Get approved on the first attempt so you never pay twice
Quick answer
Apply at www.k-eta.go.kr or in the K-ETA app with a passport that has enough validity left, a plain-background face photo, a working email, your address in Korea, and a card that works online. The flow is: scan the passport page, check the auto-read data, enter trip details, answer the health and history questions, then pay. The result arrives by email and is viewable on the site.
Step one is the passport. The system photographs the data page and reads it automatically. Shoot in good light with no shadow across the machine-readable strip, then re-check the name spelling and passport number by eye, because auto-reading can misread characters.
Step two is the face photo: front-facing, whole face visible, plain light background, no hat or sunglasses, nobody else in frame. A phone photo is fine if it is sharp and unfiltered.
Step three is trip data: approximate travel dates, flight, purpose, and your address and contact number in Korea. If the full itinerary is not fixed, enter the first night you have genuinely booked. Never invent an address — a mismatch at the border is what triggers extra questioning.
Step four is the questionnaire: prior entry refusals, criminal record, communicable disease and recent travel. Answer truthfully — concealment that can be cross-checked later hurts far more than a candid answer.
Finally, pay with a card enabled for overseas transactions and keep the application number. Most results arrive within a few hours and no later than 72 hours. Printing is not required, but screenshot the approval in case the airline asks at check-in.
Yes, through the official website or the K-ETA app, which makes photographing the passport easier.
Yes, group filing is supported, but each person's details must match their own passport exactly.
Yes — approximate dates are accepted, and the approval covers multiple trips within its validity.
Some fields can be amended online, but core data such as the passport number usually requires a new application and a new fee.
No — the official site offers Thai and English.
3 points • reviewed 2026-09-15
Reviewed and last updated: 2026-09-15
2 sources • every claim is traceable
https://www.mfds.go.kr/eng/index.do
https://www.mohw.go.kr/eng/
Last updated: 2026-09-15 · This content is for information only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified doctor before making treatment decisions.
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