From July 1, Quarantine Exemption for Overseas Arrivals Vaccinated Against COVID-19 (Comprehensive)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] Starting from the 1st of next month, even if COVID-19 vaccination was completed overseas, quarantine will be exempted upon entry for important business purposes, academic and public interest purposes, humanitarian purposes, and visits to immediate family members.

On the 13th, the government held a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, where it finalized the plan to reform the entry management system for those who have completed vaccination overseas.

Since the 5th of last month, the government has granted quarantine exemption benefits to foreigners and nationals who have completed vaccination domestically and then traveled abroad and returned after two weeks. However, demands have been raised to ease entry procedures for overseas Koreans and international students who received vaccinations abroad, as quarantine exemptions were not applied to them.

Accordingly, the government decided to promote quarantine exemptions for those who completed vaccination overseas at a level similar to those vaccinated domestically.

The exemption applies to those who have completed vaccination and are entering from countries without variant virus outbreaks for important business purposes, academic and public interest purposes, humanitarian purposes, etc. It also applies to overseas Koreans visiting immediate family members (spouse, direct ascendants and descendants of the individual and spouse) residing in Korea.

To be recognized as fully vaccinated, individuals must have received all recommended doses of vaccines approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO)?Pfizer, Janssen, Moderna, AstraZeneca (AZ), Covishield (AZ-Serum Institute of India), Sinopharm, Sinovac?in the same country, and two weeks must have passed since the final dose.

The quarantine exemption targets those who have completed vaccination and are entering from countries without variant virus outbreaks for important business purposes, academic and public interest purposes, humanitarian purposes, etc. Businesspeople entering for important business activities can submit a quarantine exemption application to the Business Travel Support Center (1566-8110, www.btsc.or.kr), and after review by relevant ministries, a quarantine exemption certificate will be issued.

Also, overseas Koreans visiting immediate family members (spouse, direct ascendants and descendants of the individual and spouse) residing in Korea are recognized as quarantine exemption targets. To receive the exemption, applicants must submit a quarantine exemption application, family relationship documents, vaccination certificates, and a pledge to the overseas diplomatic mission.

However, the government decided not to grant quarantine exemptions even to fully vaccinated individuals entering from 13 countries where variant viruses are prevalent, including South Africa and Brazil. Besides South Africa and Brazil, the other 11 countries are Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Equatorial Guinea, Suriname, Paraguay, and Chile.

The government stated, "For those exempted from quarantine, thorough quarantine management will be implemented, including conducting a total of three COVID-19 diagnostic tests before and after entry, mandatory installation of a self-diagnosis app after entry, and monitoring for the occurrence of COVID-19 clinical symptoms."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.