South Korea Visa for Indians 2026: Fees, Documents, Jeju Rule

Published 2026-10-27 · 8 min read · By the Travlys visa team

Indians need a C-3-9 tourist visa for South Korea, and K-ETA is not open to Indian passports. Since 1 October 2026, Mumbai-jurisdiction applicants, including Gujarat, must apply through a designated travel agency.

Indian passport holders need a visa for South Korea. For a holiday, that is the C-3-9 short-term tourist visa: you fill the e-form on visa.go.kr and submit it in India. K-ETA does not apply to Indians. The fee is ₹3,600 for single entry from August 2026, and the Mumbai consulate quotes 10 working days. The exception is Jeju Island, where Indians can stay visa-free for up to 30 days if they fly in directly and do not leave the island.

At a glance: Visa needed: Yes, C-3-9 for tourism. K-ETA: Not available to Indian passports. Fee: ₹3,600 single entry up to 90 days; ₹8,100 multiple entry; service charges extra. Processing: About 10 working days (Mumbai consulate). Where to submit: VFS Global in New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai or Bengaluru; Mumbai jurisdiction, including Gujarat, through designated travel agencies only from 1 October 2026. Visa format: No sticker; print the Visa Grant Notice. Stay: Up to 90 days on single entry. Jeju: Visa-free 30 days on direct arrival only. Arrival card: e-Arrival card online up to 3 days before landing.

Do Indians need a visa for South Korea?

Yes. The Korean Consulate General in Mumbai states that India is not eligible for K-ETA and that all Indian nationals must obtain a visa through a Korean mission. K-ETA is the online authorisation for visa-free nationalities. Korea has extended a temporary K-ETA exemption for 22 countries until 31 December 2026, which is why you may see no-K-ETA headlines. They do not apply to Indian passports.

The consulate has also warned about fake portals that imitate the Korea Visa Portal and sell fake Korean visas to Indians. The only official portal is visa.go.kr. There is no Korean e-visa you can buy online as an Indian tourist.

Where to apply from India

Where you submit depends on the state you live in, according to the Korean Embassy's jurisdiction list.

• Embassy in New Delhi: Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, the north-eastern states, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Submit at the VFS Global Korea Visa Application Centre in New Delhi (Connaught Place) or Kolkata. A new New Delhi centre was inaugurated on 15 September 2026.
• Consulate General in Mumbai: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. From 1 October 2026, applications go through a designated travel agency only. Walk-in applications at the consulate are no longer accepted. The agency list on the consulate's website was updated on 19 October 2026.
• Consulate General in Chennai: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Lakshadweep. Submit at VFS Global in Chennai or Bengaluru.

VFS Global runs the Korea Visa Application Centres (KVAC) in India. It only collects documents. The visa decision stays with the embassy or consulate.

Fees

• Single entry, up to 90 days: ₹3,600 (express ₹6,300 in Mumbai).
• Single entry, over 90 days: ₹5,400.
• Double entry (30-day stays, valid 6 months): ₹6,300 in Mumbai's list.
• Multiple entry: ₹8,100.

The Embassy in New Delhi applied these rates from 1 August 2026 and the Mumbai consulate from 3 August 2026, citing exchange rates. VFS service charges or the designated agency's fee are extra.

Processing time

In a notice dated 26 October 2026, the Mumbai consulate gave a standard processing time of 10 working days and said requests for urgent processing will not be entertained. It asks applicants to apply at least a month before travel. Its tourist visa checklist says first-time tourist visa applicants are not eligible for express service. The Embassy and the Chennai consulate do not publish a separate figure on the pages we checked, so allow three to four weeks.

Documents for the C-3-9 tourist visa

This list is from the Mumbai consulate's checklist effective 24 August 2026. The Embassy in New Delhi asks for the same core financial documents: two years of ITR and six months of bank statements.

• Original passport valid at least six months, with two blank pages, plus a copy of the first and last pages.
• One photo, 3.5 x 4.5 cm, white background.
• Printed e-form from visa.go.kr, signed on the last page, with your Aadhaar number in the National Identity No. field.
• Copies of Aadhaar and PAN.
• Covering letter with your name, date of birth, passport number, mobile, purpose and length of stay.
• Day-by-day itinerary, refundable hotel booking and confirmed refundable flight ticket.
• Two years of income tax returns, or a written explanation if you have not filed.
• Six months of bank statements with the bank's original seal and signature.
• Employment certificate on company letterhead with original seal and signature. Digitally signed certificates are not accepted. Self-employed applicants give business registration or GST proof.
• Minors or dependants: sponsor's ID, proof of relationship, financial support letter, ITR and bank statements, plus an NOC where a parent is not travelling.

