Do I need a visa to come to Korea for a health checkup?

Most likely not. Korea allows visa-free entry to nationals of dozens of countries for stays of 30 to 90 days, and a screening trip is a short visit. US citizens can enter visa-free for up to 90 days, which is far longer than any program on this site requires.

Not currently, if you hold a passport from one of the countries under the temporary exemption, which includes the United States. 법무부 extended that exemption through 31 December 2026. It is a temporary measure with an expiry date rather than a permanent change, so check the date against your travel dates rather than assuming it still holds.

What is the medical-tourism visa for, then?

For the cases visa-free entry does not cover. C-3-3 is the short-term medical visit visa and G-1-10 covers a longer stay for treatment, so they matter if your nationality is not on the visa-free list, if treatment would run past the visa-free period, or if a companion needs to accompany you on that basis. A routine screening trip by a visa-free national needs neither.

Can you get me a medical visa?

Where a visa is actually needed, yes. We hold a foreign-patient facilitator licence under the 의료해외진출법, which lets us issue the invitation a C-3-3 or G-1-10 application rests on, and an institution the Minister of Justice additionally designates as an e-visa proxy applicant can file electronically with a stated three-day turnaround and a wider allowance for accompanying family. Two limits worth stating: an invitation supports an application that immigration still decides, and it does nothing for the common case, because a visa-free national coming for a checkup has no application for it to support.

Guides · Visas

You probably
do not need one.

The common case

Visa-free, and no K-ETA either.

A US passport holder can enter Korea visa-free for up to 90 days. Every program on this site fits inside a few days, so the visa-free allowance is not close to being the constraint on a screening trip.

That is the case this site sees most, and it is not the only one. Allowances run from 30 days to 180, and which one applies is a fact about your passport rather than about your trip. The entry check lists every nationality the government sources state a period for, and says so plainly when yours is not on the list rather than guessing at it.

K-ETA, Korea's electronic travel authorisation, would normally be required before boarding. It is currently waived for nationals of the exempted countries, the United States among them, and 법무부 has extended that waiver through 31 December 2026.

That is a temporary measure with a date on it, not a permanent rule. Check it against your own travel dates rather than against this page, which was written on 31 July 2026 and will go stale the moment the policy moves.

Some figures on this page carry a source and measurement date; others are still provisional placeholders. See each figure's own note, and the methodology line under the comparison table, for which is which.

Visa-free entry and the K-ETA temporary exemption: 법무부 (Ministry of Justice) notice as published by the Korean Embassy in the United States, and the 전자여행허가 (K-ETA) FAQ issued by 출입국·외국인정책본부. Medical-tourism visa route and the designated-institution e-visa turnaround: 법무부 press release of 2025-09-22 and the 외국인환자 유치기관 등록제도 guidance. This citation covers the entry rules and the visa mechanism. It does not cover our own facilitator licence, which is a fact about this business rather than a published figure and is stated on the page without one (https://www.mofa.go.kr/us-ko/brd/m_4475/view.do?seq=1345959; https://www.immigration.go.kr/bbs/immigration/47/437108/download.do; https://www.immigration.go.kr/bbs/immigration/214/485387/download.do), measured 2026-07-31.

When it stops being true

Three cases that need a visa.

Your nationality is not on the visa-free list. Dozens of countries are, and many are not, and the list is the first thing to check rather than the last.

Treatment would run past the visa-free period. A screening will not. Something a screening finds might, and that is the case the longer-stay route exists for.

A companion needs to come on the same basis. Accompanying family are handled within the medical-visa route rather than separately, and the allowance is wider where the inviting institution holds the designation described below.

The medical route

C-3-3, and who can invite you.

C-3-3 is the short-term medical visit visa; G-1-10 covers a longer stay for treatment. Both can be supported by an invitation from a recruiting institution registered under Korea's 의료해외진출법, the law governing foreign-patient facilitation.

There is a second tier above registration. An institution the Minister of Justice has additionally designated as an e-visa proxy applicant can file the application electronically, with a turnaround stated at three days from submission, simplified documentation, and a wider allowance for accompanying family. Designation is applied for and granted rather than automatic, and it requires a track record of prior successful recruitment.

What a licence actually does

We can invite you, where that helps.

We hold a foreign-patient facilitator licence under the 의료해외진출법, so we can issue the invitation a C-3-3 or G-1-10 application rests on. That is a real reason to arrange a trip through a facilitator rather than alone, and it is the one thing in this whole guide you cannot do for yourself.

Two things worth being precise about, because a licence is easy to wave at problems it does not solve. It does not create eligibility: an invitation supports an application that immigration still decides. And it changes nothing at all for the common case, which is a visa-free national coming for a checkup, because there is no application for it to support.

So if your case is one of the three above, say so in a first message and it can be answered against the rules as they stand for your nationality rather than in general. If it is not, you need nothing from us on this front.

ASK ABOUT YOUR CASE

Questions

Asked and answered.

Do I need a visa to come to Korea for a health checkup?: Most likely not. Korea allows visa-free entry to nationals of dozens of countries for stays of 30 to 90 days, and a screening trip is a short visit. US citizens can enter visa-free for up to 90 days, which is far longer than any program on this site requires.
Do I need a K-ETA?: Not currently, if you hold a passport from one of the countries under the temporary exemption, which includes the United States. 법무부 extended that exemption through 31 December 2026. It is a temporary measure with an expiry date rather than a permanent change, so check the date against your travel dates rather than assuming it still holds.
What is the medical-tourism visa for, then?: For the cases visa-free entry does not cover. C-3-3 is the short-term medical visit visa and G-1-10 covers a longer stay for treatment, so they matter if your nationality is not on the visa-free list, if treatment would run past the visa-free period, or if a companion needs to accompany you on that basis. A routine screening trip by a visa-free national needs neither.
Can you get me a medical visa?: Where a visa is actually needed, yes. We hold a foreign-patient facilitator licence under the 의료해외진출법, which lets us issue the invitation a C-3-3 or G-1-10 application rests on, and an institution the Minister of Justice additionally designates as an e-visa proxy applicant can file electronically with a stated three-day turnaround and a wider allowance for accompanying family. Two limits worth stating: an invitation supports an application that immigration still decides, and it does nothing for the common case, because a visa-free national coming for a checkup has no application for it to support.