Korea e-Arrival Card: K-ETA Visa Exception

If you will enter South Korea under a valid K-ETA, you are normally exempt from the separate e-Arrival card. There is one decisive exception: if you hold a K-ETA but will enter with a visa, Korea's Ministry of Justice says you must complete the e-Arrival card. Use the status under which you will actually enter, not nationality or possession of a K-ETA by itself.

Match the form to your actual entry status

Status for this entry	Separate arrival card?	Why
Valid K-ETA, entering under that K-ETA	No	K-ETA holders are in the declaration-exempt group.
Valid K-ETA, but entering with a visa	Yes	The Ministry of Justice expressly removes this situation from the K-ETA-holder exemption.
Valid Korean foreigner registration card, permanent residence card or overseas-Korean domestic residence report card	No	These valid residence credentials are listed as declaration exemptions.
A group-visa or group-entry category specifically listed by the Ministry of Justice	No	The exemption is tied to the listed nationality, application channel and group-entry scheme; do not assume every group visa qualifies.
Exempt from applying for K-ETA, but not an actual K-ETA holder	Yes	K-ETA exemption and arrival-card exemption are different rules.
Individual visa holder without another listed exemption	Yes	Visa holders are among the people required to declare.

The controlling source is the Ministry of Justice's Individuals Subject to Declaration guide. It lists actual K-ETA holders separately from people who are exempt from obtaining K-ETA and gives the visa-entry exception for K-ETA holders.

Do not confuse K-ETA exemption with arrival-card exemption

The official guide puts several people in the arrival-card-required K-ETA-exempt lane: nationals covered by a temporary K-ETA exemption; nationals of K-ETA countries who are age 17 or younger or age 65 or older; and eligible diplomatic, official or recognised special-passport holders. Their nationality, age or passport can remove the need to apply for K-ETA, but that fact alone does not remove the arrival declaration.

The same required-to-declare side of the guide also identifies active-duty personnel entering under the US–Korea Status of Forces Agreement with the specified military ID and orders, holders of a United Nations laissez-passer, valid APEC Business Travel Card holders and specified crew cases. These are specialist routes: use the official guide's navigator rather than treating a special credential as an automatic exemption.

On the exempt side, Korean nationals do not file; the guide says dual nationals who also hold Korean nationality must use a Korean passport for immigration. The group categories are narrower than the phrase “e-Group visa” suggests. They include specified tour groups using stated visa or visa-free schemes, so confirm the traveller's nationality, application channel and port scheme on the official guide instead of generalising from another group's result.

The document label is not enough. A valid K-ETA used for K-ETA entry and a K-ETA held by someone entering on a visa produce opposite answers.

If you must file, count three Korea dates

Korea's tourism guidance says online submission is accepted on the arrival date and the two preceding calendar dates, calculated in Korea Standard Time (GMT+9). For an arrival dated 14 October in Korea, the filing dates are 12, 13 and 14 October in Korea time. Do not calculate from the date at your departure airport.

Submit through the official e-Arrival card portal. After a successful online submission, the official guidance says a printed copy is not required at immigration. The VISITKOREA page carrying those timing and print rules identifies its last update as 7 March 2025 and was rechecked for this article on 13 October 2026.

The pre-flight check

Identify the status you will use at immigration: K-ETA, individual visa, residence credential, a listed group route or another special status.
If you hold both a K-ETA and a visa, confirm which one governs this entry. File the arrival card if you are entering with the visa.
If you are merely exempt from applying for K-ETA because of nationality, age or passport type, do not mistake that for an arrival-card waiver.
If you need to file, use the official .go.kr portal during the three Korea-calendar-date window.

For mobile data after arrival, compare South Korea eSIM plans separately. Connectivity does not change your immigration status or form requirement.