Common mistakes

• Bank statements printed from net banking without a bank seal.
• An unsigned e-form, or no Aadhaar number in the ID field.
• Applying for a tourist visa when the trip is really for business. The checklist warns that employment may be verified.
• Expecting express service on a first application.

Single, double or multiple entry

Korea no longer puts visa stickers in passports. You print a Visa Grant Notice from visa.go.kr. A single-entry visa must be used within 90 days of issue, and you can then stay up to 90 days from entry.

For frequent visitors, Korea's guideline posted by the Mumbai consulate offers a five-year multiple-entry C-3-1 visa with stays of up to 30 days and no visa fee. You qualify if you have visited Korea more than 4 times in the last 2 years, or more than 10 times in total with at least one visit in the last 2 years. A March 2024 notice on the Korean Embassy in Sri Lanka's site also lists India among 11 countries eligible for one-to-five-year multiple-entry visas, for example after one previous visit on a valid visa, or for applicants aged 65 or over. Ask your mission whether it applies to you. We found no current official page offering Indians multiple entry because they hold OECD-country visas. Even if you apply for multiple entry, you may be given single entry.

Jeju Island: visa-free, with conditions

The Mumbai consulate's notice is clear. Indians can enter Jeju visa-free for up to 30 days for tourism or transit if they arrive directly on Jeju by flight or ferry and stay on Jeju for the whole trip. India to a third country to Jeju to India is allowed. India to Seoul to Jeju is not, and needs a Korean visa. India is not on Korea's list of 23 nationalities excluded from Jeju visa-free entry. There are no nonstop flights from India to Jeju, so you would connect through a city outside Korea with direct Jeju flights.

Read this before booking Jeju: After reports of Indian travellers being refused entry, the Embassy of India in Seoul issued an advisory on 24 February 2026. It says the waiver does not guarantee entry. Carry printed copies of your return ticket, hotel bookings for the full stay, a day-wise itinerary, proof of funds and a passport valid six months. Officers may interview you. Refused passengers go back on the next flight of the same airline.

Transit rule for US, Canada, Australia and Europe visa holders

Korea also gives 30 days visa-free to nationals who need a visa if they hold a valid visa for the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or one of 32 European countries, and are transiting Korea on the way to or from that country. India is not on the exclusion list. You need a confirmed onward ticket within 30 days, the visa sticker in your passport (Australia is checked online), and no more than 3 days in your stopover country. It does not cover a return trip from India.

e-Arrival card

Korea's e-Arrival card is filled at e-arrivalcard.go.kr up to 3 days before landing, and it is free. The Mumbai consulate notes that it relates to entry, not a visa. Some sites claim paper cards ended on 1 January 2026, but VisasNews reported in March 2026 that the Ministry of Justice confirmed both formats are still accepted. Filling it online saves time at the airport.

Winter and spring highlights

• Seoul in winter: December to February is often below freezing. Palaces, markets and year-end lights are at their best. Pack thermals.
• Skiing: Gangwon province resorts such as Yongpyong and High1 usually open from December to around early March.
• Jeju: Milder than Seoul, with snow on Hallasan in mid-winter.
• Cherry blossom: Usually late March on Jeju and in the south, and early April in Seoul. Dates shift each year, so apply for your visa by February.

How Travlys helps

Travlys does not file Korean visas. If you live in Gujarat or Maharashtra, use an agency on the Mumbai consulate's designated list. If your trip combines Korea with the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK or Schengen, Travlys files those visas, with service fees from ₹19,940, ₹14,950, ₹4,950, ₹6,950, ₹12,950 and ₹2,950 respectively, plus government fees. Travlys has filed 5,000+ visas with a 98% approval rate. WhatsApp +91 82009 18967.

Last checked: Rules in this guide were checked on 27 October 2026 against the Korean Embassy in New Delhi, the Korean Consulate General in Mumbai and the other sources listed below. Fees and procedures change, so check the official mission page before you apply.