What you need to enter Ecuador with a South Korean passport

The Galápagos Islands: different entry rules

Having entered Ecuador does not give you access to the Galápagos. Anyone arriving in the province as a tourist or in-transit traveller needs the Transit Control Card issued by the Governing Council of the Special Regime, required under article 29 of its rules and costing 20 dollars for adults, with under-twos exempt. You show it both entering and leaving the province. You can pre-register online and collect it at the Council's own counters in the Quito and Guayaquil airports.

Source: gob.ec, "Emisión de tarjeta de control de tránsito para turistas y transeúntes"; gobiernogalapagos.gob.ec (comprobado 18/09/2026)

Fee

USD 80.00

Temporary visitor visa — tourist (90 days), per the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility: US$50 application fee + US$30 issuance fee (US$80 total), no VAT. Only applies to nationalities that require a visa; most passports enter visa-free at no cost.

Required documents

• A passport valid for at least six months
• Health insurance, public or private, valid for the whole of your stay in the country (Art. 53 of the Organic Law on Human Mobility and Executive Decree 111, enforceable since 1 May 2018)
• A tourist stay of up to 90 days from entry, extendable by a further 90 days on application to the human mobility authority
• If you are a national of a UNASUR member state, the period granted by border control is up to 180 days within a one-year period counted from your first entry

Vaccinations

• No mandatory vaccines for general entry. A yellow fever certificate is required from travellers over 1 year of age arriving from a country with risk of transmission. The vaccine is also recommended for visiting the Amazon provinces below 2,300 m (Morona-Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, Sucumbíos and Zamora-Chinchipe); it is not recommended for Quito, Guayaquil or the Galápagos Islands.

Health insurance

Mandatory for this destination.

Transit rules

As a tourist, the authorized stay is up to 90 days within a one-year period counted from the first entry, extendable once for up to 90 additional consecutive days, upon request and payment of the corresponding fee.

Customs limits

Cash

Declare to Ecuador's National Customs Service (SENAE) via the Customs Registration Form (FRA) if carrying US$10,000 or more in cash, bearer negotiable instruments, precious metals, or precious stones.

Alcohol

Up to 3 liters of alcoholic beverages duty-free per traveler, per SENAE's 2026 update to the baggage allowance.

Tobacco

For those over 18: up to 20 packs of cigarettes (20 units each), or 25 cigars, or 1 pound of tobacco, per media outlets citing SENAE's 2026 update (the exact figure could not be verified via direct fetch against the official site, which doesn't detail it on the page consulted).

Overstay penalties

The Organic Law on Human Mobility punishes overstaying with a fine of between 1 and 15 unified basic salaries (SBU), depending on severity. Tourists who exceed the authorized 90 days (or 180 days if already extended) without paying the fine or regularizing their status are barred from re-entering the country for 1 year from their departure date, unless the fine is paid (equivalent to 1 SBU per the migration authority) or a consular visa is obtained.

Common reasons for denial

• Presenting documentation that is destroyed, inaccurate or illegible: the law provides for immediate return to the country of origin.
• Being on record for having committed one or more migration offences (paragraph 11 of Article 137, as worded by the October 2025 reform).
• Falling under any of the other inadmission grounds in Article 137 of the Organic Law on Human Mobility.
• As a safeguard, it is worth knowing that inadmission is an administrative procedure with separate stages: the law requires different officials to instruct and to decide, keeping the two functions apart.