Embassy of India Seoul, Republic of Korea
India-ROK Consular Relations India-ROK Consular Relations

India-ROK Consular Relations

India-ROK Consular Relations

Brief on Consular Matters

  1. India opened Consulate General Office in Korea in 1962. Following establishment of full fledged diplomatic relations between Republic of India and Republic of Korea in 1973, bilateral relations have grown steadily. In 2015, the two countries signed 'Special Strategic Partnerships' agreement and relations expanded in various sections including in consular areas and people to people interaction. In 2023, India and ROK commemorated 50th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations.
  2. Comprehensive Economic partnership (CEPA) which came into force from Jan 1, 2010 provided boost to the bilateral trade and commercial relations. During the past few years several high-level visits have taken place, prominent being South Korean President Moon Jae-in's visit to India in July 2018 and Indian Prime Minister's visit to South Korea in May 2015 and February 2019.
     
  3. Visa-on-Arrival facility for Korean nationals in India came into effect from Oct 1, 2018. The Visa-on-Arrival facility can be availed for the purpose of Business, Tourism, Conference and Medical related travel to India. This facility is available at six airports in India i.e. New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
     
  4. The total number of Visa issued to Korean nationals by the Mission (excluding e-visa/VoA) in 2022 was 5398; in 2023 was 3362; in 2024 was 3629; in 2025 was 3069; and in 2026 was 1404 (upto July 17). Majority of these included Business Visa and Employment Visa.
  5. The number of Indian nationals residing in ROK is around 19,000 while the number of Korean nationals residing in India is around 13,000 (approx). Indian nationals form a floating population in South Korea as majority of them visit ROK employment visa to work with multi-national companies such as Coupang, Samsung, Hyundai, LG, TATA-Daewoo, TCS etc. There is a significant presence of Indian students, researchers and faculty members in Korean Universities. 
  6. As the Indians living in ROK come from almost all states of India, there are a number of Indian community Associations formed on regional and professional lines. The prominent Indian associations include Indians in Korea (IIK), Indian Students & Researchers in Korea (ISRK) Telugu Association of South Korea (TASK), Korea Tamil Sangam (KTS), Marathi Mandal in Korea (MMK), Korea Kannada Koota, Gujarati Association, IIT Alumni Association of Korea (IITA-K), Daegu Indians, etc. 
  7. These associations undertake various cultural and social activities, including organizing major Indian festivals such as Diwali, Pongal, Dandiya, Holi etc. These activities not only provide an opportunity to socialize with other members of the community and stay in touch with Indian roots but also promote Indian culture among Korean nationals and foreigners in Korea. They play an important role in promoting India-Korea relations. In 2026, the Indian Community Associations joined hands with the Embassy to conduct an event “India Day-2026”, a celebration highlighting India’s culture, diversity and a glimpse of contemporary India.
     
  8. The Consular wing of the Mission, besides providing visa to Korean nationals and foreigners and providing Consular services to the Indian community, is also responsible for welfare and wellbeing of Indians residing in South Korea. For this purpose, the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) has been established by the Govt of India mainly to take care of expenditure arising due to unforeseen emergency situations. The Embassy conducts Consular Open Houses on the first Friday of every month. The Embassy also maintains robust channels of communication with the community as well as with the Korean authorities to ensure welfare of the Indian Nationals. An annual bilateral Consular Dialogue (CD) mechanism was established and so far 3 editions were held to streamline consular cooperation, facilitating mobility and promoting people-to-people exchanges between India and RoK.
  9. All Indian community members in ROK have been advised to register themselves with the Mission https://www.indembassyseoul.gov.in/ind_nat_register so that they could be informed regarding important developments relating to community welfare, consular and other services, various guidelines and protocols announced by the local govt from time to time.

July 2026