Do You Need an e-Arrival Card or a K-ETA for Korea? How to Fill It In and Who Can Skip It
Most visitors need one of the two, not both. A valid K-ETA replaces the arrival card. If your country is on the temporary K-ETA exemption list (Japan, Taiwan, the US and the UK among them, through December 31, 2026) or you travel on a visa, you submit the free e-Arrival card at e-arrivalcard.go.kr, any time from 3 days before you land until you reach immigration.
K-ETA or e-Arrival Card: Which One Is Yours?
Two systems, two different jobs. The K-ETA (Korea Electronic Travel Authorization) is a pre-travel permission for visa-free nationalities, applied for at k-eta.go.kr. The e-Arrival card is the online version of the paper arrival card people used to fill in on the plane, submitted at e-arrivalcard.go.kr. Korea's Ministry of Justice describes them as separate systems, and as a visitor you normally need one or the other. Find your line below.
- You hold a valid K-ETA: skip the arrival card. An approved K-ETA covers it. Keep your purpose of visit and place of stay up to date on the K-ETA site instead.
- Your country is on the temporary K-ETA exemption list: submit the e-Arrival card. The Ministry of Justice has extended this exemption through December 31, 2026 for 22 countries and regions, including Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, France and Singapore. For trips after that date, check the official K-ETA portal before you fly.
- You enter on a Korean visa: submit the e-Arrival card. That holds even if you also have a K-ETA.
- You are under 17 or over 65 and from a K-ETA country: you don't need a K-ETA, so you submit the e-Arrival card.
- You hold a Korean residence card, or you are only transiting without passing immigration: neither.
Exempt travelers can still choose to get a K-ETA, mainly to skip the arrival card. It costs 10,000 won plus a card payment fee, stays valid for three years (or until your passport expires, if that comes first) and must be applied for at least 72 hours before boarding. For a single trip, the free e-Arrival card is the lighter option. If you fly in several times a year, one K-ETA saves you filing a card on every arrival.
How to Fill In the e-Arrival Card, Step by Step
The official site is free, works in a phone browser and runs in seven languages: Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai and Russian. There is no app. Before you open it, have five things ready: your passport, an email address you can check on your phone, your arrival date and flight number, the address where you are staying, and your departure date. The return flight number is optional.
- Agree and add your email. Accept the terms and type your email address twice. The person filing must be 15 or older.
- Add your passport. Photograph or upload the photo page and the site reads it for you. Check every letter against the passport, or type the details in by hand if the scan misses.
- Enter your trip. Arrival date, flight number, purpose of visit, where you are staying and how to reach you, your occupation and your departure date.
- Check. A review screen shows everything at once. Fix anything that doesn't match your passport or booking.
- Submit and save. You get a PDF with your issue number, and a confirmation email goes to the address you entered.
Two choices sit on the first screen. "Individual" covers 1 to 9 people and works on a phone or a computer. "Group" covers 2 to 1,000 people and works on a computer only. It is built for tour groups, so a couple or a family should use Individual. Since May 6, 2026, the site has also added a verification code step at submission, so keep the phone and inbox you are using close at hand.
The Fields That Trip People Up
Address in Korea. Enter the main place you will stay. If you are moving between cities, the official guidance is to use the first place you stay after you land. Copy the English address straight from your booking confirmation, including the postcode. Staying with a friend? Use their address. If Korean addresses make you nervous, our guide to traveling Korea without speaking Korean covers the translation and map apps that help.
Contact number. The stay section asks how you can be reached. If you won't have a Korean number when you land, the phone number of your hotel or guesthouse from the booking confirmation is the practical choice. Whatever you enter, make sure it actually reaches you or your host.
Same-day transit. If you are connecting on the same day but have to pass immigration, for example to collect checked bags, the official FAQ says to enter the airport's own address. For Incheon, that is 272 Gonghang-ro, Jung-gu, Incheon (Terminal 1) or 446 Je2terminal-daero, Jung-gu, Incheon (Terminal 2). Planning to use a long layover outside the terminal? Our Incheon Airport layover ideas cover what fits in a few hours.
No return flight yet. Enter your best estimate of the departure date. The flight number can stay blank. Officers may still ask about your plans at the desk, so have a rough itinerary on your phone.
Family and kids. One person aged 15 or older can file for everyone on the same arrival, up to nine people on a phone. Each traveler still gets their own card and issue number, and they all go to the main filer's email. Parents fill in cards for their children, so double-check each passport number and birth date.
Odd birth dates. If your passport shows an unknown day or month, scan the passport. If you have to type it, use 00 for the missing part, as the official FAQ instructs.
The confirmation email. The site has posted a notice that confirmation emails can arrive late or not at all for Gmail, Outlook.com, Hotmail and QQ addresses. Save the PDF or take a screenshot the moment you submit, rather than waiting for the email.
Timing, the QR Code and What Happens at Immigration
The window. Filing opens 3 days before your arrival date, counted in Korea Standard Time. Landing on a Friday means you can submit on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. A submitted card lapses after 72 hours if you haven't entered Korea, and each card covers one entry only, so you file again for every trip.
Changes. If your hotel, purpose of visit or departure date changes, look up your card with the issue number or by email verification and edit it before you reach immigration. The arrival date can only be changed within 3 days of your first submission.
Forgot to file? Yes, you can still submit after you land, as long as it is before you reach the immigration desk. Filing from home is still smoother: you have Wi-Fi, your booking confirmation is open, and the site posts occasional maintenance windows on its notice board.
QR code and printing. Official notices carry a QR code that simply opens the website. There is nothing to scan at the desk. You don't need to show or print the card either, because the officer can see your submission. Keep the issue number on your phone in case you are asked. Filing the card does not enroll you in the automated immigration gates, which use a separate registration explained on Hi Korea (hikorea.go.kr).
Customs is a separate step. The e-Arrival card covers immigration only. It is not a customs or quarantine declaration, so check the Korea Customs Service rules if you are carrying something to declare. After the customs exit, the next decision is how to pay for the train into the city. Our guide to choosing a Korea transit card lays out T-money, WOWPASS and the Climate Card side by side.
Watch for lookalike sites. The e-Arrival card is free. A site that charges for it is not the official one. Use e-arrivalcard.go.kr for the card and k-eta.go.kr for the K-ETA, where the fee is 10,000 won.
Sol's Note
Read the arrival card as a checklist, not a chore. It asks for the exact things a smooth first day needs: the address you'll give the taxi driver, a number that reaches your bed for the night, the date you leave. If you can't fill in a field, that's the gap in your plan, and it is far easier to fix at your kitchen table than in the immigration queue.
So the night you open the 3-day window, do the card and then screenshot your hotel address in English and Korean. You'll use that screenshot again before you even leave the airport.
