South Korea waives 18,000 won C-3-2 visa fee for group tours through June 30

South Korea keeps waiving the 18,000 won ($12.45) processing fee on short-term group tourist visas, with the exemption now extended past its earlier June 30, 2026 cutoff for several markets.

The 18,000 won break, extended again

The waiver applies to the C-3-2 short-term group tourist visa for nationals of China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia. Seoul first pushed the deadline to June 30, 2026 in an announcement from Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, then extended it further for Indian group tourists to June 30, 2027, per travel advisories citing the ministry. Travelers should confirm the end date for their passport with the nearest Korean consulate, because the extensions have rolled out unevenly by country.

Only group applications filed through registered travel agencies qualify. Solo tourists, independent bookings and long-stay categories like work, study or the digital nomad visa pay the standard fee. Every other documentary requirement stays in place; the government is removing the fee, not the paperwork.

What the number means on the ground

At 18,000 won a head, the savings look small individually and material in aggregate. A 30-person MICE group saves 540,000 won (about $374) on visa fees alone. A 50-person tour clears 900,000 won (about $623), enough for tour operators to fold a meal or a transfer into the package without raising the sticker price.

For an expat from one of the six countries already living elsewhere in Asia, joining a qualifying group tour for a short Seoul or Busan trip trims the entry cost to zero, at the price of locking into a fixed itinerary. Independent travelers from the same passports get nothing from this measure and still pay the full 18,000 won.

The policy is working at scale. Group visa entries hit 790,000 foreigners in 2025, a 39% jump year-on-year, the finance ministry reported. That volume is what Seoul is trying to protect, alongside separate K-ETA exemptions the Ministry of Justice has kept in place for select nationalities. Nomads weighing longer stays should check the South Korea country guide for the visa categories that actually cover remote work, none of which are touched by this waiver.