Everything you need to know about K-ETA

Before you head to the airport to take a trip to South Korea, read this! As of September 2021, visa-free travelers are required to apply for and get the K-ETA online before they board the plane. Airline staff will ask you if you’ve prepared this before you depart. Make sure you take all the steps to ensure that you can get to Korea complication free. These answers will be the perfect cheat sheet for making sure you can get through the K-ETA screening process and into South Korea problem free!

Get ready to fill out your K-ETA and travel to Korea:

• What is South Korea’s K-ETA?
• How Long Does It Take To Get K-ETA Approved?
• How Long is K-ETA Valid For?
• Which Countries Can Get The K-ETA
• What Do I Need To Prepare To Fill In The K-ETA 
• Can someone else fill out the K-ETA for me?
• Steps to Fill in the K-ETA Form
• How Much Does the K-ETA Cost?
• Official K-ETA Website

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What is South Korea’s K-ETA?

K-ETA is a digital travel authorization that is required by any foreign visitors that do not require a visa. It needs to be obtained before entering the Republic of Korea. The purpose of travel should be tourism, visiting a family member, participating in events or meetings, or commercial business (excluding the pursuit of profit). It is mandatory for visa-free and visa-waiver countries. Anyone without a valid visa or K-ETA will not be allowed to board a plane to South Korea. This is meant to make immigration and customs a smoother process upon landing, streamlining the whole process. 

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How long does it take to get K-ETA approved?

K-ETA is available for eligible people from countries that don’t require a visa to enter South Korea. It must be obtained before boarding a flight or ship and can take up to 72 hours to process. That means you should apply for it at least a month before your trip just to be safe but you could apply for it up to a few days before departure. 

On average, most people in our travel groups say they’ve received results within a day but it can take longer.

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How long is K-ETA valid for?

It’s valid for 2 years from the date it is approved, but it actually doesn’t guarantee entry to the Republic of Korea.  Once you land, the immigration office at the airport will be the final decider on that verdict.  If it has not expired, you still have to apply for a new K-ETA if there are any changes to your personal information such as name, date of birth, or sex. The same is true for any changes to your passport which will be your lifeline abroad. You are also required to update any personal info on K-ETA if your Korean address, the purpose of entry, or contact information that was written on your approved application before entering Korea changes. You could be denied entry if your information does not match.

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Which countries can get the K-ETA?

Below are the 112 countries that are allowed entry into South Korea after filling out the K-ETA. This was last updated on November 1st, 2022. Those not on here are not eligible to enter South Korea through K-ETA, but would require a visa from the embassy.

Albania, Andorra, Barbados, Dominica, Guam, Guyana, Holy See, Ireland, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Palau, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Marino, Slovenia, United Kingdom, United States of America, Venezuela, Greece, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Romania, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Sweden, Spain, Slovakia, Estonia, Austria, Italy, Czech Republic, Croatia, Portugal, Poland, France, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Singapore, Malaysia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Israel, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Thailand, Turkey, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Brazil, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Haiti, Antigua and Barbuda, El Salvador, Uruguay, Jamaica, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Argentina, Honduras, Paraguay, Ecuador, Russia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu, Australia, Republic of South Africa, Lesotho, Morocco, Mauritius, Botswana, Seychelles, Eswatini, Tunisia, Brunei Darussalam, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Panama, Peru, New Zealand, Grenada, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Macau, Japan, Taiwan, Macau, Micronesia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and Tonga. 

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What do I need to prepare to fill in the K-ETA?

The items you will need are a valid passport, credit card (for paying the KRW10,000 fee), email address, and a recent profile photo (700 pixels or less) of yourself for uploading.  The results will show up in your email as well as be available on the website. You will also need to include the phone number of where you will be staying and the address. 

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Can someone else fill out the K-ETA for me?

You can have a proxy fill out the application as well as apply for up to 30 people at once. 

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Steps to fill in the K-ETA form

Put in your continent, and nationality and agree to all the questions they give you. You will then need to type in your passport number and personal email address. Once you have completed that, you will be required to upload either a picture of your passport identification page or input the information manually. It is advised that if you take the photo with your phone, you will need to crop it since the image will be too large.

Next, you will select an option in the “Purpose of entry” section. They will include things like tourism, conference, disease treatment, sports game, etc. The translation is slightly off, but you should have no problem selecting the choice that best fits your reasons for travel. 

After that, you will need to write in your postal code as it pertains to your Korean address. It will search for your address as you type, so once you make sure it displays the exact one that you will be residing at, click it and move on. For the next part, they will once again ask for a photo. You’ll need to resize it if you take it on your phone once again due to the size. 

Lastly, you will be presented with a confirmation page where you confirm that all your information has been imputed accurately. 

The payment page is your last stop. All you need to do is input your card number and date before pressing the large red button at the bottom. Then boom! Your application is complete and good to go!

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How much does the K-ETA Cost?

The cost is 10,000 KRW which is equivalent to $7.28 USD. However, there are $9-10additinal fees that are excluded from the base price. It is also important to know that you are giving money to the actual K-ETA website and not a third party that supposedly moves through them since there are many fake sites that have been impersonating K-ETA. They also aren’t responsible for any money you lost to these scam websites. If you pay through an eligible third-party site that charges extra fees for applying, you will not be reimbursed. That’s why you should definitely apply on the K-ETA official website. 

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Official K-ETA Website

For applying for K-ETA make sure to go through this official site and go to “Apply for K-ETA” to begin your application!

There are unofficial sites out there that say they are K-ETA and charge more. These are not official sites. You should go through the official South Korean K-ETA website linked above.

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