In the last article about Q-Code requirements update, we listed Q-Code requirements applied to the countries of embarkation for travelers coming to Korea as of October 2025.
At the end of December 2025, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) published another update to the list of countries under quarantine inspection. The list is set to be effective from January 1st, 2026 and expected to be valid until the end of the first quarter of 2026.
Q-Code System Recovery and Access Post Data Center Fire
On September 26th, 2025, a fire occurred at the data center managed by National Information Resources Service (NIRS) located in Daejeon, around 150 km south of Seoul. The data center hosted more than six hundreds government services, including the servers that powered the Q-Code service. Due to the fire, all services were temporarily suspended, and access to the Q-Code system became unavailable.
Q-Code portal went back online on October 30th, 2025. Based on our observation, currently the Q-Code system has been fully recovered after the incident. If you are about to visit Korea from a country or a region listed under strict quarantine inspection area list, you should be able to access Q-Code portal and fill out the form online. You can complete Q-Code registration seven days before your arrival in Korea according to South Korea local time (KST or GMT+9).
Klook.comNotes on Latest Q-Code Requirements (January 2026)
The important notes from KDCA September update to be applied starting from January 1st, 2026 related with Q-Code are as follows:
- Similar with the previous announcement, Q-Code registration requirements are still categorized into two quarantine inspection levels of area under monitoring: strict quarantine inspection area and general quarantine inspection area. Travelers coming from countries under strict quarantine inspection area are required to register Q-Code or fill out health questionnaire upon entering South Korea. On the other hand, travelers coming from general quarantine inspection area are required to register Q-Code only when showing symptom of disease under monitoring.
- Four kinds of diseases are considered highly infectious and thus leading to strict quarantine inspection: plague, animal influenza, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and Marburg hemorrhagic fever. Marburg hemorrhagic fever is categorized both into general quarantine inspection and strict quarantine inspection. It is surmised that severity is considered as a factor for strict quarantine inspection.
- Diseases that are monitored via Q-Code based on the symptoms exhibited by travelers include cholera, yellow fever, polio, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, zika virus, measles, marburg hemorrhagic fever, lassa fever, crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever, ebola virus, and nipah virus (12 diseases). The number is the same with previous announcement. However, mpox has been removed from the disease under general quarantine inspection.
- There are 24 countries with strict quarantine inspection or compulsory Q-Code registration. Most of the countries are still located in Middle East (13 countries). This is a modest increase compared to the previous announcement (21 countries).
- Mongolia has been added back into strict quarantine inspection area list due to plague. The last time Mongolia was put into the list was in October 2024.
- Mexico has been added back into strict quarantine inspection area list due to animal influenza. The last time Mexico was put into the list was in March 2025.
- Ethiopia has been added into strict quarantine inspection area list due to Marburg hemorrhagic fever.
- Tianjin has been added to China’s region under strict quarantine inspection.
- Minnesota have been removed from the regions of USA under strict quarantine inspection. Meanwhile, New Mexico has been added to the list of regions in USA under strict quarantine inspection due to plaque.
- Symptom-based Q-Code registration is applied to 157 countries (including China and United States), which is a noteworthy decrease compared to the previous announcement (167 countries).
List of Countries with Mandatory Q-Code Registration Requirement (as of January 2026)
If you enter Korea from the following countries, you are required to complete Q-Code registration online or manually fill out the paper health declaration form when entering Korea. If you do Q-Code registration, your Q-Code will be scanned at the health screening gate. If you decide to go with the manual route, which is filling out the yellow-colored paper health declaration form, you can hand in the completed health declaration form to the health officer at the health screening gate.
Mandatory Q-Code registration or health questionnaire submission is applied to passengers who embark or transfer through any of the countries listed in the table below.
