South Korea entry requirements for Australians are relatively simple for a short holiday, but there are a few important things to prepare before you board your flight.
Australian passport holders can currently visit South Korea as tourists for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa, and Australians remain temporarily exempt from applying for a K-ETA until 31 December 2026.
However, K-ETA exemption doesn’t mean you can simply arrive without thinking about entry paperwork.
For many Australian tourists travelling without a K-ETA, the Korea e-Arrival Card is now an important part of preparing for arrival.
Here’s what to organise before your Korea trip.
Entry information checked: 16 August 2026. Immigration, visa, health and customs requirements can change, so always check the official government sources linked throughout this guide before travelling.
Quick Checklist Before Flying to South Korea
For a typical Australian tourist, your pre-flight checklist should look something like this:
| What to check | Typical Australian tourist |
|---|---|
| Passport | Required |
| Tourist visa | Usually not required for stays up to 90 days |
| K-ETA | Temporarily exempt until 31 Dec 2026 |
| e-Arrival Card | Generally required if entering without K-ETA |
| Korean accommodation details | Keep them handy |
| Return/onward travel details | Keep them accessible |
| Health/quarantine requirements | Check before departure |
| Customs restrictions | Check if carrying declarable/restricted goods |
This guide is for Australian passport holders travelling for a normal short tourist visit.
If you’re travelling for work, study, a long stay or another purpose, different visa rules may apply.
1. Do Australians Need a Visa for South Korea?
For most short holidays, no.
Australian passport holders can currently visit South Korea as tourists for up to 90 days without a visa.
The Australian Government’s South Korea travel advice on Smartraveller confirms the current arrangement.
That’s good news if you’re planning a typical one-, two- or three-week holiday to Seoul, Busan, Jeju or elsewhere in Korea.
But remember:
Visa-free entry is not permission to work or remain in Korea indefinitely.
If your purpose or length of stay falls outside normal tourist conditions, check the applicable Korean visa requirements before booking.
2. Do Australians Need a K-ETA?
This is where many travellers get confused.
Currently: no, for most Australian tourists.
The South Korean Government has extended the temporary K-ETA exemption for Australian passport holders until 31 December 2026.
So if you’re an Australian passport holder taking a normal short tourist trip during this exemption period, you don’t need to apply for a K-ETA solely because you’re visiting Korea.
Previously issued valid K-ETAs can still remain valid until their granted expiry date.
But don’t assume this will continue forever
The key date is:
31 December 2026
That’s why we’re deliberately not putting “2026” in this article’s URL or main title.
When the Korean Government changes or extends the policy, this guide can be updated without creating a new URL.
Before travelling, check the official K-ETA website rather than relying on an old travel blog or social-media post.
3. What Is the Korea e-Arrival Card?
This is probably the most important part of this guide.
South Korea introduced an electronic arrival declaration, called the e-Arrival Card.
Instead of waiting until arrival to complete an entry declaration, eligible travellers can submit it online before travelling.
The Korean Government says it can be submitted from three days before arrival in Korea.
Who needs it?
The official Korean system specifically lists people temporarily exempt from K-ETA among those required to submit an arrival declaration. Travellers with a valid K-ETA are among the groups exempt from the arrival declaration.
That makes this particularly relevant to Australian tourists during the current K-ETA exemption.
You can use the:
Official Korea e-Arrival Card website
The service is operated through an official Korean government domain.
4. When Should You Complete the e-Arrival Card?
Don’t try to complete it weeks before your holiday.
The e-Arrival Card becomes available within three days before your arrival in Korea.
For example, if you’re arriving in Seoul on Friday, make this one of the final tasks you complete shortly before departure.
Keep the following information accessible while completing your travel paperwork:
Passport details
Flight information
Arrival date
Accommodation details in Korea
Contact information
It makes the process much easier than searching through booking confirmations halfway through the form.
5. Be Careful With Fake e-Arrival Websites
This deserves special attention.
Whenever a country introduces a new electronic travel document, unofficial sites can appear in search results looking remarkably similar to government websites.
For Korea’s e-Arrival Card, start from the official government service:
Korea e-Arrival Card — Official Government Website
Don’t assume the first sponsored search result you see is the government website.
A useful clue is the official domain:
e-arrivalcard.go.kr
If a website asks for unexpected fees or unnecessary information, stop and verify where you are before proceeding.
6. What About Children Travelling to Korea?
Children travelling on Australian passports still need their own valid travel documents.
If you’re travelling as a family, don’t assume one parent’s arrival information automatically covers every traveller.
Check each family member against the official e-Arrival Card requirements before departure.
The Korean government’s e-Arrival Card website includes a navigator that lets travellers check whether they need to submit an arrival declaration based on their travel status.
Check whether you need an e-Arrival Card
For families, it’s worth doing this several days before departure even though the actual e-Arrival Card submission window opens closer to arrival.
7. Do I Need Q-CODE to Enter Korea?
Not every Australian tourist automatically needs to complete Q-CODE simply because they’re travelling to Korea.
However, this is one area worth checking shortly before departure.
