Do South Korean passport holders need a visa for India?

By Aarush Chopra · Travel Writer, Tripmojo · Updated September 2, 2026 · Reviewed by Simran Raheja

Yes, and Korea has two routes where most passports have one. Korean nationals are e-Visa eligible and are also one of only three nationalities India grants visa on arrival. The counter route is capped at 60 days and works at six airports only, so which one you fly into decides whether it is available to you at all.

Quick facts

Travel authorisation

Visa required: Yes, e-Visa or visa on arrival
Visa on arrival: Up to 60 days, double entry
VoA airports: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad
e-Tourist fee: 10, 25, 40 and 200 US dollars by visa length
Bank charge: 3 per cent on top of the fee
Entry on an e-Visa: Designated airports and seaports only, no land borders

Entry requirements

Either a granted e-Visa applied for online before departure, or arrival at one of the six airports that operate visa on arrival for Korean nationals.
A passport with at least six months of validity, and the old passport carried alongside if a replacement was issued after an e-Visa application.
No Pakistani parentage in the file if you want the counter route. Visa on arrival is refused if the traveller, either parent or any grandparent was born in or was a permanent resident of Pakistan.

Two routes, and the terms for each live on different websites

Korea appears on the Indian e-Visa eligibility list at entry 131, written as Republic of Korea. The list runs to 174 numbered slots but covers 173 countries, because Kenya is listed twice, at 81 and 85. Searching that list for Korea returns one row, so there is no separate filing to confuse.

Korea is also one of three nationalities offered visa on arrival. The e-Visa portal names them in a single FAQ answer, saying the facility is only for the nationals of Japan, South Korea and UAE, with the Emirati case narrowed to travellers who had earlier obtained an e-Visa or a regular paper visa. That is everything the portal says. It publishes no duration, no fee and no airports for the facility it just described.

The terms are on a different government site. The Bureau of Immigration, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, runs a page on visa free regime and visa on arrival that sets out the whole scheme: up to 60 days, double entry, for business, tourism, conference and medical purposes including Ayush treatment, non-extendable, non-convertible, and closed to diplomatic and official passports. Nobody applying through the e-Visa portal is pointed there.

Good to know

Where you land decides whether the counter route exists for you. The immigration bureau grants visa on arrival to Japanese and Korean nationals at six airports only: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Emirati nationals get those six plus Cochin, Calicut and Ahmedabad. So a Korean flying into Goa, Kochi or Amritsar has no counter to walk up to, whatever the FAQ implies. Worth knowing that the bureau’s own content feed serves a version of the same section listing all nine airports for all three nationalities, without the split. Two renderings of one government page disagree about your airport, and the one addressed to readers is the six-airport version, so book to one of the six or carry an e-Visa.
A grandparent born in Pakistan closes the counter route. The bureau states that visa on arrival is not available to citizens of Japan, Republic of Korea or the UAE if the traveller, either parent, or any grandparent on either side was born in or was a permanent resident of Pakistan. The rule reaches back two generations and is written into the facility itself rather than applied case by case at the desk. If that describes your family, apply for the e-Visa instead and expect the question to come up there too.
Korea pays the standard e-Visa price, and it is Japan that is the exception rather than Korea being penalised. The country-wise e-Tourist fee schedule dated 9 July 2026 has 175 rows and four columns. Korea is row 129 at 10, 25, 40, 200: ten US dollars for a 30-day visa applied for between April and June, twenty-five for the same visa from July to March, forty for one year, two hundred for five years. That exact row is shared by 139 of the 175 countries on the schedule, so it is the default rather than a Korean rate. Japan, row 76, pays 25 for both the one-year and the five-year visa, which is where the two diverge: identical at 30 days, forty against twenty-five at one year, and two hundred against twenty-five at five.
The business and medical schedule prices Korea at the most common figure and never says what currency it is in. That second document is dated 15 April 2026 and gives Korea, at row 130, 120 for business and 80 each for medical and medical attendant, which is the most frequent row on the page. No currency appears anywhere on that document, unlike the tourist schedule which is titled in US dollars, so the three figures are printed here exactly as the government prints them. Both schedules add a bank charge of 3 per cent on top of the applicable fee.
An e-Visa cannot be extended, converted, or used to cross a land border. The portal says entry is only through the designated airports and seaports listed on the e-Visa site, and that the visa is neither extendable nor convertible into another category after arrival. Departure is looser, from any Indian immigration check post. On the longer tourist visas the portal also caps time in the country: maximum stay during one calendar year should not exceed 180 days on the one-year and five-year e-Tourist visas. A trip that reaches India overland from Nepal needs a mission-issued visa instead.

