For Canadian Citizens :
Canadian passport holders do not require a visa for the entry purpose of a short term visit (e.g Tourism, Visiting friends or relatives, Attending business meetings) up to 180 days. Permission to stay is given at the time of entry. If Canadian citizens wish to engage in remunerative activities during their stay in Korea, they must obtain a Korean visa.
Countries under Visa Waiver Agreements
Nationals of visa waiver countries can enter Korea without a visa as long as the purpose of their visit is tourism or temporary visit. If they want to engage in profitable activities such as employment, they must apply for a Korean visa suitable for their purpose.
Considering international convention, mutuality doctrine, national profit and other such factors, certain countries are granted visa-free entry permissions. (49 countries as of November, 2005)
Nationals of the following countries are allowed up to 30 days of visa-free sojourn for tourism or visitation
Exceptions: Canada is allowed up to 6 months, and Australia, Hong Kong, Slovenia, and Japan are allowed up to 90 days.
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Continent
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Countries
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Asia
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Macau, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Arab Emirates, Yemen, Oman,
Japan (90 days), Qatar, Taiwan, Hong Kong (90 days), Kuwait
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North America
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United States, Canada (180 days)
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South America
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Guyana, Guatemala, Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Honduras,
Uruguay, Paraguay
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Europe
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Monaco, Vatican, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, San Marino,
Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia (90 days), Andorra, Croatia,
Albania
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Oceania
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Guam, Nauru, New Caledonia, Micronesia, Samoa, Solomon
Islands, Kiribati, Fiji, Australia (90 days), Marshall Islands,
Palau
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Africa
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South Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Swaziland, Egypt
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Frequent visitors
Eligible countries
Applicable to all countries (save for China, Cuba, and Macedonia) that are not granted visa-free entry into Korea.
Applicable to
Those who made more than 4 visits to Korea in the past two years, or more than 10 visits overall may enter Korea without a Korean visa as long as they have no Immigration offence or other criminal records.
※ Chinese nationals meeting the above requirements will be issued appropriate visas as per discretion of the Head of the local foreign office.
Transit tourists bound for another country
Eligible countries
Applicable to all countries (save for Cuba, and Macedonia) that are not granted visa-free entry into Korea.
Applicable to
Those with a visa or a re-entry permit for U.S., Japan, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand (5 countries) and traveling to any one of those countries through Korea.
Those traveling from any one of the five countries mentioned above, whose final destination is not Korea.
Requirements
Must have a confirmed onward flight ticket for departure within 30 days after entering Korea, in addition to having no record of criminal offence in the five countries mentioned above.
Europe bound Chinese transit tourists
Eligible foreigners
Chinese citizens with an entry visa (including permanent residency visa) for 1 of the 30 nations listed below and connecting flight tickets to the final destination.
Example) China -> Korea -> Europe, Europe -> Korea -> China
30 European countries
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Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Rumania, Luxemburg,
Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Malta, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Iceland, Ireland, Estonia, United Kingdom, Austria, Italy, Czech, Cyprus,
Portugal, Poland, France, Finland, Hungary
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※ Not applicable to the following:
Those being forcefully relocated back to China from Europe
Those traveling through Europe as a part of a group tour
Japanese tourists/travelers
An agreement was made between Korean and Japanese governments on March 1st, 2006 in the interest of reciprocity and encouraging individual interchanges between Korea and Japan. Based on this agreement, nationals of both countries whose purpose of travel is short term visit or tourism are granted visa exemption, so long as the following conditions are met.
Duration of stay: Up to 90 days
Purpose: Tourism, business, attendance of a conference, private visit (relatives, friends, etc), or any such non-profit activities.
Special Entry arrangements for the Jeju island
Eligible foreigners
Nationals of all countries not allowed visa-free entry into Korea (save for the exceptions listed below) that enters via Jeju airport for tourism or transit.
Special entry arrangements for Jeju island is denied to nationals of the following 11 countries.
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Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Cuba, Syria, Macedonia, Palestine, Afghanistan, Nigeria
Ghana
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Duration of stay: Up to 30 days
Permitted area / range: Jeju island
Conditions of entry: Those that arrive directly into Jeju island by flights or ships.
Re-entry permit holders
Registered foreigners with re-entry permit that enters Korea within the given re-entry date are allowed to enter without a visa.
Registered foreigners who are nationals of countries that are exempt from re-entry permit (listed below) may enter without a visa as long as it is within their initial period of sojourn.
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France, Suriname, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Sweden,
Denmark, Norway, Finland, Liechtenstein, Germany
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APEC Business Travel Card
In order to facilitate smooth economic operations of economists, visa-free entry is permitted to those that meet the following conditions.
Eligible countries (16 countries as of January, 2006)
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Australia, France, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru,
Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Papua New
Guinea.
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Eligibility
APEC Business Travel Card holders are given Short Term Business (C-2) visa status, and are allowed to stay for up to 90 days.
The most recent information about visa waiver agreements is available at
www.immigration.go.kr -> click English
: Dec 18, 1965
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