Japanese Passport Holders: K-ETA Is Waived, But the e-Arrival Card Still Isn't Optional

At Narita Airport, waiting for her flight to Incheon, Sato Yuki (a pseudonym) was still wondering whether she needed to apply for K-ETA. Search results mixed years-old articles with the latest notices, making it hard to tell what was actually current. The short answer: Japanese passport holders do not need to apply for K-ETA right now. That doesn't mean there is nothing to prepare, though.

Quick facts: visa-free stays for tourism or short visits run up to 90 days, under the reciprocal visa-waiver agreement between Korea and Japan, which applies only if your passport has at least six months of validity left. K-ETA, Korea's Electronic Travel Authorization, is temporarily waived for citizens of 22 countries and regions, including Japan, through December 31, 2026. The e-Arrival Card, by contrast, became a mandatory online submission before arrival on January 1, 2026, and people exempt from K-ETA are still required to file it. You can submit it starting three days before arrival at the official site, e-arrivalcard.go.kr.

Start with the length of stay: Japanese passport holders visiting Korea for tourism or to see family can stay up to 90 days without a visa. According to the visa-waiver country guidance published by Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this rests on a reciprocal agreement between the two countries and applies only when at least six months remain on the passport's validity. K-ETA is the system Korea built so visa-exempt travelers register online in advance and get screened before arrival; nationals of 22 countries and regions, Japan among them, are temporarily exempt from having to apply for it through December 31, 2026. In practice, that means you can walk up to immigration without any K-ETA approval screen or number.

The story doesn't end there. From January 1, 2026, Korea scrapped the old paper arrival card handed out on the plane and made the e-Arrival Card mandatory instead. The system exempts people who actually hold an approved K-ETA, but travelers like Japanese nationals, who are exempt from applying for K-ETA in the first place, are still on the list of people required to file it. In other words, assuming 'K-ETA exempt means nothing to do' is exactly wrong. Filing takes just a few minutes on a phone or computer within three days of departure, entering your name, passport details, address in Korea, and flight number, and the QR code you receive afterward is what you show at immigration.

Two mistakes keep showing up at the airport. One is relying on outdated information and applying for K-ETA out of anxiety even though you're already exempt. The official fee guidance states the K-ETA application fee is 10,000 won per person, non-refundable regardless of the outcome, so an unnecessary application means throwing away 10,000 won for nothing. The other mistake runs the opposite way: not knowing the e-Arrival Card exists at all, then scrambling to fill it out on the plane or in the arrival hall, often without working Wi-Fi, which is exactly what makes the immigration line longer. The bottom line is simple: your 90-day stay is unaffected and K-ETA isn't something you need to apply for, but finishing the e-Arrival Card at e-arrivalcard.go.kr at least three days before departure is the one piece of homework worth doing in advance.