Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle

Quarantine Exemption Certificate for Short-Term Foreign Visitors

(Jurisdiction Korean Consulate in Seattle: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana)

There are 2 main categories of certificates can be issued upon approval:

1) Business 2) Death of a family

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* Quarantine Exemption Period : Up to 7 days

* A total of 4 copies of the Quarantine Exemption Certificate are needed to carry to Korea.  

* Starting from September 1st, 2021, travelers from countries that are required a K-ETA(including U.S. passport holders) must hold a K-ETA by applying on the K-ETA website (or mobile app) at least 24 hours before their flight. Only K-ETA approved travelers will be able to board a flight bound to the Republic of Korea. (☞click for more information) 

​​* Certificates cannot be issued if the applicant has already left for Korea.

1) Business purpose

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● Sponsoring Korean companies or organizations should request for quarantine exemption certificates to the Business Travel Support Center in Korea. Once the BTS Center receives the applications, the BTS Center will distribute the quarantine exemption applications to the corresponding ministry in Korea. Then the relevant ministries review the request and ask the ROK foreign missions in the U.S. its cooperation in issuing quarantine exemption certificates. 

● If the applicants get quarantine exemption approval from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy or the Ministry of SMEs and startups, these ministries will issue a quarantine exemption certificate directly to the applicant or the inviting company in Korea.

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● If the applicants get the quarantine exemption approval from other Korean Ministries rather than the two ministries mentioned above, our Korean Consulate General issues the quarantine exemption certificates only after we receive the official notification from the Korean Ministries.

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● The QEC is valid for 14 days from its issuance date.

​* Contact Info in Korea: Business Travel support Center at +82-1566-8110 or btsc@kita.net  

 2) Death of a family

● Death Certificate of the deceased and Family Relations Documents proving the relationship (This only applies to those visiting Korea for immediate family member’s funeral.

​O Relationship condition

- Spouse

- Parents or Siblings

- Sons or Daughters (as well as son-in-laws or daughter-in laws)

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※ Individuals with quarantine exemption certificates for humanitarian (attending funerals) are exempt from the requirement of submitting a PCR negative certificate.

All request must be submitted at least 2-3 weeks in advance before the confirmed departure date, except those applying due to the death of an immediate family member. Academic and business purpose related requests submitted earlier than 3 weeks will not be considered.

Due to the pandemic related regulations by the Korean CDC and Immigration are constantly being updated, the consulate may request additional documents.

※ Please note that, those with the certificate will still undergo COVID-19 test upon arrival in Korea at the entry point and must wait at the temporary government designated facility until the test results are released. It usually takes 24-48 hours.

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※ After the entry, the person should install the Self-Check Mobile App following the instructions of the disease control authorities and report his/her health status every day through app. The person should answer daily phone calls from government officials to report his/her health status.