Korea Consumer Agency Receives 38 ETA-Related Inquiries in Past Six Months
Higher Fees and No Refunds Compared to Official Sites
"Check for '.gov' to Ensure It Is an Official Government Site"
The Korea Consumer Agency announced on July 11 that there has been a recent increase in consultations related to Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA and ESTA), and consumers need to exercise caution.
Electronic Travel Authorization Agency Site (Unrelated to Article Content). Provided by Korea Consumer Agency
ETA is a system that requires travelers from visa-exempt countries to enter their travel information in advance and receive entry approval before arriving. The permitted length of stay varies by country, but is generally 90 days or 6 months. The United States operates the ESTA system.
In the past six months, a total of 38 consumer consultations related to electronic travel authorization were received through the International Transaction Consumer Portal operated by the Korea Consumer Agency, representing a 4.7-fold increase compared to the same period last year. All of these cases were related to overseas agency sites rather than the official electronic travel authorization issuance sites. Complaints included being charged excessive fees or not receiving the authorization at all.
Most cases involved consumers searching for terms like "ETA" or "ESTA" on portal sites and mistaking the agency sites, which appeared at the top of the search results, for official sites and making payments there. These agency sites used words such as "ESTA," "ETA," "VISA," or English country names in their web addresses, and their layouts and logos were made to closely resemble official sites in order to lure consumers.
All of the consumer consultations received were related to agency sites for four countries that require electronic travel authorization: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. In the case of the United States, the official ESTA site charges $21, but these agency sites charged up to nine times more, at $195. For Canada's ETA, where the official price is 7 CAD, there was a case where the agency site charged 95 USD, which is 18 times higher. In 6 out of the 38 cases, the electronic travel authorization was not issued at all, and contact with the companies was lost, making refunds difficult.
The Korea Consumer Agency stated, "The official sites of major countries operating electronic travel authorization systems, except for Canada, use internet addresses that include 'gov,' which denotes 'government.' If the agency site web page contains phrases such as 'not affiliated with the government,' it is necessary to compare it with the official site."
Additionally, agency sites usually display notices such as "not affiliated with the government" at the top or bottom of their web pages. If such a phrase is present on the site you access, you should compare the site and its prices with the official site before making any payment. ETA and ESTA fees typically range from about 7,000 to 28,000 KRW depending on the country, so if the fee is significantly higher than this, you should check whether the site is an agency site.
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