As of the latest Australian Government travel advice, Australia is included among Korea’s Quarantine Inspection Required Areas. If you’re arriving from one of these areas and have symptoms of illness, Smartraveller says you’ll need to register through Korea’s Q-CODE system before arrival or complete a health questionnaire when you arrive.
The important distinction is:
Coming from Australia does not mean every healthy traveller should automatically assume they need Q-CODE.
Health and quarantine rules can also change more quickly than normal immigration rules.
So check Smartraveller shortly before your flight rather than relying on something you read months earlier.
8. What Happens When You Arrive at Incheon Airport?
For most tourists, arrival is fairly straightforward.
After leaving the aircraft, you’ll follow signs toward immigration.
Have your passport and relevant arrival information ready.
After immigration, collect your checked baggage and continue toward customs.
If you have nothing that needs declaring, you’ll normally follow the appropriate nothing-to-declare process. If you’re carrying goods that must be declared, declare them rather than guessing.
The Korea Customs Service traveller information provides official guidance on customs, restricted items and traveller allowances.
Then you’re officially in Korea.
And this is where the trip becomes much more interesting.
9. Understand Korean Customs Before You Pack
Entry requirements aren’t only about passports.
What you’re carrying matters too.
Korea Customs currently lists a general traveller tax exemption allowance of US$800 or less for taxable goods, with separate rules applying to categories such as alcohol, tobacco and perfume. Restricted goods are subject to their own requirements regardless of the duty-free threshold.
Agricultural, livestock and fishery products are also subject to specific limitations.
So if you’re travelling with unusual foods, plants, animal products, medication or high-value goods, don’t rely on assumptions.
Check:
Korea Customs Service Passenger Guide
before packing.
If you’re unsure whether something needs declaring, checking before departure is much easier than dealing with it at the border.
10. Keep Your Korean Accommodation Details Handy
One small thing can save a surprising amount of airport stress:
Screenshot your first accommodation booking.
Keep the hotel name, address and phone number accessible offline.
Don’t rely entirely on Wi-Fi or mobile data immediately after landing.
I also recommend keeping offline copies of:
your flight booking
travel insurance
accommodation confirmation
passport information page
important travel reservations
You may never need most of them.
That’s exactly what you want.
11. Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Visa-free doesn’t mean risk-free.
Medical treatment overseas can become expensive, and disrupted flights, lost luggage or cancelled accommodation can quickly turn a relatively inexpensive holiday into a costly one.
Smartraveller recommends appropriate travel insurance for overseas travel and provides destination-specific safety information for South Korea.
This is also something to check before leaving Australia rather than after something goes wrong.
12. Flying From Australia? Start With the Right Route
If you haven’t booked your flight yet, read our guide:
→ Flights from Australia to South Korea: Best Direct & Stopover Options
We compare direct options from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane as well as short-stop itineraries from Perth, including Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and lower-cost alternatives.
This creates our Korea Guide journey:
Australia → Choose your flight → Prepare entry documents → Arrive in Korea → Get into Seoul
And that’s exactly where we’re heading next.
Before You Leave Australia: Final Checklist
A day or two before departure, run through everything one last time.
✓ Passport ready
✓ Confirm your stay qualifies for visa-free entry
✓ Check the latest K-ETA requirements
✓ Complete the e-Arrival Card if required
✓ Save Korean accommodation details
✓ Check current health and quarantine requirements
✓ Check customs rules for anything unusual in your luggage
✓ Save flight and hotel confirmations offline
✓ Confirm travel insurance
✓ Check Smartraveller for any last-minute updates
Ten minutes spent checking these things at home can save a lot of stress at the airport.
Final Thoughts
For most holidaymakers, South Korea entry requirements for Australians are straightforward.
Australian passport holders can currently visit for tourism for up to 90 days without a visa, and the temporary K-ETA exemption continues until 31 December 2026.
The biggest change for many travellers is the e-Arrival Card, which allows eligible visitors to complete their arrival declaration online within three days before entering Korea.
The most important rule is simple:
Check the official information again shortly before you fly.
Immigration and health rules can change, and a guide written even a few months earlier can become outdated.
Once the paperwork is done, though, the boring part is over.
You’ve chosen your flight.
Your passport is ready.
Your entry paperwork is sorted.
Next stop: Korea.
And in the next OzKore Korea Guide, we’ll look at what happens after you land — the easiest ways to get from Incheon Airport to Seoul.
FAQ
Do Australians need a visa to visit South Korea?
Australian passport holders can currently visit South Korea as tourists for up to 90 days without a visa.
Do Australians need K-ETA in 2026?
Australian passport holders are temporarily exempt from K-ETA until 31 December 2026. Always check for changes before travelling.
Do Australians need the Korea e-Arrival Card?
Travellers who are temporarily K-ETA exempt are among those required to submit an arrival declaration. A valid K-ETA is one of the exemptions from that declaration. Use the official navigator to confirm your individual situation.
When can I complete the Korea e-Arrival Card?
The Korean Government allows eligible travellers to submit it online starting three days before arrival in Korea.
Is the Korea e-Arrival Card free?
Use only the official Korean government e-Arrival Card website. The official government service should be your starting point rather than third-party application websites.