Japan & South Korea Visas on an Indian Passport from the UK (2026)

It is February, and you have finally decided on the trip: cherry blossoms in Kyoto in April, then a hop across to Seoul for the food. You are a British-Indian living in Manchester, you hold an ordinary Indian passport, and you assumed — reasonably — that both countries would have some quick online travel-authorisation system like the ones you have used for other destinations. You start Googling, and within ten minutes you have hit two surprises. Japan has just launched an eVISA, but it works in a way nobody warned you about. And South Korea has a thing called the K-ETA that looks perfect — except it turns out you cannot use it at all.

This is the post we wish every Indian-passport traveller read before booking flights. Japan and South Korea are two of the most rewarding trips an NRI can take, but on an Indian passport from the UK they each have a specific, slightly fiddly process — and one persistent myth that catches people out at the gate. We will walk through both honestly, including where you can comfortably do it yourself and where our third-country eVISA service earns its place.

A note up front: official Japanese and Korean visa portals are heavily scraper-blocked, and Korea's fee schedule resets on 1 July 2026, so treat every figure here as an approximate 2026 estimate at the time of writing. Confirm the live numbers before you pay.

Japan: a Temporary Visitor visa, two ways to get it#

Let us start with the simpler of the two. Indian passport holders are not visa-exempt for Japan — you need a short-term Temporary Visitor (tourist) visa, which allows stays of up to 90 days. There is no version of this where you simply turn up. The good news is that, as of 2026, there are now two routes from the UK.

Route 1 — The Japan eVISA (new, and covers UK residents)#

The headline change is that the Japan eVISA now covers UK residents holding ordinary Indian passports, for single-entry tourism of up to 90 days. You apply entirely online, and instead of a sticker in your passport you receive an electronic "Visa Issuance Notice".

Here is the part that trips people up, so read it twice.

The eVISA is convenient because it skips the trip to London, but it is single-entry only and tends to take roughly two weeks to process — slower than the sticker route. If you want multiple entry, or you simply prefer a physical visa in your passport, you take the second route.

Route 2 — The VFS sticker visa for the Embassy of Japan#

The traditional path is a sticker visa, applied for through VFS Global in London acting for the Embassy of Japan. This route involves biometrics (fingerprints) at the centre, and the visa is physically affixed in your passport. Processing is typically around five working days once submitted — faster than the eVISA in practice.

Japan fees and documents#

From 1 April 2026, the Embassy of Japan (UK) fees are approximately:

• Single entry — £15
• Multiple entry — £31
• Transit — £4

If you use the in-person VFS route, a VFS service fee is additional on top of the consular fee above. The eVISA route does not carry the VFS service charge but is single-entry only.

On documents, expect to provide the usual short-stay tourist pack — passport, photo, itinerary, accommodation and flight bookings, bank statements — plus, crucially, proof of UK residence. Acceptable proof generally includes a UK visa or ILR endorsement in your passport, or a gov.uk share code together with a "view and prove status" printout, or a recent UK employer or college letter.

For most one-off tourist trips the eVISA is genuinely fine and saves you a London journey — just respect the live-online rule. If you travel to Japan often, or you want a sticker for peace of mind, the VFS route is worth the trip.

South Korea: the K-ETA myth, and the visa you actually need#

Now to the country that causes the most confusion — and the most failed plans.

Myth-bust: Indians cannot use the K-ETA#

You will read travel blogs and forum posts insisting you can just get a K-ETA (Korea Electronic Travel Authorisation) for Korea. For Indian passport holders, this is wrong, and acting on it can ruin a trip.

The K-ETA is only for visa-waiver nationalities. Korea ran a temporary K-ETA waiver across 2025-26, but it does not apply to Indians. As an Indian passport holder you need an actual visa — specifically a C-3 short-term visit (tourist) visa, typically single-entry, valid for stays of up to 90 days.

Where Indians apply: the KVAC in London#

Unlike Japan, South Korea does not use VFS in the UK. Applications go through the Korea Visa Application Center (KVAC) in London, at Heron House, 10 Dean Farrar Street, SW1H 0DX. Importantly, the KVAC operates as a mail-in centre — you generally submit your documents by post rather than attending in person, and for a short C-3 there are no biometrics.

South Korea fees, timing and the e-Arrival Card#

Costs come in two parts:

• The Korean government visa fee of roughly the equivalent of US$40 (revised semi-annually; the current schedule is valid to 30 June 2026 and then resets), plus
• A KVAC service charge of around £53.

Processing typically takes five to ten working days. As ever, build a buffer.

What makes a stronger applicant for both countries#

For both Japan and Korea, you are applying as an Indian citizen who lives in the UK — and that is an advantage if you present it well. Caseworkers want to see that you are a genuine short-term visitor with strong reasons to return to the UK.

In practice, UK ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain) plus strong ties — settled UK employment, property or tenancy, family, a clear return itinerary — makes for a noticeably stronger application than a thin file. None of this is exotic; it is the same logic behind any third-country visitor visa. Our broader walkthrough of third-country eVISAs for UK residents covers how to package UK residence evidence so it does the heavy lifting for you.

DIY or use our service — the honest call#

Let us be straight, because both of these are doable yourself.

Do it yourself if: you have clean UK status (ILR or a clear visa with a share code), a straightforward tourist itinerary, and time to manage the eVISA portal or the KVAC mail-in process carefully. The Japan eVISA in particular is well within reach for an organised traveller — the main risk is the live-online airport rule, which is about preparation, not paperwork.

Consider our third-country eVISA service if: you are nervous about getting the residence-proof pack right, you are doing both countries in one trip and want the sequencing and documents handled together, your UK status is anything other than simple ILR, or you have been refused before and want a clean, consistent file. The two processes differ enough — Japan via eVISA or VFS, Korea via KVAC mail-in — that having one person manage both removes a lot of room for error.

Where we genuinely add value is catching the small things that derail otherwise fine applications: the Japan eVISA traveller who plans to rely on a screenshot, the Korea traveller who assumed the K-ETA covered them, the share-code printout that expired, the e-Arrival Card forgotten until the airport. Those are cheap mistakes to avoid and expensive ones to make.

If Japan and Korea are part of a wider run of trips on your Indian passport, it is worth reading alongside our guides to the New Zealand visitor visa on an Indian passport and the Thailand and Singapore visa routes — the residence-evidence playbook is the same across all of them, even where the portals differ.

Ready to plan Tokyo and Seoul properly?#

Both trips are absolutely within reach on an Indian passport from the UK — you just have to respect each country's actual process and ignore the K-ETA myth. Get your UK residence proof in order, choose the Japan route that suits you, treat the Korea C-3 and the e-Arrival Card as two separate jobs, and verify every fee live before you pay. If you would rather hand the whole thing over and travel with one fewer worry, our third-country eVISA service will handle both countries' paperwork as a single package and tell you honestly if you could just do it yourself.

This guide reflects Japan and South Korea visa processes for UK-resident Indian passport holders as observed by NriDirect in 2026. Rules, fees and timelines change without notice — and official portals are often scraper-blocked, so figures here are approximate at the time of writing. Verify current details on the official sources, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs↗ and the Korea Visa Application Centre / Korean Embassy UK site, before applying. NriDirect is an independent UK agent and is not affiliated with VFS Global, the Embassy of Japan, the Korea Visa Application Centre or the Indian High Commission.