Frequently asked questions

Do South Korean citizens need a visa for India?

Yes. Korea is on the Indian e-Visa eligibility list at entry 131 and is also one of three nationalities offered visa on arrival.

Where can Korean travellers get an Indian visa on arrival?

At six airports: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The nine-airport list that includes Cochin, Calicut and Ahmedabad applies to UAE nationals.

How long is an Indian visa on arrival valid?

Up to 60 days with a double-entry facility, for business, tourism, conference and medical purposes including Ayush treatment. It is non-extendable and non-convertible, and not available on diplomatic or official passports.

How much is an Indian e-Tourist visa for a Korean passport?

On the schedule dated 9 July 2026, Korea pays 10 US dollars for a 30-day visa applied for from April to June, 25 from July to March, 40 for one year and 200 for five years, plus a 3 per cent bank charge.

Why does Japan pay less than Korea for the same visa?

Korea sits on the schedule’s standard row, shared by 139 of the 175 countries listed. Japan’s row prices the one-year and five-year tourist visa at 25 US dollars instead of 40 and 200. The schedule gives no reason for either figure.

Can I enter India on an e-Visa by land?

No. Entry is only through the designated airports and seaports, though you may depart from any Indian immigration check post.

Other passports for India

Other destinations for South Korea passport holders

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the official sources below on 2 September 2026.

Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, "Visa free Regime & Visa on Arrival": visa on arrival for nationals of Japan, Republic of Korea and the UAE "who intends to visit India for a period not exceeding 60 days for Business, Tourism, Conference and Medical purposes including for treatment under Ayush systems"; UAE nationals only if they had earlier obtained an e-Visa or regular sticker or paper visa; "VoA is not available to the Citizens of Japan, Republic of Korea and UAE if the foreigner or either of his/her parents or grandparents (paternal/maternal) were born in, or were permanent residents of Pakistan"; provided "to Japanese and Republic of Korea nationals only at Delhi. Mumbai. Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderbad while for UAE national at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Calicut and Ahmedabad"; "valid up to 60 days with double-entry facility"; non-extendable and non-convertible; not available to holders of diplomatic or official passports. Read 2026-09-02. https://boi.gov.in/boi/contents/travelling-to-india/foreigners/visa-free-regime-visa-on-arrival
Bureau of Immigration content feed at https://boi.gov.in/boi/getvisaservise/7, read 2026-09-02, returns the same section in a form that lists all nine airports for all three nationalities and omits both the 60-day limit and the Pakistan-ancestry exclusion. The rendered page, cited above, carries the six-airport split for Japanese and Korean nationals, and is the version reproduced here.
Government of India, e-Visa portal at indianvisaonline.gov.in: eligibility list, Republic of Korea at entry 131 of 174 numbered slots covering 173 countries, Kenya appearing at both 81 and 85. FAQ Q25, in full: "The Visa on Arrival facility is only for the nationals of Japan, South Korea and UAE (only for such UAE nationals who had earlier obtained e-Visa or regular/paper visa for India). For the nationals of all other countries eligible for e-Visa, the e-visa application have to be filled online and the applicant must wait till the confirmation/Grant of ETA for travelling to India." Q23: "No, You can only enter through the designated airports/seaports which are listed on the e-Visa website." Q11: "You may depart from any of the Indian Immigration Check Posts (ICPs)." Q10 on extension and conversion, Q12 on passport validity, Q22 on a replaced passport. On the one-year and five-year e-Tourist visas: "Maximum stay in India during one Calender Year should not exceed 180 days". Read 2026-09-02. https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html
Government of India, "Country/Territory Wise e-Tourist Visa Fee (in US $)", dated 09-July-2026, 175 rows. Row 129 Republic Of Korea: 10, 25, 40, 200. Row 76 Japan: 10, 25, 25, 25. Counting all 175 rows, 139 read exactly 10/25/40/200. "Bank charge of 3% will be charged additional on applicable e-Visa fees." Read 2026-09-02. https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/images/Etourist_fee_final.pdf
Government of India, "Country/Territory Wise e-Visa Fee (e-Business, e-Medical, e-Medical Attendant and e-Conference Visa)", dated 15-April-2026. Row 130 Republic Of Korea reads 120, 80, 80, the most frequent row on the document. The document carries no currency label, so none is stated here. Read 2026-09-02. https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/images/eTV_revised_fee_final.pdf

Entry rules change without notice and the official source is always the authority. Confirm with the embassy or immigration portal before you book.

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