Q-Code Korea 2024: List of Countries with Q-Code or Health Declaration Requirements

Last update: 3 April 2024

In the previous article, we listed the countries of embarkation with Q-Code or health declaration requirements. In January 2024, the government of South Korea through Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) as the designated agency for disease control updated the list of countries that are under special monitoring for diseases of interests. Passengers who embark from the countries under monitoring to South Korea are required to complete Q-Code registration or submit health declaration form upon entering Korea. The list of countries was updated again in February 2024 and the next update can be expected to be announced before summer 2024.

The important note for each announcement is as follows.

Initial announcement (8 January 2024), obsolete:

• Q-Code is required for arrival from 109 countries
• Symptom-based Q-Code registration is applied to 47 countries
• There are 10 diseases under monitoring, with 9 classified as high-stake and 1 classified as medium-stake

First update (21 February 2024), currently active:

• Q-Code is required for arrival from 54 countries
• Symptom-based Q-Code registration is applied to 102 countries
• There are 10 diseases under monitoring, with 5 classified as high-stake and 5 classified as medium-stake

More details on the countries with Q-Code requirements and diseases under monitoring are elaborated in the rest of this article.

What is Q-Code and Health Declaration Form?

Q-Code is a QR code that points to a record that consists of information about a traveler or visitor who is entering Korea. The information includes visitor’s name, passport, contact and address in Korea, countries visited prior to Korea arrival, and self evaluation on symptoms related to diseases that are under special monitoring by the Korean government.

Initially, Q-Code was developed as a digital system to monitor the spread of COVID-19 through inbound travel. As COVID-19 eased and risk level downgraded to that of influenza, Q-Code was then transformed into a more generic digital system to monitor possible transmission of other infectious diseases through inbound travel from moderate or high risk countries to Korea.

A traveler can create his/her Q-Code prior to entering Korea by visiting the Q-Code web portal and fill out the online form. After completing the form, the system will generate a QR code, which is referred to as Q-Code. An example of Q-Code is shown in the image below.

When arriving in Korea, the traveler shall present his/her Q-Code to the health officer at the health clearance gate and scan the Q-Code on the scanning device. After passing through the health clearance checkpoint, the traveler will then proceed to the immigration clearance section.

Besides Q-Code, there is also another method for visitor’s health monitoring, which is through health declaration form submission. The health declaration form is a yellow-colored paper with a number of personal data inputs and questions related to the visitor’s health condition. Health declaration form is usually distributed by flight attendants to the passengers during a flight. It is the manual version of Q-Code. If you have completed Q-Code registration, you don’t need to fill out the health declaration form. Similarly, if you opt to fill out the health declaration form, you don’t need to do Q-Code registration. You can choose which option you’re more comfortable with.

If you choose to submit health declaration form, you will hand in the completed form to the health officer at the health clearance checkpoint.

Diseases under Monitoring by Korean Authority (KDCA)

In the latest announcement, KDCA defines 10 diseases that goes into special monitoring. The diseases are categorized into two: diseases that pertain to compulsory Q-Code registration (high-stake diseases) and diseases that should be monitored through symptom-based Q-Code registration (medium-stake disease).

Diseases that are categorized into high-stake are as follows:

• Cholera
• Polio
• Plague
• Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
• Human transmissible animal influenza

Diseases that are categorized into moderate-stake are as follows:

• Yellow fever
• Dengue fever
• Chikungunya fever
• Zika virus infection
• Measles

If a country is included in the monitoring list due to association with high-stake or both high-stake and medium-stake diseases, then all passengers arriving from the country are required to register Q-Code or submit health declaration form. However, if a country only has association with medium-stake disease, then only passengers who exhibit symptom of the disease are required to register Q-Code or submit health declaration form.

List of Countries with Compulsory Q-Code Registration / Health Declaration Submission

Starting from February 21st, 2024, all passengers embarking from the following countries are required to present Q-Code or submit completed health declaration form to the health officer at health clearance checkpoint.

No	Continent	Country	Disease under Monitoring
1	Asia	Afghanistan	Cholera, polio, dengue fever, measles
2		Bahrain	MERS, measles
3		Bangladesh	Cholera, dengue fever, measles
4		Cambodia	Animal influenza, dengue fever, measles
5		China	Plague, animal influenza, dengue fever, measles
6		India	Cholera, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, measles
7		Indonesia	Polio, measles
8		Iran	MERS, measles
9		Iraq	Cholera, MERS, measles
10		Israel	Polio, MERS, measles
11		Jordan	MERS, measles
12		Kuwait	MERS, measles
13		Lebanon	Cholera, MERS, measles
14		Mongolia	Plague
15		Oman	MERS, measles
16		Pakistan	Cholera, polio, measles
17		Philippines	Cholera, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, measles
18		Qatar	MERS, measles
19		Saudi Arabia	MERS, measles
20		Syria	Cholera, MERS, measles
21		Taiwan	Animal influenza, dengue fever
22		United Arab Emirates	MERS, measles
23		Yemen	Cholera, polio, MERS, measles
24	Africa	Algeria	Polio, measles
25		Angola	Yellow fever, measles
26		Benin	Polio, yellow fever, measles
27		Burkina Faso	Polio, yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, measles
28		Burundi	Cholera, polio, yellow fever, measles
29		Cameroon	Cholera, polio, yellow fever, measles
30		Central African Republic	Polio, yellow fever, measles
31		Chad	Polio, yellow fever, dengue fever, measles
32		Democratic Republic of Congo	Cholera, polio, yellow fever, plague, measles
33		Ethiopia	Cholera, yellow fever, dengue fever, measles
34		Guinea	Polio, yellow fever, measles
35		Ivory Coast	Polio, yellow fever, measles
36		Kenya	Cholera, polio, yellow fever, measles
37		Madagascar	Polio, plague, measles
38		Malawi	Cholera, polio, measles
39		Mali	Polio, yellow fever, dengue fever, measles
40		Mozambique	Cholera, polio, measles
41		Niger	Polio, yellow fever, measles
42		Nigeria	Cholera, polio, yellow fever, measles
43		Somalia	Cholera, polio, measles
44		South Africa	Cholera, measles
45		South Sudan	Cholera, yellow fever, measles
46		Sudan	Cholera, yellow fever, dengue fever, measles
47		Tanzania	Cholera, polio, measles
48		Zambia	Cholera, measles
49		Zimbabwe	Cholera, measles
50	America & Oceania	Brazil	Yellow fever, animal influenza, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
51		Dominican Republic	Cholera, dengue fever
52		Haiti	Cholera
53		USA (Colorado & Michigan)	Plague, animal influenza, dengue fever, measles
54	Europe	United Kingdom	Animal influenza, measles

