From July 1, Quarantine Exemption for Overseas Vaccinated Individuals... "Family Visits, Business, Academic Purposes" (Update)

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eunbyeol] 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 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 and finalized the plan to reform the entry management system for overseas vaccinated individuals.

Since the 5th of last month, the government has granted quarantine exemption benefits to foreigners and nationals who 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 overseas vaccinated individuals at a level similar to those vaccinated domestically.

The exemption applies to vaccinated individuals entering from countries without variant virus outbreaks for important business purposes, academic 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 receive quarantine exemption, applicants must submit a quarantine exemption application, family relationship documents, vaccination certificates, and a pledge to the overseas diplomatic mission.

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

However, even fully vaccinated individuals entering from variant virus prevalent countries such as South Africa and Brazil are not eligible for quarantine exemption.

The government stated, "For those exempted from quarantine, a total of three COVID-19 diagnostic tests will be conducted before and after entry, and mandatory installation of a self-diagnosis app after entry will be required to monitor for clinical symptoms of COVID-19. We will thoroughly manage quarantine-exempt individuals to prevent the spread of COVID-19."