Visa policy of South Korea
[3] Travelers holding ordinary passports from eligible countries and territories must obtain a K-ETA before their departure to South Korea.
South Korea and Cameroon signed a visa exemption agreement for diplomatic and service passports in June 2024 and it is yet to be ratified.
The South Korean government has special visa waiver policies for passengers in transit, which are listed below.
[34] Citizens of the following countries and territories, as well as stateless persons and refugees, are not eligible for this service: 1.Non visa exemption citizens who are in transit through South Korea are exempt from visa requirements for 30 days, provided they hold a physical visa or a residence permit issued by the following countries, and meet one of the routing requirements: 1 - Holders of an e-Visa or e-resident permit are only permitted visa-free entry if they depart from Australia.
However, the above-mentioned nationalities are eligible if holding a Certificate of Invitation issued by Jeju Government or Jeju Island Immigration Office, or have previously visited South Korea for 3 times since 1996 or once since 2006 while holding permanent residence permits issued by Five Eyes countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States).
Group tourists of the following countries can travel visa-free to 'Gangwon-do' region of South Korea and the Seoul metropolitan area through Yangyang International Airport.
And group tourists of the following countries can travel visa-free to 'Jeollanam-do', 'Jeollabuk-do' and 'Jeju-do' regions of South Korea through Muan International Airport.
The Working Holiday Visa (H-1) is issued to young-adult foreigners in some countries which have reciprocal agreements with South Korea.
People between the ages of 18 and 25 or 30, depending on the country, are eligible for a South Korean working holiday visa.
A working holiday visa holder cannot be employed in certain jobs such as receptionist, dancer, singer, musician, acrobat, or in places of entertainment where they may endanger good morals and manners.
Immigration law allowed D-2 visa holders only to work part-time in some businesses which paid an average of 3000W per hour.
As of 2010[update], individuals wishing to apply for this visa on their own must invest a minimum of 50 million won.
However, there was also concern that some foreigners were taking advantage of the visa and using it to reside permanently in Korea without actually creating any business.
Concern was raised that the increase would do nothing to deter abuse of the visa and would instead discourage foreign investment in Korea.
[57] Increasing crime was cited as a reason for the regulations, but some teachers felt it was a moral panic reaction to the arrest of pedophile Christopher Paul Neil who had taught in South Korea, but did not have a criminal record at the time of his arrest and had never worked on an E-2 visa.
[59] Later in 2009, a challenge was filed with the National Human Rights Commission in Korea over the checks by law professor Benjamin Wagner.
[60][61] Professor Wagner represented two foreign teachers in cases against the allegedly discriminatory requirements that reached the Korea Constitutional Court[62] and went on to be decided in favour of the foreign teachers by the United Nations Human Rights Committee[63] and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
[64][65] In 2017, the Korean government subsequently announced that it was eliminating the HIV test requirement for foreign teachers on the E-2 visa.
[70] In 2010 the government announced that foreigners who invested over 500,000 USD on Jeju Island can also obtain an F-2 residency visa.
2 Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Russia and the partially recognised republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia each span the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia.
