and have the smoothest attainable border expertise.
The web kind shall be obtainable instantly on the e-arrivalcard.go.kr portal, that shall be launched quickly.
Step-By-Step Information To Submit Your e-Arrival Card For South Korea
Add Your Passport
As soon as the system goes stay, it’s best to have your passport useful, in addition to all particulars pertaining to your journey to South Korea.
After accepting the phrases and circumstances, you may be requested to add a duplicate of your passport: extra particularly, the data web page, together with your photograph, the passport quantity and different private knowledge, and most significantly, the machine-readable zone (MRZ).
You understand that lengthy sequence of figures on the backside of the ID web page? That is what the MRZ is.
As soon as the passport add is accomplished, the data ought to have the ability to be extracted utilizing the platform’s top-notch Optical Character Recognition.
There needs to be no errors, however we would nonetheless urge you to revise every enter individually and make corrections if mandatory, significantly in case your title or surname accommodates accents.
Present Your Journey Info
The subsequent step is to offer info in your journey, together with the aim of journey––are you a vacationer? Are you visiting household? Possibly you are on going to South Korea on a enterprise enterprise?
On this a part of the shape, you need to enter your arrival date, flight or vessel quantity, your house of residence in South Korea (this can be a resort or Airbnb), the deliberate date of departure, and lastly, the outbound flight quantity.
Ensure you enter these rigorously and honestly. When you land in South Korea and undergo immigration management, border authorities will depend on the offered info to formulate their questions.
Any inconsistencies shall be instantly flagged, and you might threat being held up on the border for longer than wanted till these are rectified.
Overview & Submit The Kind
The ultimate step is to submit the declaration kind, at which level you possibly can evaluate your solutions one ultimate time.
As soon as once more, the service is freed from cost and requires no approval. This implies you’ll immediately obtain your e-Arrival Card in PDF kind, which you’ll be able to obtain.
Moreover, a notification that the shape has been submitted shall be despatched to the e-mail deal with offered. Ought to it’s essential edit any info or alter an error you solely notice was made later, you possibly can change the declaration earlier than passing border management.
South Korea is certainly one of many digital customs types Individuals are actually topic to when touring to quite a few locations worldwide. In Asia, some examples embody Cambodia, Malaysia, and, quickly sufficient, Thailand.
Individuals Will Additionally Want A Digital Visa To Enter South Korea From 2026
South Korea additionally has an Electronic Travel Authorization system that applies to visa-exempt vacationers like U.S. and Canadian passport holders.
For now, it has been suspended till late 2025 to scale back bureaucratic procedures for vacationers and enhance tourism, however as quickly as January 2026, Individuals must request a digital journey allow forward of flying to South Korea.
Previous to the momentary suspension, the Okay-ETA price was 10,000 South Korean received, or round US$7, remaining legitimate for 3 years after issuance.
It is seemingly that the worth shall be readjusted as soon as the system re-launches.
Based mostly on our understanding, from subsequent yr, Individuals touring to South Korea must present proof of each a accomplished e-Arrival Card, which is freed from cost however obligatory, and a Okay-ETA, the equal of a digital visa.
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This text initially appeared on TravelOffPath.com
Opinions expressed listed below are the writer’s alone, not these of any financial institution, bank card issuer, resort, airline, or different entity. This content material has not been reviewed, authorised or in any other case endorsed by any of the entities included inside the submit.
