🇰🇷 South Korea — Visa Documents for Indians

Step 1 of 4

First: you need a visa, and your state decides the mission

Indians need a visa; there is no visa-free or on-arrival route. The form is filled in on the official portal, then PRINTED and signed and handed over on paper. You go in person — but you do not need an appointment at any Korea Visa Application Centre in India. (what the agent channel asks for, not the authority's own words)

🔴 Jeju is the exception, and most people never hear it. Everyone except nationals of eleven named countries can enter Jeju island with NO Korean visa for up to 30 days, if they are going to tour or visit. India is not one of the eleven. The condition is that you stay on Jeju — this does not let you on to the mainland. (what the agent channel asks for, not the authority's own words)

There is a second way in without a visa, on tighter terms. If you transfer at Incheon and join the Transit Tourism Program you can enter for up to 72 hours and stay only around Seoul — Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. Separately, travellers holding a visa for the United States, Canada, Australia or New Zealand and passing through Korea to get there can be admitted for 30 days. (what the agent channel asks for, not the authority's own words)

Which mission handles you depends on the state you live in, and there are three. New Delhi covers the north and east, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan, Assam and Delhi. Mumbai covers Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. Chennai covers Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry.

Source: the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in India Also drawn on: what the agent channel asks for.

Step 2 of 4

Where you submit, and what it costs

Under New Delhi you file at VFS Global in New Delhi or Kolkata; under Chennai, at VFS Global in Chennai or Bengaluru. ⚠ Mumbai is the exception — there is no VFS centre. You go to the Consulate counter in Mumbai, or to a designated agency.

From 1 August 2026 the visa itself costs ₹3,600 for a single entry up to 90 days, ₹5,400 beyond that, and ₹8,100 for any multiple entry. Express processing costs ₹6,300, ₹8,100 and ₹11,700. On top comes the centre's service charge — ₹1,600 per application at Chennai and Bengaluru from 25 August 2026 — and ₹550 if you want the passport couriered back. The Embassy's own table leaves the group-visa rate blank.

Express processing is not open to everyone. You qualify if you already hold a visa issuance number, have held a multiple-entry visa before, or have visited Korea twice in the last two years. Three things worth knowing before you pay for it: you cannot switch to it after applying, a request for extra documents adds days anyway, and the express fee is NOT refunded if the visa is refused.

• You qualify if you hold a visa issuance number, have had a multiple-entry visa before, or have visited Korea twice in the last two years.
• You cannot switch to express after you have applied.
• If the Consulate asks for more documents, express loses its time advantage anyway.
• The express fee is not refunded if the visa is refused.

Counted in working days and quoted as a minimum, not a promise. The centre says the time can move either way at the Consulate's discretion, and that it plays no part in the decision itself. (what the agent channel asks for, not the authority's own words)

Source: the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in India Also drawn on: what the agent channel asks for.

Step 3 of 4

What to have with you

Everyone brings these

• Your original passport, valid six months or more
• Recent colour passport photographs — Chennai asks for two
• The form filled in on the Korea Visa Portal, visa.go.kr, then printed and signed by you
• Income tax returns for the last two years — three years of company returns if you own the business. If you cannot produce them, a letter explaining why is accepted
• A personal bank statement for the last six months. Chennai wants the bank's original stamp and signature on it
• The Health Condition Report, downloaded from the visa application centre
• The declaration form, also from the visa application centre

And these, if they apply to you

• If somebody else is paying for the trip, proof of how you are related to them

The rest of the list depends on your situation. Pick yours to shorten it — or read all of them.

Income tax returns for two years, or three years of company returns if you own the business — and if you cannot produce them, a letter explaining why is accepted rather than the application being turned away. A personal bank statement covering six months. The Delhi checklist also asks that the documents be arranged in its own numbered order.

If someone in Korea is inviting you, they send you two things and you carry them in: the invitation letter and the inviting company's business registration certificate. A photocopy or scan of the letter is fine and it needs no attestation. Do not post documents to the Embassy separately — it says it is not responsible for anything lost that way, and sending them earns you nothing.

• The invitation letter — a photocopy or scan is accepted, and it needs no attestation.
• The inviting company's business registration certificate, or the inviter's employee certificate if they are an individual.
• Do not post these to the Embassy separately — it says it is not responsible for anything lost that way, and sending them early earns you nothing.

Two sources describe the photo differently, so this table shows both. The ministry’s own notice is the one to follow: 35 × 45 mm with the face 25 × 35 mm of that. The application centre’s wording — 35–40 mm wide, face 70–80% — is the generic international phrasing rather than Korea’s, and on the face it agrees anyway, since 35 of 45 mm is about 78%.

Documents that are not in English may need a translation prepared before you apply. That is the application centre's instruction rather than the Embassy's. (what the agent channel asks for, not the authority's own words)

🔴 The two jurisdictions do not ask for the same papers. Under the Delhi Embassy a salaried applicant brings six months of salary slips; under Chennai, a full year. Chennai also asks for two photographs, wants your PAN card with the tax returns, and requires the bank's original stamp and signature on the statement. So your state decides not only where you file but what you carry.

Build these files with the checklist above

Source: the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in India Also drawn on: what the agent channel asks for.

Step 4 of 4

🔴 Use only the official portal

🔴 The Embassy has warned that fraudulent agencies are targeting Indian applicants specifically. They run a lookalike site — the Embassy names e.visa-go-kr.online — which takes your passport details and hands back a fake visa that, in its words, closely resembles the real one. The only official portal is visa.go.kr. If a site is not that, it is not the government.

• The only official portal is visa.go.kr — nothing else is the government.
• The Embassy names one fake site in particular: e.visa-go-kr.online.
• The forged visas look convincing, so a real-looking PDF proves nothing.

Source: the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in India