Prepare for your trip to Gangneung
Visitors entering the Republic of Korea (ROK) must hold a valid passport and visa to enter the country. Nationals of visa waiver or visa-free countries may enter the country without a visa for tourism purposes only. For any other purposes, such as employment or education, proper visas are required. Nationals of non-visa waiver countries must apply for visas at the nearest Korean embassy or consulate prior to entering the ROK.
Countries that are granted visa-free entry for general passport holders. Nationals of the following countries are allowed to enter and stay in ROK for up to 30 days of visa-free sojourn for tourism or visitation.
| Continent | Countries |
|---|---|
| Asia | Macau (90 days), Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Arab Emirates, Yemen, Oman, Japan (90 days), Qatar, Taiwan, Hong Kong (90 days), Kuwait, Bahrain (90 days) [12 countries] |
| North America | United States (90 days), Canada (6 months) [2 countries] |
| South America | Guyana, Guatemala, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay [6 countries] |
| Europe | Monaco, Vatican, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Cyprus, San Marino, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia (90 days), Andorra, Croatia [11 countries] |
| Oceania | Guam, Nauru, New Caledonia, Micronesia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Fiji, Australia (90 days), Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, Tonga [13 countries] |
| Africa | South Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Swaziland, Egypt [5 Countries] |
Once disembarking from your plane, follow the signs to get to immigrations. Non-resident foreigners must fill out an Arrival card like pictured below.
After going through immigrations and baggage claim, you must pass through the customs checkpoint before exiting the terminal. You must present your customs declaration form even if you have nothing to declare. If traveling with family, you may fill out one card for the entire family.
Instead of going through immigration with a live agent, participants of the SES program can go through immigrations through automatic gates in just 12 seconds. Find out more at www.ses.go.kr
Duty-free items cannot exceed 1 bottle of alcohol (1 liter), 1 cartons of cigarettes, and 60ml of perfume. (You must be at least 19 years of age to purchase alcohol and cigarettes in ROK.) Overall, duties and taxes are not required on goods worth up to a total of US$600. Also, if you are entering the country with more than US$10,000 (or its equivalent in foreign currencies) in cash, this must be declared.
For more information on customs, please refer to the official website of the Korea Customs Service.
Website : http://english.customs.go.kr
For more information related to immigrations, please refer to the official website of the Korea Immigration Service.
Website : http://www.hikorea.go.kr/pt/main_en.pt
Phone : 1345 (without area code)