Korea’s e-Arrival Card is free on the official government website. If a page asks you to pay to submit that form, check the address before entering payment or passport details. First establish whether you need an arrival card: being exempt from K-ETA and holding a valid K-ETA lead to different answers.
The Ministry of Justice’s warning about imitation websites, issued March 21, 2025, confirms that its official e-Arrival Card service never charges a fee. This guide checks the government instructions as of October 23, 2026.
Do you need an arrival card if you have K-ETA?
Use this table for common situations, then check the official declaration guide for your documents and entry category.
| Your situation on entry | Arrival-card decision |
|---|---|
| Entering with a valid K-ETA | Generally excluded from the arrival-card requirement. |
| K-ETA exempt, without a valid K-ETA | Exemption from K-ETA does not itself exempt you from the arrival card. |
| Entering on an ordinary Korean visa | Visa holders are generally subject to declaration. Having a K-ETA as well does not remove the requirement when entering with the visa. |
| Valid Korean residence card or Korean citizenship | These are excluded categories. |
Group visas and other special categories have separate exceptions; this table is not an exhaustive eligibility list. The government site’s Guide → Navigator helps check the documents you hold.
The arrival card and K-ETA are separate systems. An arrival declaration does not replace a required visa or travel authorization. Before planning around an exemption, check the current requirements for your passport, purpose and travel date through the official sites linked in that guide or a Korean consulate.
When should you submit? Count the Korean arrival date
The official FAQ explains the submission window with a January 31 arrival: January 29, 30 or 31, before immigration. It uses Korea Standard Time. This is a window that includes arrival day, rather than an instruction to submit at least three days in advance.
Here is the same counting method applied to a hypothetical month-end trip:
| Arrival in Korea | Submission dates in Korea time |
|---|---|
| October 31, 2026 | October 29, 30 or 31 |
| November 1, 2026 | October 30, 31 or November 1 |
| November 2, 2026 | October 31, November 1 or 2 |
Take the arrival date from your flight itinerary. Your departure date at home may be different. For a November 1 arrival, setting a reminder for October 30 in Korea time avoids treating October 29 as the first submission day. Confirm the dates offered by the official form.
The government guide also states that a submitted card expires after 72 hours, or after you complete Korean immigration. If a delay changes your arrival, check the submission’s validity and update the details; an expired card requires a fresh submission. A later re-entry needs a new arrival card if you are still subject to declaration.
Complete the official form without a payment step
Open e-arrivalcard.go.kr directly and select English if needed. The official procedure takes you through these stages:
- Read the terms and provide your email. Use an address you can access during travel.
- Enter passport details. Review every field after a passport scan; manual entry is available when the scan does not work.
- Enter the itinerary and stay information. Have your flight details and accommodation address ready, and follow the fields shown for your trip.
- Review the information before submitting. Check the passport number against the passport itself, and the arrival date against the Korea arrival on your ticket.
- Save the submission details. The procedure provides a PDF and email record with an issue number.
For a family, the individual form supports up to nine people. The official procedure says someone 14 or younger cannot be the representative declarant; that is a restriction on who completes the submission, not a statement that a child can never be included. Check each traveler’s declaration category separately.
What if the flight or hotel changes?
Use Check/Edit on the official website before immigration. The guide allows changes to stay information, purpose and departure date; arrival-date corrections are limited to three days from the original submission. Check whether the existing card remains valid before relying on an edit after a substantial delay.
You do not have to present a printed e-Arrival Card at inspection, although saving the issue number can help. If you have not submitted before landing, the FAQ says you can complete an electronic or paper arrival card before immigration. Completing the electronic form ahead of travel removes that task from your arrival routine; it does not guarantee entry or a shorter queue.
A short departure checklist
- Check your entry category, including any visa or K-ETA requirement, separately from the arrival declaration.
- Open the official government address and check that the form is free.
- Use the Korean arrival date to choose your submission day.
- Compare the submitted passport, flight and stay details against your actual documents.
- Save the issue number and recheck the details if your plans change.
Once the entry paperwork is settled, plan the journey to your accommodation. Our Incheon airport-to-Myeongdong comparison covers the transport choice; if you land late, start with the Incheon night-bus guide. For access to email and flight updates on arrival, use the Korea eSIM and airport SIM comparison to check your phone and service needs.