Hi,

I would like to go to South Korea on vacation (1 week) from Thailand with my Thai wife. I heard about the K-ETA ? Is it hard to get it ? If i get it, am i sure i will be accepted by South Korean immigration officials ? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Edited December 28, 20232 yr by steph83

I visited S.Korea Seoul 6 months ago… You must have a valid U.S. passport to enter Korea. From April 1, 2023, to December 31, 2024, the Korean Electronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA) is not required for US citizens for stays of 90 days or less that are for tourism or business purposes.

 

You didn’t mention your country which would be helpful…. easy enough to use google for your specific country..

 

From Google: "The full list of 22 countries temporarily exempt from K-ETA are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Macao, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, UK, US (including Guam)." Would note I don't see Thailand in that list (i.e., I have zero clue what requirements involve your Thai wife).

The K-ETA is easy to do online and allows entry without having to fill out the arrival card.  I applied for one 4 months ago and had it within 3 days. 

Edited December 29, 20232 yr by CMBob

I was thinking of taking my Thai wife there, to experience snow that would be fun IMO Jan-Feb is the best time apparently. But only about 2-3" of snow.

Easily done online with quick response. Cost about 280 baht.

My Lao wife and I are on the way to their Embassy this morning.  Lao Citizens are a little more difficult to get. We will only be there one day to board a cruise 

On 12/29/2023 at 10:12 AM, Dirk Z said:

Easily done online with quick response. Cost about 280 baht.

280 baht?? it's asking me for $99!

23 minutes ago, pkspeaker said:

280 baht?? it's asking me for $99!

Good job it's declining your plastic then.

 

Are you on their official website? I did mine around this time last year and it was so easy, I can't recall the procedure nor the cost.

23 minutes ago, pkspeaker said:

280 baht?? it's asking me for $99!

Would that be the official website or one of the many non-official ones?

https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/nl-en/brd/m_6971/view.do?seq=761638

tx looks like you guys just prevented me from getting scammed

There is the official K-ETA website from the government, that I was referring to, but a search will also lead you to official looking sites, which they are not. So beware.

 

This seems to be the official website: https://www.k-eta.go.kr/portal/apply/index.do

Edited March 1, 20242 yr by Dirk Z

I was in South Korean 2 weeks ago for few days with my Thai girlfriend (I said girlfriend because we are not officially but we have been living together for 18 years already and live in the same house in Thailand).

We also went for the first time to South Korea last September 2023 for a week holidays.

So in Sept we both applied for K-ETA through the official website and got apprpved (mine took few minute for approval as French passport but for my girlfriend took few days before approval). Well all good.

When we arrived at Incheon airport, I let my girlfriend pass first the immigration.

When she gave her passport to the officer, immediately the officer stand up anf shout "Thai passport!". Another officer arrived and asked to follow him to a interrogation room. I then want to follow them but they instruct me proceed immigration for me and wait outside! Immigration check took me only few minutes and then I wait right after the immigration point for my girlfriend. Half hours later, an immigration officer to question me: are you living together? How long? Are living in the house..? One point is that i am working in Vietnam and doing a lot of go and back between Vietnam and Thailand. 

That day we flew together directly from Saigon to Seoul. They were very confused why I was pretending living with my girfriend in Thailand but was working in Vietnam...

I started to get inpatient and annoyed and told them at some that if there was problem, that was ok for us and could cancel our holidays in Korea and take the next plane to Tokyo instead...(even we had hotels booked in Korea and return flight from Seoul to Saigon).

Few minutes later, my girlfriend was released, fully cleared immigration. She told me that they questioned a lot (in Thai), she had to show photos of us on her phone (glad she use Google photo as photo storage...) but they were insisting to show them her expired passport (she renewed her passport in 2022). Anyway, finally all good and we enjoyed our holidays.

The K-ETA once approved is valid for 2 years.

So when we went back last month to Seoul, we didn't re-applied for it.

This time, all went well on arrival. No question asked and only few minutes at the immigration check.

On 2/29/2024 at 9:51 PM, pkspeaker said:

tx looks like you guys just prevented me from getting scammed

There are warnings on the official site to such “agents” who charge a lot of money for something near free that takes minutes to apply for . You can still get the K-ETA if you want I have it. The  only benefit being  as I can tell,

You don’t have to fill out an immigration  card.

Customs forms were abolished completely last year. 

Edited March 24, 20242 yr by Captain Monday

On 3/2/2024 at 9:45 AM, jphasia said:

I was in South Korean 2 weeks ago for few days with my Thai girlfriend (I said girlfriend because we are not officially but we have been living together for 18 years already and live in the same house in Thailand).

We also went for the first time to South Korea last September 2023 for a week holidays.

So in Sept we both applied for K-ETA through the official website and got apprpved (mine took few minute for approval as French passport but for my girlfriend took few days before approval). Well all good.

When we arrived at Incheon airport, I let my girlfriend pass first the immigration.

When she gave her passport to the officer, immediately the officer stand up anf shout "Thai passport!". Another officer arrived and asked to follow him to a interrogation room. I then want to follow them but they instruct me proceed immigration for me and wait outside! Immigration check took me only few minutes and then I wait right after the immigration point for my girlfriend. Half hours later, an immigration officer to question me: are you living together? How long? Are living in the house..? One point is that i am working in Vietnam and doing a lot of go and back between Vietnam and Thailand. 

That day we flew together directly from Saigon to Seoul. They were very confused why I was pretending living with my girfriend in Thailand but was working in Vietnam...

I started to get inpatient and annoyed and told them at some that if there was problem, that was ok for us and could cancel our holidays in Korea and take the next plane to Tokyo instead...(even we had hotels booked in Korea and return flight from Seoul to Saigon).

Few minutes later, my girlfriend was released, fully cleared immigration. She told me that they questioned a lot (in Thai), she had to show photos of us on her phone (glad she use Google photo as photo storage...) but they were insisting to show them her expired passport (she renewed her passport in 2022). Anyway, finally all good and we enjoyed our holidays.

The K-ETA once approved is valid for 2 years.

So when we went back last month to Seoul, we didn't re-applied for it.

This time, all went well on arrival. No question asked and only few minutes at the immigration check.

i have been to korea with a Thai woman 2 times and such a thing never happened, last time we went (a month ago) we both got 3 months with visa on arrival.. 3 months is pretty generous for a visa on arrival.. 

The K-ETA process is actually pretty straightforward. You just apply online, fill out some details, and get an approval usually within 24 hours. As long as you’re traveling for tourism and meet the basic criteria, it’s pretty much a given that you’ll be accepted. That said, always double-check the info on the official website to avoid any hiccups. I’ve been to South Korea a few times, and once I had the K-ETA, the process at immigration was smooth. For your stay, I recommend the mercure hotel in Seoul—it’s great for travelers, and we stayed there during one trip.