South Korea Travel requirements, advice , Coronavirus status and Visa Policy
2023-07-25 00:19:05
South Korea is located in Eastern Asia. It is a developing country. Current Travel Advice to visitors travelling to South Korea is Exercise Normal Precautions. Check South Korea Travel Advisory, visa Requirements below.
Travel advice and advisories
Published 17.05.2022
1. Short-term visas (type C-1and C-3) issued on or before 5 April 2020 are no longer valid.
2. Suspension of visa exemptions for:
- nationals of Japan;
- passengers with a Chinese Taipei (on the cover: Republic of China Taiwan) normal passport;
- passengers with a Hong Kong (SAR China) passport;
- passengers with a Macao (SAR China) passport;
- nationals of Brunei Darussalam, Grenada, Kiribati, Kuwait, Micronesia (Federated States), New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Isl. and Tonga with a normal passport.
- This does not apply to:
- airline crew.
- passengers with an APEC Business Travel Card.
- passengers with a diplomatic, an official or a service passport.
3. Passengers must have:
- a printed negative COVID-19 LAMP, NAAT, NEAR, PCR, RT-PCR, SDA or TMA test taken at most 2 days before departure from the first embarkation point; or
- from 23 May 2022, a printed negative COVID-19 rapid antigen test taken at most 24 hours before departure from the first embarkation point.
The test result must:
- be in English, Korean or accompanied by a certified English or Korean translation; and
- have the name of the passenger which must match the name in the passport, the date of birth or passport/ID number and the name of the issuing laboratory; and
- specify the date that the test was taken.
- This does not apply to:
- nationals of Korea (Rep.) and their family members arriving from Ukraine;
- nationals of Korea (Rep.) and passengers who reside in Korea (Rep.) with a COVID-19 recovery certificate. They must have tested positive within 10 to 40 days before departure;
- nationals of Korea (Rep.) and passengers who reside in Korea (Rep.)Â with a positive COVID-19 test taken within 10 to 40 days before departure;
- passengers who are 6 years or younger.
4. Passengers transiting to China (People\'s Rep.) must enter Korea (Rep.) to obtain a green QR code with an \'HDC\' mark.
5. Passengers could be subject to quarantine for 7 days.
- This does not apply to:
- passengers with a Quarantine Exemption Certificate (the Quarantine Exemption Certificate for family visit purposes is invalid);
- passengers with a COVID-19 vaccination certificated showing that they were fully vaccinated at least 14 days and at most 180 days before arrival. Vaccines accepted are: AstraZeneca (SK Bioscience), AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria), Covaxin, Covishield, Covovax, Janssen, Moderna (Spikevax), Nuvaxovid (Novavax), Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty), Sinopharm and Sinovac. They must register at https://cov19ent.kdca.go.kr/ and will receive a QR code which must be presented upon arrival; or
- passengers with a COVID-19 vaccination certificated showing that they were fully vaccinated and received a booster dose at least 14 days before arrival. They must register at https://cov19ent.kdca.go.kr/ and will receive a QR code which must be presented upon arrival.
6. Passengers with an A-1 visa, an A-2 visa, or a Self-Isolation Exemption Certificate must install the \'self-check mobile app\' found at http://ncov.mohw.go.kr/selfcheck before departure or upon arrival.
7. Passengers are not allowed to transit through Korea (Rep.) for more than 24 hours.
8. Passengers with a visa on an expired passport must present a printed "Visa Grant Notice" and the expired passport to the immigration upon arrival.
Travel Advisory By USA
Mon, 24 Jul 2023
Reissued with obsolete COVID-19 page links removed.
Exercise normal precautions in South Korea.
Read the country information page for additional information on travel to South Korea.
If you decide to travel to South Korea:
- Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive Alerts and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
- Follow the Department of State on Facebook and Twitter.
- Review the Country Security Report for South Korea.
- Visit the CDC page for the latest Travel Health Information related to your travel.
- Prepare a contingency plan for emergency situations. Review the Traveler’s Checklist.
Visa Policy for Visitors travelling to South Korea
Visa required
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Angola
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
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- Mongolia
- Morocco (90 days)
- Mozambique
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- Namibia
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- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Turkmenistan
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
- Yemen
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Visa not required
- Albania (30 days)
- Andorra (30 days)
- Argentina (30 days)
- Australia (90 days)
- Austria (90 days)
- Bahamas (90 days)
- Bahrain (30 days)
- Barbados (90 days)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (30 days)
- Botswana (90 days)
- Brazil (90 days)
- Chile (90 days)
- Colombia (90 days)
- Costa Rica (90 days)
- Dominica (90 days)
- Dominican Republic (90 days)
- Ecuador (90 days)
- El Salvador (90 days)
- Estonia (90 days)
- Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) (30 days)
- Fiji (30 days)
- Finland (90 days)
- Greece (90 days)
- Grenada (90 days)
- Guatemala (90 days)
- Guyana (30 days)
- Haiti (90 days)
- Honduras (90 days)
- Hungary (90 days)
- Iceland (90 days)
- Ireland (90 days)
- Israel (90 days)
- Italy (90 days)
- Jamaica (90 days)
- Kazakhstan (30 days)
- Kiribati (30 days)
- Kuwait (30 days)
- Latvia (90 days)
- Lesotho (60 days)
- Liechtenstein (90 days)
- Lithuania (90 days)
- Luxembourg (90 days)
- Macau (90 days)
- Malta (90 days)
- Marshall Islands (30 days)
- Mauritius (30 days)
- Mexico (3 months)
- Micronesia (30 days)
- Monaco (30 days)
- Montenegro
- Nauru (30 days)
- Netherlands (90 days)
- New Zealand (90 days)
- Nicaragua (90 days)
- Norway (90 days)
- Oman (30 days)
- Palau (30 days)
- Panama (90 days)
- Paraguay (30 days)
- Peru (90 days)
- Qatar (30 days)
- Romania (90 days)
- Russia (60 days)
- Saint Kitts and Nevis (90 days)
- Saint Lucia (90 days)
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (90 days)
- Samoa (30 days)
- San Marino (30 days)
- Saudi Arabia (30 days)
- Serbia (90 days)
- Seychelles (30 days)
- Slovakia (90 days)
- Slovenia (90 days)
- Solomon Islands (30 days)
- South Africa (30 days)
- Spain (90 days)
- Suriname (30 days)
- Sweden (90 days)
- Switzerland (90 days)
- Tonga (30 days)
- Trinidad and Tobago (90 days)
- Tunisia (30 days)
- Turkey (90 days)
- Tuvalu (30 days)
- United Arab Emirates (30 days)
- Uruguay (90 days)
- Vatican City (30 days)
- Venezuela (90 days)
K-ETA required
- Belgium (3 Months)
- Brunei (30 days)
- Bulgaria (90 days)
- Cyprus (30 days)
- Czech Republic (90 days)
- Denmark (90 days)
- Hong Kong (90 days)
- Japan (90 days)
- Malaysia (90 days)
- United Kingdom (90 days)
Electronic Travel Authority
- Canada (6 months)
- Portugal (90 days)
eTA
- Croatia
ETA
- France (90 days)
- Germany (90 days)
- Poland (90 days)
Particular visit regime
- North Korea
K-ETA
- Singapore (90 days)
Visa Requirements for South Korea Citizens
References
- U.S Department of State - Bureau of Consular Affairs
- Systematic dataset of Covid-19 policy, from Oxford University
- International Air Transport Association (IATA)