| No | Continent | Country | Disease(s) under Monitoring |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asia | Bahrain | MERS |
| 2 | Bangladesh | Animal influenza | |
| 3 | Cambodia | Animal influenza | |
| 4 | China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Chongqing, Tianjin, Henan, Hunan, Hubei) | Animal influenza | |
| 5 | India | Animal influenza | |
| 6 | Iran | MERS | |
| 7 | Iraq | MERS | |
| 8 | Israel | MERS | |
| 9 | Jordan | MERS | |
| 10 | Kuwait | MERS | |
| 11 | Lebanon | MERS | |
| 12 | Mongolia | Plague | |
| 13 | Oman | MERS | |
| 14 | Qatar | MERS | |
| 15 | Saudi Arabia | MERS | |
| 16 | Syria | MERS | |
| 17 | United Arab Emirates | MERS | |
| 18 | Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh, Dong Nai, Tay Ninh) | Animal influenza | |
| 19 | Yemen | MERS | |
| 20 | Africa | Democratic Republic of Congo | Plague |
| 21 | Ethiopia | Marburg hemorrhagic fever | |
| 22 | Madagascar | Plague | |
| 23 | America | Mexico | Animal influenza |
| 24 | United States (New Mexico, Washington, California) | Plague, animal influenza |
List of Countries with Symptom-based Q-Code Registration Requirement (as of January 2026)
If you enter Korea from the following countries, you will only be required to complete Q-Code registration if you exhibit symptom(s) of infectious disease under quarantine inspection, for example: high fever, red rash, or watery eyes. If your body temperature is normal and there is no noticeable symptom of disease under quarantine inspection, you do not need to do Q-Code registration upon entering Korea.
| Region | Countries |
|---|---|
| Asia (21 countries) | Afghanistan, China, East Timor, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Türkiye, Uzbekistan |
| Africa (50 countries) | Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, French Réunion, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| America & Oceania (61 countries) | Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Kiribati, Martinique, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Papua New, Paraguay, Peru, Polynesia (French), Puerto Rico, Republic, Saint, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Samoa, Sint Maarten, Sólomon Íslands, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vincent and the Grenadines, Wallis-et-Futuna |
| Europe (25 countries) | Albania, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Madeira, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Ukraine |
Similar with the previous announcement for October 2025, only passengers arriving from certain regions in China and United States are required to register for Q-Code. A passenger arriving from other regions in China and United States that are not included in strict quarantine inspection should register Q-Code only when the person exhibits symptom(s) of a disease under quarantine inspection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: I am flying from United States to Korea. Do I need Q-Code?
A: Since January 2025, some states in the USA have been included in the strict quarantine area list. Starting from January 1st, 2026 until the next announcement, if you fly to Korea from one of these states: New Mexico, Washington, and California, you will be required to complete Q-Code registration or fill out the health declaration form. If you fly to Korea from other states, you are not required to register Q-Code unless you exhibit symptom(s) of any disease under monitoring.
Q: I am flying from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Seoul, Incheon. Do I need Q-Code?
A: Since January 2025 and extended in the March 2025, April 2025, July 2025, September 2025, and December 2025 Q-Code requirement update, California has been included into the list of US states with strict quarantine inspection. Subject to further announcement, you are required to register Q-Code when flying from LAX to Seoul.
Q: I am flying from Mexico to Seoul, Incheon. Am I required to submit Q-Code?
A: Effective from January 1st, 2026, passengers traveling from Mexico to Korea are again required to register Q-Code when entering Korea.
Q: I am flying to Korea from London, do I need Q-Code?
A: As of January 2025, UK has been removed from the list of countries with strict quarantine inspection. You will only need to complete Q-Code registration prior to entering Korea from UK if you exhibit symptom(s) of disease under monitoring.
Q: I am flying to Korea from London with layover at Dubai airport, do I need Q-Code?
A: Even though UK is not in the list of countries under strict quarantine inspection in July 2025, United Arab Emirates is still included the list. You will be required to register Q-Code once arriving in Korea from Dubai.
Q: I will be having a flight from Philippines to South Korea, am I required to register Q-Code?
A: No, as of October 2024, travelers from Philippines are not required to complete register Q-Code when entering South Korea. However, if you exhibit certain symptom, for e.g. high fever, red rash, or watery eyes, you are expected to complete Q-Code registration.
Q: I am flying to Korea from India. Do I need to submit Q-Code?
A: Since October 1st, 2025 and extended in December 2025 Q-Code update, passengers flying from or transiting through India are required to submit Q-Code or health questionnaire form when arriving in Korea.
Q: I have filled out the health declaration form. Do I have to complete Q-Code registration?
A: Q-Code and health declaration form serve the same purpose, which is for infectious disease quarantine inspection. If you have filled out the health declaration form, you do not need to complete Q-Code registration. You can submit the completed health declaration form to the health officer at the health screening gate.
Related posts:
Q-Code Is Not Required Anymore When Entering South Korea
List of Countries with Q-Code Requirement to Enter Korea
Q-Code Requirements for Entry to Korea as of January 2025
List of Airlines and Check-in Counters at Incheon Airport Terminal 1
Asiana Airlines to Relocate to Incheon Airport Terminal 2 from January 14, 2026
How to Get from Incheon Airport to Myeongdong