K-ETA exemption in 2026 doesn't mean skipping the e-Arrival Card

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By Seungyeop Yeom ·

Most travelers to South Korea need a K-ETA (10,000 KRW per person, applied for online before you fly). Six groups don’t, and 22 more countries get a temporary pass through the end of 2026, but “exempt from K-ETA” is not the same as “walk in with nothing.” Everyone still has to file the e-Arrival Card before landing, and getting that distinction wrong is the mistake that trips up exempt travelers specifically.

Do you need K-ETA at all

South Korea’s K-ETA (전자여행허가, Korea Electronic Travel Authorization) applies to nationals of 112 countries and territories: 67 under the visa-exemption agreement (B-1) and 45 under the tourist-transit category (B-2). Within that list, six groups are carved out and don’t have to apply.

Traveler group K-ETA required? Fee if you skip it Still need to file the e-Arrival Card?
Diplomatic/official passport holder, ABTC holder, aircrew/ship crew, transit passenger No — standing exemption None Yes, unless another exemption covers you
Age 17 or under, or 65 or older No — exempt since July 3, 2023 None (10,000 KRW only if you apply anyway) Yes
National of one of the 22 temporarily exempt countries/territories, through December 31, 2026 No — temporary exemption None (10,000 KRW only if you apply anyway) Yes
National of one of the other countries on the 112-country list Yes 10,000 KRW, plus about 3% for online payment Not established by Korean-language government sources — see below

The 22 countries and territories on the temporary exemption are Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, the United States (including Guam), Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, New Zealand, and Australia. That list was set on April 1, 2023, and the exemption window has been extended in one-year blocks since. The current block runs from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026.

Four of the six exempt categories (diplomatic and official passport holders, ABTC holders, crew and ship crew, and transit passengers) carry no start date in the government guidance; they read as a standing part of the program. Only the age-based exemption (17 and under, 65 and over) has a documented effective date: July 3, 2023.

Who this actually applies to

  • If you’re 17 or younger, or 65 or older → K-ETA isn’t mandatory for you, and you can still fly in on that basis alone once you’ve filed the e-Arrival Card.
  • If you hold a diplomatic or official passport, an ABTC, or you’re transiting through Korea or working as aircrew or ship crew → the same standing exemption applies; you don’t apply for K-ETA.
  • If you hold a passport from one of the 22 temporarily exempt countries and you’re entering before December 31, 2026 → skip K-ETA and its fee, but you still owe the e-Arrival Card.
  • If none of the above applies and your country is on the 112-country list → apply for K-ETA before you travel. Applications are not accepted at the border.
  • If your country isn’t on the 112-country list at all → K-ETA doesn’t apply to you either way; you need a visa instead.

The trap: exemption from K-ETA is not exemption from entry paperwork

This is where the 22-country exemption gets misread. Being exempt from K-ETA only means you don’t need the 10,000 KRW authorization before you fly. It says nothing about the separate e-Arrival Card (전자입국신고서), which Korea has required from nearly everyone entering the country since February 24, 2025. Paper arrival cards stopped being an option after December 2025. There’s no “grab a form at the airport” fallback left for a 2026 arrival. The only people who skip the e-Arrival Card are holders of a Korean residence card (거소증) or foreigner registration card (외국인등록증), which won’t describe a short-term visitor.

The e-Arrival Card is free, and you can only submit it starting three days before you land; submit earlier than that and it won’t go through. Once submitted, it’s valid for 72 hours; if your flight is delayed past that window, you’d need to resubmit.

Whether holding a K-ETA gets you out of the e-Arrival Card too is genuinely unsettled. An English-language notice from Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes K-ETA approval as including “exemption from completing an arrival card upon entry into the Republic of Korea.” Neither of the two Korean-language government pages that describe K-ETA’s benefits spells that out with the same specificity; they say a K-ETA holder is exempt from filling out an 입국신고서 (arrival card) at entry, without addressing the newer e-Arrival Card system by name. Treat the English notice as directional, not confirmed, until the Korean-language pages say the same thing.

Other traps worth knowing before you land:

  • K-ETA is not a visa. Approval means you’ve cleared one of the requirements for entry, not that entry is guaranteed — the immigration officer at the airport makes the final call.
  • The 10,000 KRW fee is non-refundable, whether your application is approved or not.
  • If you get a new passport, or any of your personal details change, after your K-ETA is approved, you need to reapply — your existing K-ETA’s remaining validity doesn’t carry over.
  • The temporary 22-country exemption is a renewable measure, not a permanent policy change. It has been extended every year since 2023, but the extension for the following year hasn’t always been confirmed with much lead time — in December 2025, one consulate was still waiting on the paperwork to extend the 2025 window right up to its expiry.

What it actually costs and how long it lasts

K-ETA runs 10,000 KRW per person. Pay online and expect roughly 3% added for the payment processing, so a single application runs closer to 10,300 KRW than the flat 10,000 KRW figure most sites quote.

For a family of four all applying, base fees plus the online surcharge come to about 41,200 KRW total.

Once approved, a K-ETA is valid for three years, or until your passport expires if that happens sooner. It covers multiple entries in that window — you’re not reapplying trip by trip unless your passport or personal details change first. Processing is usually done within 72 hours, though the government’s own guidance is candid that it can run longer depending on application volume and your individual case, which is why they recommend applying at least 72 hours before you board.

How to apply

  1. Go to the official portal at k-eta.go.kr and agree to the terms.
  2. Register an account or verify by email.
  3. Enter your passport details.
  4. Enter your travel and application details.
  5. Review everything you’ve entered.
  6. Pay the 10,000 KRW fee (plus the online payment surcharge).
  7. Submit. You’ll get a confirmation that your application is complete.

Useful links:

Whichever group you’re in, apply for K-ETA (if you need it) and file the e-Arrival Card (almost everyone needs this one, exempt or not) as two separate steps, both before you fly, both through the government’s own sites. Neither one is sold anywhere else.

Where to book

K-ETA and the e-Arrival Card are both free of third-party sellers — you apply and file directly through the government portals linked above, and neither has a legitimate paid alternative. If you’re arranging travel insurance or a data plan for the same trip, that’s the kind of thing worth booking ahead rather than at the airport.

Sources I checked

  1. k-eta.go.krKorean source
  2. overseas.mofa.go.krKorean source
  3. immigration.go.krKorean source
  4. koreadaily.com
  5. mofa.go.krKorean source
  6. overseas.mofa.go.krKorean source