Visa, e-Arrival Card and customs for South Korea — 2026 guide

At a glance — In 2026, travelers from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and 60+ other countries can enter South Korea without a visa and without K-ETA (waiver extended through December 31, 2026) for tourist stays under 90 days. However, the e-Arrival Card has been mandatory for all foreign visitors since January 1, 2026 — fill it out for free within 3 days of arrival.

Entry requirements: no K-ETA needed in 2026

K-ETA (Korea Electronic Travel Authorization) is an electronic travel authorization, similar to the US ESTA, normally required for visa-exempt travelers.

Since April 2023, South Korea has suspended this requirement for 67 nationalities, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. The waiver has been extended several times; the most recent extension, announced in autumn 2025, runs through December 31, 2026. In practice, in 2026, citizens of eligible countries holding a valid ordinary passport can enter South Korea:

without K-ETA,
without a visa,
for tourism, family visits, or short business trips,
for a maximum stay of 90 days.

Your passport must be valid for the duration of your stay. Proof of accommodation isn't routinely required at the border, but immigration officers may ask to see a return ticket or hotel reservation, so keep both within easy reach.

Note: the waiver does not cover long-term stays, studies, work, working-holiday visas, or any for-profit travel. For those cases, a visa is required and must be obtained from a Korean consulate. The HiKorea portal lists every visa category.

You can still apply for a K-ETA voluntarily (about ₩10,000, roughly $7–8) if you'd like to use the dedicated K-ETA lane at immigration and skip the e-Arrival Card. For a short trip, the benefit is marginal.

The e-Arrival Card: mandatory since January 1, 2026

This is the big change to be aware of. Since January 1, 2026, the paper arrival card that used to be handed out on the plane has been replaced by an online declaration, the e-Arrival Card. It's mandatory for every foreign visitor entering South Korea, with the exception of K-ETA holders.

A few practical points:

Official site: e-arrivalcard.go.kr. Don't use a paid intermediary site — the service is free.
When to fill it out: within the 72 hours (3 days) before your arrival. Submit it too early and the form will be rejected.
Information required: identity, passport number, arrival flight, address in Korea (your first hotel, for example), reason for travel.
Output: a QR code or confirmation code to show at immigration. Keep a screenshot and a printed backup — the network at Incheon can get congested.
Cost: zero. Watch out for pseudo-official sites that charge for a free service.

If something goes wrong on the day of your flight, a handful of help kiosks remain at airports, but don't count on them: complete the card ahead of time, from home or your stopover hotel.

Customs: declaration and allowances

On arrival, the customs declaration is separate from the e-Arrival Card and is still filed either on paper aboard the plane or through the Korea Customs Service mobile app. You only need to file one if you're carrying goods over the allowance or items subject to restriction.

Allowances for adult travelers (19 and over):

Personal goods: up to about USD 600 total value, excluding alcohol, tobacco and perfume.
Alcohol: 1 bottle, 1 liter maximum, with a value of up to about USD 400.
Tobacco: 200 cigarettes, or 50 cigars, or 250 g of tobacco.
Perfume: 60 ml.

Travelers under 19 don't get the alcohol and tobacco allowances. Beyond these thresholds, items must be declared and are subject to duty and tax.

Food: what gets through, what doesn't.

This is often the blind spot in trip planning. Korean rules here are strict, a legacy of recent animal-health crises (swine fever, avian flu). What to declare or avoid:

Meat and cured meats (ham, salami, dried duck breast, jerky, etc.): prohibited for personal import from most regions including the EU and the US, including vacuum-sealed or canned. Checks at Incheon are frequent and fines can be steep.
Dairy products (especially raw-milk cheeses): restrictions apply, declare them.
Fresh fruits, vegetables, plants, seeds: prohibited without a phytosanitary certificate.
Dried fruit, nuts, processed fruit products with no animal content: generally tolerated in small quantities for personal use, but declare if in doubt.
Supplements, protein powders, vitamins: tolerated for reasonable personal use (typically a few months' worth, in original packaging, not for resale). Beyond that, Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety restrictions apply, and a certificate may be requested for large quantities of protein powder. In practice, traveling with 1–2 sealed tubs is fine; beyond that, declare on arrival.
Medications: allowed for personal use during the trip, in original packaging, ideally with the prescription translated into English for heavy treatments, opioids and psychotropics. Some molecules that are common over the counter elsewhere (codeine, morphine derivatives) are strictly controlled in Korea.

When in doubt, declare: at worst, a voluntary declaration means the item is seized, whereas an undeclared item found at inspection can land you with financial penalties.

Cash and traveler's checks: anything over USD 10,000 (or equivalent) must be declared, both on entry and on exit.

Special cases: stopovers and transits

Many travelers route through Incheon as a hub on their way to China, Japan or Southeast Asia. The rules hinge entirely on your nationality and your ticket.

You're from a visa-waiver country, stopping over at Incheon without leaving the international zone: no visa, no e-Arrival Card. You stay airside, catch your next flight, and that's it. Just confirm your bags are checked through to your final destination.

You're from a visa-waiver country, stopping over at Incheon and clearing immigration (a Seoul side trip between two flights, for example): you're entering Korea, so the K-ETA waiver + e-Arrival Card rules apply just as they would for a regular visit. When you board your next flight, you'll clear exit immigration. Incheon airport also runs a free, guided transit tours program (1 to 5 hours) for passengers with 4 to 24 hours of connecting time.

You're traveling on a passport from a country subject to Korean visa requirements: this is where it gets more complicated. As a general rule, transiting without leaving the international zone doesn't require a visa, but several nationalities need an airport transit visa even when they never leave the airside zone. The conditions change regularly, so your best references are the IATA Timatic database and the nearest Korean consulate.

South Korea + China combo on the same trip: China grants visa-free transit of 240 hours (10 days) to many nationalities (including US, UK, Canada, Australia, NZ and Ireland) on entry through 65 designated ports including Beijing and Shanghai, provided you have an onward ticket to a third country. Separately, several countries also enjoy short-stay tourist visa exemptions to China — verify exact conditions on the Chinese embassy website for your specific itinerary.

Tips / What to avoid

Fill out the e-Arrival Card from home the day before your flight, not on the plane: stable connection, screenshots, peace of mind.
Travel with a passport valid for at least 6 months beyond your return date: no formal Korean rule, but airlines often check this at the gate.
Don't bring any cured meats, even vacuum-sealed gifts: confiscation is almost automatic at inspection, and fines can reach several hundred dollars.
For a short trip, don't pay for K-ETA: the free waiver already covers you.
Watch out for third-party sites reselling "official K-ETA" or paid "e-Arrival Cards": these are intermediaries charging for a free or unneeded service.

Useful links

K-ETA — official site — electronic travel authorization, waiver info.
e-Arrival Card — mandatory arrival declaration since January 1, 2026.
Korea Customs Service — duty-free allowances, prohibited goods.
HiKorea — official immigration portal, visa categories.
Visit Korea — practical entry and stay info.