South Korea e-Arrival Card: Who Needs It and How to Complete It

Check whether you need the card

The official navigator asks which valid documents you hold, including a visa, K-ETA or residence card. Follow the result for your situation; do not infer that every visa-free visitor is exempt from an arrival declaration. The K-ETA exemption notice specifically distinguishes authorization from the arrival-card benefit. ^{[1] [4]}

Check each member of a family separately. A shared flight and hotel do not make their immigration documents identical. Write down who needs a declaration before deciding whether to use a family submission.

Find the official site and submission window

The government portal identifies the declaration as free and gives a submission window within three days before arrival in Korea. Select English on the official page and check the eligible arrival dates displayed there. ^[1]

Choose a time when you have your flight confirmation and accommodation details ready. Avoid leaving the entire process until a short transfer between flights.

Prepare the details before opening the form

Keep a hotel confirmation open in a separate window. Use the property’s actual address, not a broad district name. If you have not settled your first night, make that decision before completing the stay information.

Enter identity and travel information carefully

The official procedure supports scanning a passport or entering the information manually, and it asks you to verify the resulting details. Its individual route can include up to nine people. The representative declarant must be older than 14. ^[2]

Compare the name, document number and nationality with the passport page character by character. Then compare dates and flight details with the ticket. An arrival after midnight belongs to the local arrival date shown by the airline, which may differ from the date you left home.

For a hypothetical arrival on 15 November and departure on 22 November, enter the real flight dates and follow any duration instructions shown in the form. This example illustrates checking dates; it is not an immigration allowance or an official counting rule.

Review, submit and save the confirmation

The published workflow is agreement and email, passport information, travel itinerary, review, then submission. It provides a PDF containing the issue number and sends submission details by email. ^[2]

1. Review each traveler, rather than only the representative.
2. Submit once the information matches the travel documents.
3. Save the PDF or issue number offline.
4. Check your email and spam folder before assuming the declaration failed.

Keep the confirmation with your passport documents rather than only in an app that needs mobile data.

Deal with mistakes or a changed itinerary

The portal has a Check/Edit function using the issue number or email verification. Start there if you need to review the submission, and follow the current instructions for a corrected flight or stay. ^[1]

A transit passenger who goes through immigration may have different stay-information needs from someone remaining airside. The official FAQ provides airport-address guidance for same-day transit cases; use the correct airport and terminal rather than copying a random Seoul hotel. ^[3]

Changing a declaration does not change the validity of a visa or K-ETA. Recheck the underlying entry permission separately if a passport, purpose or travel period changes.

Field examples: use your documents, not a template answer

Consider a hypothetical journey leaving London on 14 November, changing planes and landing in Seoul on 15 November. The relevant Korean arrival date is 15 November. Keep the flight details for the leg into Korea beside the hotel confirmation while completing the declaration. This example explains document matching; it does not set a new submission deadline.

If your party uses different passports or different flights, review each person's record separately. Copying shared hotel details can save typing, but it cannot establish that everyone has the same entry status. The government subject guide distinguishes visa holders, K-ETA-exempt travelers and people excluded from the declaration. ^[5]

At the airport, or when the website does not cooperate

Keep your passport ready for immigration. The saved declaration confirmation is a useful recovery aid if you need to find the submission, but it does not replace your passport, visa or other required permission. Do not confuse this arrival declaration with a customs or health process that might apply separately to your journey.

The workflow provides manual passport entry and a downloadable submission record. Save that record after your final review rather than keeping only a screenshot from an unfinished form. Do not pay an intermediary merely because the official service is temporarily unavailable. ^[2]

Current UK travel advice also describes a paper arrival-card option. If you cannot complete the online route, confirm the current alternative with staff rather than inventing answers or assuming the requirement has disappeared. The official portal remains the starting point for the latest declaration instructions. ^[6]