Compared to previous announcement in August 2023, the list of countries with compulsory Q-Code registration / health declaration form submission has increased from 74 countries to 109 countries. In the first update, Q-Code registration requirement is applied to 54 countries, a reduction from the initial 2024 announcement due to disease reclassification.

List of Countries with Symptom-based Q-Code / Health Declaration Submission

Starting from February 21st, 2024, passengers arriving in Korea from the following countries are not required to register Q-Code or complete the health declaration form. However, if a passenger exhibits the symptom of the disease under monitoring, such as high fever, red rash, or watery eyes, the passenger has to fill out the health declaration form and hand in the completed form to the health officer at the health clearance checkpoint.

No	Continent	Country	Disease under Monitoring
1	Asia	Armenia	Measles
2		Bhutan	Measles
3		Japan	Measles
4		Kazakhstan	Measles
5		Kyrgyzstan	Measles
6		Laos	Dengue fever, measles
7		Malaysia	Dengue fever, chikungunya fever, measles
8		Maldives	Measles
9		Myanmar	Measles
10		Nepal	Measles
11		Singapore	Dengue fever, measles
12		Sri Lanka	Dengue fever, measles
13		Tajikistan	Measles
14		Thailand	Chikungunya fever, measles
15		Uzbekistan	Measles
16		Vietnam	Dengue fever, measles
17	Africa	Botswana	Measles
18		Cape Verde	Dengue fever, measles
19		Congo	Yellow fever, measles
20		Djibouti	Measles
21		Egypt	Measles
22		Equatorial Guinea	Yellow fever, measles
23		Eritrea	Measles
24		Gabon	Yellow fever, measles
25		Gambia	Yellow fever, measles
26		Ghana	Yellow fever, measles
27		Guinea-Bissau	Yellow fever, measles
28		Lesotho	Measles
29		Liberia	Yellow fever, measles
30		Libya	Measles
31		Mauritania	Yellow fever, measles
32		Mauritius	Dengue fever
33		Morocco	Measles
34		Namibia	Measles
35		Rwanda	Measles
36		Sao Tome and Principe	Dengue fever
37		Senegal	Yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, measles
38		Sierra Leone	Yellow fever, measles
39		Togo	Yellow fever, dengue fever, measles
40		Tunisia	Measles
41		Uganda	Yellow fever, measles
42	America & Oceania	Argentina	Yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya fever
43		Australia	Dengue fever, measles
44		Bahama	Dengue fever
45		Barbados	Dengue fever
46		Belize	Yellow fever, dengue fever, zika virus
47		Bolivia	Yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
48		Canada	Measles
49		Colombia	Yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
50		Costa Rica	Dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
51		Ecuador	Yellow fever, dengue fever
52		El Salvador	Dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
53		Fiji	Measles
54		French Guiana	Yellow fever
55		Grenada	Dengue fever
56		Guadeloupe	Dengue fever
57		Guatemala	Dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
58		Guyana	Yellow fever
59		Honduras	Dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
60		Jamaica	Dengue fever
61		Martinique	Dengue fever
62		Mexico	Dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
63		New Caledonia	Dengue fever
64		New Zealand	Measles
65		Nicaragua	Dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
66		Panama	Yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
67		Papua New Guinea	Measles
68		Paraguay	Yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya fever
69		Peru	Yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
70		Puerto Rico	Dengue fever, zika virus
71		Saint Barthelemy	Dengue fever
72		Saint Martin	Dengue fever
73		Suriname	Yellow fever, dengue fever
74		Trinidad & Tobago	Yellow fever, dengue fever
75		Uruguay	Chikungunya fever
76		Venezuela	Yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus
77	Europe	Albania	Measles
78		Austria	Measles
79		Azerbaijan	Measles
80		Belarus	Measles
81		Belgium	Measles
82		Bosnia & Herzegovina	Measles
83		Denmark	Measles
84		Estonia	Measles
85		France	Dengue fever, measles
86		Georgia	Measles
87		Germany	Measles
88		Ireland	Measles
89		Italy	Dengue fever, measles
90		Lithuania	Measles
91		Netherlands	Measles
92		Norway	Measles
93		Poland	Measles
94		Romania	Measles
95		Russia	Measles
96		Serbia	Measles
97		Slovakia	Measles
98		Spain	Dengue fever, measles
99		Sweden	Measles
100		Switzerland	Measles
101		Turkey / Turkiye	Measles
102		Ukraine	Measles

What if your country is not in the list?

It means you are good to go. You do not need to either register Q-Code or submit health declaration form. When arriving on Korea, at the health clearance checkpoint you can simply walk through the alley while your body temperature is being monitored by the sensors installed near the checkpoint.