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Home to Seoul, a vibrant metropolis the place popular culture meets historical 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 fashionable nation to go to in 2025.
There’s only one draw back in case you’re heading there this 12 months:
If you are arriving from the United States, you’ll now be required to finish a mandatory online form earlier than coming into, which is in step with different Asian locations which have lately ramped up paperwork and introduced in comparable mandates.
You Can’t Enter South Korea Without Completing This Form In 2025
As quickly as February 24, 2025, in case you’re flying to or coming into South Korea by way of a cruise port, you will not be capable to cross the border until you have got submitted an Electronic Arrival Card (e-Arrival Card) previous to arrival.
It’s price noting vacationers have at all times needed to fill out a customs type touching floor within the nation, however earlier than the e-Arrival Card was launched, they might accomplish that within the arrivals corridor, the place stacks of paper types have been accessible.
No extra: the objective is to totally substitute the paper type with the web model by 12 months’s finish.
It is unclear at this level whether or not South Korea-bound vacationers will be capable 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.
We all know the way 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, nevertheless, this appears to not be the case, as through the rollout, set to final till December 2025, passengers might be allowed to decide on between filling the shape on-line or the paper model when arriving in South Korea.
Based on our in depth touring expertise, at any time when there’s an choice to submit a customs type prematurely, accomplish that to keep away from further queuing and lengthy waits.
South Korean border authorities have additional confirmed that, as of proper now, passengers shouldn’t have to pay to submit their data prematurely: 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 on-line type might be accessible straight on the e-arrivalcard.go.kr portal, that might be launched quickly.
Step-By-Step Guide To Submit Your e-Arrival Card For South Korea
Upload Your Passport
Once the system goes dwell, you need to have your passport useful, in addition to all particulars pertaining to your journey to South Korea.
After accepting the phrases and situations, you will be requested to add a replica of your passport: extra particularly, the data web page, together with your picture, the passport quantity and different private information, and most significantly, the machine-readable zone (MRZ).
You know that lengthy sequence of figures on the backside of the ID web page? That’s what the MRZ is.
Once the passport add is accomplished, the data ought to be capable to be extracted utilizing the platform’s top-notch Optical Character Recognition.
There ought to be no errors, however we would nonetheless urge you to revise every enter individually and make corrections if crucial, significantly in case your title or surname incorporates accents.
Provide Your Travel Information
The subsequent step is to supply data in your journey, together with the aim of journey––are you a vacationer? Are you visiting household? Maybe 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 home of residence in South Korea (this can be a lodge or Airbnb), the deliberate date of departure, and lastly, the outbound flight quantity.
Make certain you enter these fastidiously and in truth. Once you land in South Korea and undergo immigration management, border authorities will depend on the offered data to formulate their questions.
Any inconsistencies might be instantly flagged, and you would threat being held up on the border for longer than wanted till these are rectified.
Review & Submit The Form
The last step is to submit the declaration type, at which level you possibly can overview your solutions one last time.
Once once more, the service is freed from cost and requires no approval. This means you’ll immediately obtain your e-Arrival Card in PDF type, which you’ll obtain.
Additionally, a notification that the shape has been submitted might be despatched to the e-mail deal with offered. Should you want to edit any data or alter an error you solely notice was made later, you possibly can change the declaration earlier than passing border management.
South Korea is one among many digital customs types Americans are actually topic to when touring to quite a few locations worldwide. In Asia, some examples embody Cambodia, Malaysia, and, quickly sufficient, Thailand.
Americans Will Also Need 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 cut back bureaucratic procedures for vacationers and enhance tourism, however as quickly as January 2026, Americans should request a digital journey allow forward of flying to South Korea.
Prior to the momentary suspension, the Ok-ETA price was 10,000 South Korean received, or round US$7, remaining legitimate for 3 years after issuance.
It’s seemingly that the worth might be readjusted as soon as the system re-launches.
Based on our understanding, from subsequent 12 months, Americans touring to South Korea should present proof of each a accomplished e-Arrival Card, which is freed from cost however necessary, and a Ok-ETA, the equal of a digital visa.
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This article initially appeared on TravelOffPath.com
Opinions expressed listed below are the writer’s alone, not these of any financial institution, bank card issuer, lodge, airline, or different entity. This content material has not been reviewed, accepted or in any other case endorsed by any of the entities included throughout the publish.
