Visa policy of North Korea

Most visitors to North Korea must obtain a visa in advance from one of the North Korean diplomatic missions.^[1]

All visitors holding ordinary passports (except South Korea) must obtain a visa prior to entering North Korea.

All visitors (except citizens of South Korea) who travel to North Korea for tourism purposes require prior authorization from a travel agency registered with the State General Bureau of Tourist Guidance.

Visa requirement

North Korean tourist visas are issued in the form of a tourist card for tourists, or on a separate paper for other types of visas. No stamps are stamped inside one's actual passport.^[2]

Visa exemption

Since 2014, citizens of China holding ordinary passports visiting only the Tongrim County in a tour group can stay there for up to 2 days.^[3] They may also visit Sinuiju for a day trip without a visa.^[4]

Date of visa changes
Kyrgyzstan: Under the agreement between USSR and North Korea on 22 January 1986 9 March 2009: Malaysia^[5] December 2013: Singapore Cancelled 1 October 2016: Singapore^[6]^[7] 6 March 2017: Malaysia^[8]

Non-ordinary passports

Holders of non-ordinary passports issued to citizens of the following countries can enter North Korea without a visa, for a stay up to the duration listed below:^[1]

Indefinite stay

Kyrgyzstan^D ^S

90 days

Belarus^D ^O
Bulgaria^D ^S

Mongolia^D ^O
Russia^D ^S

30 days

Cambodia^{D O}
China^{D S}
Cuba^{D O}
Iran^D

Montenegro^D ^S
Myanmar^D ^S
Laos^D ^S
Serbia^D ^O

Singapore^D ^O
Tajikistan^D ^S
Vietnam^D ^O
Zimbabwe^D ^O

14 days

Indonesia^{D S}

_{D - Diplomatic passports}
_{O - Official passports}
_{S - Service passports}

South Korea

Citizens of South Korea seeking to visit North Korea cannot use South Korean passports to travel to North Korea.

They must instead submit a North/South Korea visitation verification certificate as well as a departure card to the North Korean immigration officer at the port of entry and go through immigration inspection in North Korea.

They must also seek authorization from the South Korean government prior to departure.

Statistics

Visitors with citizenship of the Russian Federation^[9]

Country	2021	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
Russia	89	437	3,134	2,995	4,359	4,220	4,231	3,819	6,313	6,636	8,314	4,625

References

^ ^a ^b "Visa and passport". Timatic. International Air Transport Association through Emirates. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
^ "HOW TO GET A NORTH KOREAN VISA - URITOURS". 19 November 2017.
^ "DPRK opens Tongnim-jun to Chinese tourists". usa.chinadaily.com.cn. China Daily. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
^ Leo Byrne (23 December 2015). "North Korea opens new tourist zone at Sinuiju". NK★News.org. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
^ Fazleena Aziz (9 March 2009). "Only Malaysians can visit North Korea without a visa". thestaronline. The Star. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
^ "North Koreans travelling to Singapore will require visas from Oct 1". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. 30 July 2016. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
^ Kang Jin-Kyu; Yoo Jee-Hye (31 July 2016). "Singapore ends visa waivers for North Korea". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
^ "Kim Jong-nam death: Malaysia scraps visa-free entry for North Koreans". The Guardian. Associated Press. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
^ "fedstat.ru". Archived from the original on 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2022-03-17.

External links

Media related to Visas of North Korea at Wikimedia Commons

[Timatic-1] "Visa and passport". Timatic. International Air Transport Association through Emirates. Retrieved 1 April 2017.

[2] "HOW TO GET A NORTH KOREAN VISA - URITOURS". 19 November 2017.

[3] "DPRK opens Tongnim-jun to Chinese tourists". usa.chinadaily.com.cn. China Daily. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2023.

[4] Leo Byrne (23 December 2015). "North Korea opens new tourist zone at Sinuiju". NK★News.org. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2017.

[5] Fazleena Aziz (9 March 2009). "Only Malaysians can visit North Korea without a visa". thestaronline. The Star. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2023.

[6] "North Koreans travelling to Singapore will require visas from Oct 1". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. 30 July 2016. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.

[7] Kang Jin-Kyu; Yoo Jee-Hye (31 July 2016). "Singapore ends visa waivers for North Korea". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.

[8] "Kim Jong-nam death: Malaysia scraps visa-free entry for North Koreans". The Guardian. Associated Press. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2023.

[9] "fedstat.ru". Archived from the original on 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2022-03-17.

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v t e Visa policy by country
Visa Passport Travel document
Africa	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros DR Congo Djibouti Egypt⁶ Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea-Bissau Guinea Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria R Congo Rwanda Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha¹ São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia Somaliland³ South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Americas	Anguilla¹ Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bermuda¹ Bolivia Brazil British Virgin Islands¹ Canada Cayman Islands¹ Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Dutch Caribbean (Aruba, Caribbean Netherlands, Curaçao, Sint Maarten) Ecuador El Salvador Falkland Islands¹ Greenland⁵ Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Montserrat¹ Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and the Grenadines South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands¹ Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Turks and Caicos Islands¹ United States Puerto Rico⁴ Virgin Islands⁴ Uruguay Venezuela
Asia	Abkhazia² ³ Afghanistan Akrotiri and Dhekelia¹ ² Armenia² Azerbaijan² Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Hong Kong Macau Cyprus² East Timor Egypt⁶ Georgia² India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan² Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal North Korea Northern Cyprus² ³ Oman Pakistan Palestine³ Philippines Qatar Russia² Saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea South Ossetia² Sri Lanka Syria Taiwan (Republic of China)³ Tajikistan Thailand Turkey² Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen
Europe	Abkhazia² ³ Akrotiri and Dhekelia¹ ² Albania Andorra Armenia² Austria Azerbaijan² Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Cyprus² Denmark Faroe Islands Greenland Estonia Finland France Overseas Georgia² Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan² Kosovo³ Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Overseas North Macedonia Northern Cyprus² ³ Norway Svalbard Poland Portugal Romania Russia² San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia South Ossetia² ³ Spain Sweden Switzerland Transnistria³ Turkey² Ukraine United Kingdom Overseas Vatican City
Oceania	American Samoa⁴ Australia Cook Islands Fiji Guam⁴ Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia Nauru New Zealand Niue Northern Mariana Islands⁴ Palau Papua New Guinea Pitcairn Islands¹ Samoa Solomon Islands Tokelau Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
Historical	Artsakh² Russia²
¹ British Overseas Territories. ² These countries span the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia. ³ Partially recognized. ⁴ Unincorporated territory of the United States. ⁵ Part of the Kingdom of Denmark. ⁶ Egypt spans the boundary between Africa and Asia.