What a digital arrival card is
More and more countries have replaced the paper card handed out on the plane with an online form you complete before you land: passport details, flight, where you are staying and, depending on the country, a customs or health declaration. When you finish you get a QR code or a registration number to show at the border.
An arrival card is neither a visa nor a travel authorisation, and it does not decide whether you can enter: that depends on your passport and the entry regime that applies to it, which is what each of our destination pages sets out. A Spanish traveller going to Thailand needs no visa but does need the TDAC, and someone who needs an e-Visa for India has to get the e-Visa and, separately, the arrival card. The difference between a visa, an e-Visa and an electronic authorisation is explained in this guide.
Nearly all of them are free
Every system in this guide is free on its official site, with the Dominican Republic as the one nuance explained below. Even so, searching for the name of the form often leads to sites that imitate the official portal and charge a “processing fee” or an “express approval”. Malaysia, China and Japan Customs have all published warnings about them. If a page asks you to pay for an arrival card, leave it and go in through the official address we give for each country.
Asia
Thailand: TDAC
The Thailand Digital Arrival Card has been mandatory for all foreigners entering Thailand since 1 May 2025, replacing the old paper TM6. It includes a basic health and accommodation declaration, is free, and is submitted in the three days before arrival at tdac.immigration.go.th.
Malaysia: MDAC
The Malaysia Digital Arrival Card is mandatory for every foreign visitor, whether arriving by air, land or sea and however long the trip. It is submitted up to three days before arrival at imigresen-online.imi.gov.my and covers a single entry: if you leave and come back during the same trip, you fill it in again. The Immigration Department warns about copycat sites that charge for it.
Singapore: SG Arrival Card
It replaced the paper disembarkation card. It is free and is submitted up to three days before arrival on the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority website (eservices.ica.gov.sg/sgarrivalcard) or in its official MyICA app.
Indonesia: All Indonesia
Since 1 October 2025, every passenger arriving from abroad has to make an arrival declaration through All Indonesia, which brings immigration, customs, health and quarantine together in one form. It is free, is completed in the three days before arrival at allindonesia.imigrasi.go.id or in its app, and produces a QR code that is scanned at immigration and at customs.
Philippines: eTravel
Every arriving passenger, with exceptions such as diplomats, has to register on eTravel (etravel.gov.ph) within the 72 hours before arrival. Registration is free.
Taiwan: TWAC
In the three days before arrival you fill in Taiwan’s arrival card online on the National Immigration Agency website. Holders of a resident visa or a residence card (ARC or APRC) do not need it.
China: E-Arrival Card
Since 20 November 2025 the arrival card can be completed online before travelling: on the National Immigration Administration website, in its official NIA 12367 app, or in its WeChat and Alipay mini-programs. If you do not do it beforehand you can fill it in on arrival using the devices at the border post, and the paper card still exists. It is free.
India: e-Arrival Card
India asks for an e-Arrival Card that is separate from the visa, completed within the 72 hours before arrival at boi.gov.in or indianvisaonline.gov.in, or in the official Indian Visa Su-Swagatam app. Third-party sites imitate the official portal.
South Korea
Travellers entering South Korea fill in an arrival card unless they hold an approved K-ETA, which exempts them from it. The K-ETA is only applied for at k-eta.go.kr or in the official K-ETA app; the details, and the list of nationalities exempt from the K-ETA until 31 December 2026, are on our South Korea page.
Japan: Visit Japan Web
Visit Japan Web is a free service from Japan’s Digital Agency that lets you complete the immigration steps and the customs declaration in advance and get a single code for the border. It is optional: the paper customs form is still accepted. In May 2026 Japan Customs warned about fake websites linked to these procedures.
Maldives: IMUGA
Every foreign traveller, children included, has to submit the IMUGA traveller declaration within the 96 hours before arrival at imuga.immigration.gov.mv. It is free and each traveller submits their own.
Brunei: e-Arrival Card
Since 2024 everyone arriving by land, sea or air registers online before arriving, and the airline may ask for it at check-in. You also need to complete the Ministry of Health’s health declaration before or on arrival.
The Americas
Colombia: Check-Mig
Migración Colombia asks every traveller to complete the Check-Mig pre-registration form, up to 24 hours before arrival and again between 72 hours and one hour before departure, at apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/pre-registro. It is free. Not completing it can lead to being refused entry or exit.
Dominican Republic: E-Ticket
The E-Ticket is an electronic form required by law that covers immigration, customs and health. Every traveller completes it, whatever their nationality, before entering and before leaving the country, at eticket.migracion.gob.do. It includes the old tourist card, which since 2018 has been built into air tickets issued outside the country, so most travellers pay nothing extra on arrival; handled separately, it costs USD 10 and covers one entry.
Three checks before you go
- Look at the page for the country you are visiting: if it has an arrival card, it appears next to your passport’s entry regime, with its official link.
- Watch the timing. Nearly all of them are submitted in the three days before arrival (96 hours for the Maldives), so you cannot get them done weeks ahead.
- Keep the QR code or registration number on your phone and as a screenshot. At some airports the airline asks for it at check-in, before you have a connection at your destination.
Guide verified on 20/10/2026. Sources: Thailand Immigration Bureau (tdac.immigration.go.th); Immigration Department of Malaysia (imigresen-online.imi.gov.my); Singapore Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (eservices.ica.gov.sg); Directorate General of Immigration of Indonesia, press release “Mulai 1 Oktober, Deklarasi Kedatangan Penumpang Wajib Dilakukan di Aplikasi All Indonesia” (imigrasi.go.id); Philippine Bureau of Immigration and etravel.gov.ph; Taiwan National Immigration Agency (immigration.gov.tw); China National Immigration Administration (nia.gov.cn); Bureau of Immigration of India (boi.gov.in, indianvisaonline.gov.in); Ministry of Justice of South Korea (k-eta.go.kr); Digital Agency of Japan (Visit Japan Web) and Japan Customs (customs.go.jp, baggage declaration and warning about fake websites of 28/05/2026); Maldives Immigration (imuga.immigration.gov.mv); Migración Colombia; Directorate General of Migration of the Dominican Republic (eticket.migracion.gob.do). For Brunei, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, India, South Korea, the Maldives, Colombia and the Dominican Republic we also rely on our destination pages, verified between August and September 2026. These forms change often: confirm the timing on the official site before you travel.