How To Go to South Korea from Philippines VISA FREE

In front of  Heunginjimun Gate- One of  8 gates of Seoul

With its more than 5000 years of history and culture, stunning landscapes and impressive places to visit, no doubt that Korea is one of the many countries sought after by travelers all around the world. The economy of this country is also on the verge of glory with many manufacturing firms developed that is why there are a lot of people who wanted to work in the land of the calm morning. Not only that, the Kpop and Kdramas start to dominate the world of entertainment and people from different countries appreciate it despite the language barrier. All that and more are the reasons why Korea should be on your travel bucket list.


At the Namsan Seoul Tower of Korea

However, obtaining a visa to go to Korea is not a simple process. They’re very strict when it comes to approving Visa especially for the tourist visa. Here is a good news, it is now possible to go to Korea from Philippines and other selected countries without a VISA. The Korea Immigration office has recently announced the conditions to be satisfied for a VISA free entry to Korea. Check the following conditions below and see if you are qualified for this offer,

1. Frequent Visitors

If you frequently travel to Korea, you may have the chance for a free visa. How frequent is frequent? Well, you should have traveled at least 11 times to Korea for the past two years. This could be true to people doing business in Korea, or for somebody who has big reasons why he needs to travel to Korea that often. Of course, they will also check if you have no Immigration offence or other criminal records before the free visa will be granted. This condition is applicable to all countries including Philippines with the exception of China, Cuba and Macedonia.

2. Transit tourists bound for another Country

This may sound expensive but this could be good news to all hardcore travelers out there. If you are going to travel to U.S., Japan, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, you can drop by at Korea without being questioned of a Visa. These five countries should be your final destination. So all you need to do is to acquire a visa to any of the 5 countries mentioned and then you can go to Korea with no Visa. In order to be qualified with this condition, you must have a confirmed onward flight ticket for departure. You can stay up to 30 days in Korea, and at the 30th day, you must leave Korea and proceed to any of the 5 countries I mentioned. But of course, this condition is on top of you having no record of criminal offence in those five countries. This is applicable to all countries including Philippines except Macedonia, Cuba, Syria and Iran and to unincorporated territories of US which are Guam and Saipan.

Wedding rites at Korean Folk Village


3. Special Entry arrangements for the Jeju island

So you think the first two conditions are too difficult to satisfy? Why not check out this 3rd condition, the special entry arrangements for Jeju Island.
You can arrange a trip to Jeju Island from Philippines. Korea will not require Visa for visitors who will arrive directly into Jeju Island by flights or by ships. You can stay up to 30 days in this very famous island of Korea. However, the special entry arrangement is not applicable for the following 11 countries: -Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Cuba, Syria, Macedonia, Palestine, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Ghana

4. APEC Business Travel Card(ABTC)

If you are an APEC Business Travel Card(ABTC) holder, visa-free entry is permitted for you. As of October 2009, 18 countries are eligible for this condition namely Korea, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Mexico.

Please note that ABTC holders are given Short Term Business or a C-2 Visa status and they can stay in Korea up to 90 days.


Enjoying the sand and sunset at Muchangpo Beach


So there you go everyone. If you are from Philippines, you can check the four conditions applicable to that country in order to enter Korea without a Visa.

If you are not from Philippines, check the complete list of conditions for a No Visa Entry in the Hi-Korea website. There are also special arrangements for China, Japan, Europe and many more. Before you get your sleeves up for a hard procedure of processing your Korean Visa, you may want to check first if you can have options to go to Korea with no Visa.

See you soon here in Korea!!!

Comments

  1. I am not qualified yet, hahahaha,,, but this is good news for all the frequent visitors of Korea.

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    Replies
    1. I guess number 2 is quite good especially if you are a hardcore traveler.

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  2. So there's a way to get there without a visa. I recently read another blog and she got her visa pretty quick.

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    Replies
    1. If you have all the necessary requirements needed, then that could be possible.

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  3. I just had a talk earlier with a friend about a possible trip to Korea in the future. A friend of ours just left 2 weeks ago. This is post is indeed useful.

