Korea e-Arrival Card for Tourists, Students, and Working Holiday: File It Before You Board

Korea is phasing out the little paper arrival card. Since February 24, 2025, the Ministry of Justice runs an online entry declaration called the e-Arrival Card, filed at the official portal e-arrivalcard.go.kr. The portal’s own words: “No fee required.” It takes about five minutes on a phone, and it has to be submitted within 3 days before you arrive. Tourists entering visa-free without a K-ETA, students on a first D-2 or D-4 entry, and working holiday (H-1) arrivals all file it; approved K-ETA holders and Korean Residence Card holders do not.

Most of the confusion is not about how to fill it in. It is about timing, and about whether you personally need it at all. Both are worth a closer look, along with the one other thing worth doing before boarding: making sure your phone has data the moment you land.

Submit inside the 3-day window, not before

The official portal, e-arrivalcard.go.kr, instructs travelers to “complete and submit within 3 days before arrival in Korea”, the window commonly written as 72 hours. Submitting a week ahead does not work: an early e-Arrival Card declaration expires before you land, and you would need to file again.

The practical routine is to file it the same day you pack, or from the departure lounge. If your flight changes or you typed the wrong hotel, submit a fresh declaration with the corrected details. Immigration reads the most recent submission tied to your passport number.

Do you need an e-Arrival Card? Tourists, students, working holiday

The portal has a one-screen navigator that asks what you hold (visa, K-ETA, Residence Card, or none) and tells you whether you need to file. The short version by traveler type:

• Tourists with an approved K-ETA (Korea Electronic Travel Authorization): exempt. The portal’s navigator treats a valid K-ETA as already covering the requirement.
• Tourists entering visa-free without a K-ETA: you file the e-Arrival Card. Being waived from K-ETA is not the same as being waived from this declaration: no approved K-ETA means you file.
• Students arriving on a D-2 or D-4 visa for the first time: you file it. Your visa gets you in the door; the arrival declaration is a separate step.
• Working holiday (H-1) first arrivals: same as students, you file it.
• Anyone already holding a Korean Residence Card (외국인등록증, still widely called an ARC): exempt. Enter with your card and passport as usual.

One declaration per traveler, children included. A parent can fill the forms in one sitting, but each passport needs its own submission. Crew, transit, and Smart Entry Service cases sit outside this guide.

The two fields that stall people: address and phone

Passport and flight details are copy work. The fields travelers actually stop on are the Korean address and the local contact number.

For the address, your first accommodation is what the form wants: the hotel or guesthouse from your booking, a university dormitory, or the room your working holiday agency arranged. For the contact number, a hotel front desk number works for tourists, and a school office number works for students. Numbers from your home country may not be accepted, so have a Korean one ready before you open the form.

One device note: the mobile passport-scan step misreads on some phones. Typing the passport details manually is usually faster than retrying the camera.

Five minutes on e-arrivalcard.go.kr

1. Put your passport, flight number, accommodation address, and a Korean contact number in front of you.
2. Open e-arrivalcard.go.kr directly. The government form is free, so any site charging a “processing fee” for it is a middleman you do not need.
3. Fill in the declaration and submit.
4. Screenshot the confirmation screen. Officers can retrieve your submission by scanning your passport, so you will rarely be asked for it, but the screenshot ends any doubt at the desk.

Data is the other pre-flight task

Everything that makes arrival easy in Korea sits behind mobile data: the taxi app at the curb, the map to your hotel, the message telling your family you landed. Home-carrier roaming handles this at daily rates that add up fast on a two-week trip, and airport SIM counters mean standing in a queue after a long flight.

The quieter option is a Korea data eSIM ordered before you fly. Ours come in 5GB, 10GB, and 20GB versions on 15-day or 30-day plans, run on KT’s network, and start at $9.99. The QR code arrives by email, usually within minutes of ordering. Install it at home, board your flight, and switch it on when you land; validity only starts at activation. For a one-to-two-week trip, the 5GB plan covers maps, translation, and messaging with room to spare.

Students and working holiday makers have one extra thing to plan for: a data-only eSIM never includes a Korean phone number, and you will eventually need a real one for banking apps and identity verification (본인인증). The path most of our long-stay customers take is to arrive on prepaid data, then move to the 60GB prepaid bundle that converts to a 12-month KT postpaid contract once the Residence Card is issued. You keep the same setup from day one and pick up the phone number when your paperwork allows it.

If you are still deciding between pocket WiFi, roaming, and a SIM, we broke that comparison down in WiFi vs SIM in Korea.

Quick questions

I haven’t booked accommodation yet. What address do I use?

The form wants your first night’s address, so book at least that before filing. If plans change afterward, submit a new declaration with the updated address inside the 3-day window.

Do children need their own e-Arrival Card?

Yes. The declaration is per passport, including minors. A parent can complete each one back to back on the same phone.

What if I completely forget?

You still get in. As of the Ministry of Justice’s most recent public statement (March 2026), Korea accepts paper and electronic arrival cards in parallel until an official phase-out is announced. Treat the paper card as the backup, not the plan: it means a tray-table form and a borrowed pen while everyone who filed online walks past you at immigration.