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  4. I think I'd go with the tourism Arangement with Jeju Island as it looks really beautiful.

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  5. I'd love to visit the place one of these days. Thanks for sharing your travel experience, and these tips.

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  6. More than ever to know this good news on my part. My knowledge about Korea's so limited. But one thing I've heard, a beautiful country.

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  7. Korea is on our top travel list. As a matter of fact we'd already book our flight to Busan even without visa and return ticket yet this December. Hope the odds will favor us.

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  8. This is really good news. I hope they'd be more lenient in the future. Number two is possible, but a stay in Jeju Island is expensive.

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  9. This is a great move by the Korean Tourism board! Glad to see that they are doing all they can to make it easy and open their gates to more potential tourists. My facebook feed has been filled with a lot of Korea visits the past 6 months or so. Which means our fellow countrymen are taking advantage of this opportunity.

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  10. This is a good news for everyone! Wish I could travel visa free to Korea soon :) I have friends who will be going there by summer 2015 :) I want to see the beauty of Jeju sland!

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  11. Hey there, I am curious if I fly to Jeju then go to Seoul without having a visa, is that a possibility? ?

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    Replies
    1. No.that's not possible. Entry and exit point from seoul to jeju have checkpoints

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  12. You can arrange a trip to Jeju Island from Philippines. Korea will not require Visa for visitors who will arrive directly into Jeju Island by flights or by ships. You can stay up to 30 days in this very famous island of Korea. - See more at: http://www.saranghaekorea.com/2014/10/how-to-go-to-south-korea-from.html#sthash.uqTVqtPx.dpuf but from philippines dun have direct flight to jeju island..still need pass by seoul or busan then transit to jeju island?how could this possible for filipino to enter jeju island directly?

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    1. Hi, there's a direct flight from Manila to Jeju Island via Asiana Airlines

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    2. Is it possible to enter in Seoul without visa if you were from Jeju Island ?

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    3. you need to have a visa. you cannot enter from jeju. kpopq

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  13. Sir, ask ko naman po, na deny ako ng
    Tourist visa to seoul last week, kaexpired lang ng japan visa ko , pero may valid akong us visa. If i will go from seoul to us (kahit guam) pasok ako sa visa free entry? Naka book na kc lahat kaya need kong magamit ung booking kesa po magforfeit... Thank you!

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    1. Yes. Pasok po kau sa transit tour visa. But you need to show onward flight ticket in order to avail this.

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    2. Sir, i question po kaya ng immigration ung denied tourist
      Visa? or since its a general rule na ung transit to/from 4 advanced countries ay visa-free entry (regardless nadeny ako) i can still enter?

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  14. Sir if nasa jeju aq and i want to go to seoul do i need to secure a visa. Ty

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    Replies
    1. yes po you need to secure a visa. kpop

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  15. I'm planning to go at Jeju even without a visa using way number 3 but is it okay if my flight going to Jeju is a connecting flight?

    From Manila to Seoul then Seoul to Jeju cuz I cannot find any flights directly from Manila to Jeju.

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    Replies
    1. hindi po pde, kc from Incheon airport you need to travel to gimpo airport then to jeju. kpopq

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  16. sir ask ko lang po ofw po ako from israel kong nag stop over po ba ako ng ilang araw sa s.korea dahil doin po ang connecting flight ko pwede po ba tas uuwi po ako ng pinas din balik ako ng israel sa pag balik ko sa korea parin po ang connecting flight ko pa balik ng israel thanks.

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  17. Sir tanong lang po, pano pag walang direct flight papuntang jeju? May layover sa busan. Can you enter busan for a few hours (lay over) without a visa?

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    Replies
    1. hindi po pde, kelangan diretso sa jeju airport po. kpopq

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  18. Sir ask ko lang po.Pwede po ba akong pumuntang korea using japan visa?

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  19. sir anong airline po pwidi kon sakyan pa pontang jeju na di po ako hahanapan nan visa pls riply po

    ReplyDelete

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