Some documents exist for when you fly tomorrow without a passport, or lose one abroad and must get home. Article 4 of the Passport Act defines the emergency passport as one issued urgently when there is no time for a regular passport, and says it is issued only as a single-use passport — good for one trip abroad. The fee in the Decree annex is 50,000 won in Korea or 50 US dollars at a mission, and 17,000 won on accepted humanitarian grounds. With the travel certificate used to get home when a passport is refused, here are all three from the Act, Decree and Ordinance, with a fee tool.
1. Emergency passport: single-use, valid within 1 year, 50,000 won (50 dollars abroad).
2. 17,000 won (17 dollars) if the Minister accepts humanitarian grounds such as a relative’s death or grave illness or injury.
3. Travel certificate: within 1 year, ends once its purpose is met, 25,000 won.
Three documents at a glance — Act, Decree, annex
| Document | What it is | Validity · look · fee (Korea) |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency passport | Issued where there is no time to get or reissue an ordinary, official or diplomatic passport and urgent issue is accepted (Act Art. 4(1)4). Single-use only (4(2)2) | Within 1 year · blue, 12 pages · 50,000 won (17,000 humanitarian) |
| Single-use passport | Good for one trip abroad (Act Art. 4(2)); issued in the six cases below (Art. 6(1)) | 1 year (Decree Art. 15(1)) · navy, 14 pages · 17,000 won |
| Travel certificate | A certificate in place of a passport, naming the destination (Act Art. 14(1)) | Within 1 year, void once its purpose is met (2) · black, 12 pages · 25,000 won |
The look is from Decree Art. 2. Emergency passports are carved out of the validity article (Act Art. 5: “excluding emergency passports”); the annex says “within 1 year”, and Act Art. 6(1)5 lists issuing an emergency passport among the cases for a single-use passport of up to 1 year. Decree Art. 3(2) lets emergency passports and travel certificates be issued without the data stored electronically, and the annex calls it a “non-electronic emergency passport”.
When a single-use passport is issued — Act Art. 6(1)
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Item 1 | The applicant asks for one | Single-use by choice |
| Item 2 | Issued under Art. 12-3 (exceptional passport on urgent humanitarian grounds) | See below |
| Item 4 | Someone who, during the check period of Art. 11(2), must travel for unavoidable reasons such as a student’s term dates | While frequent losses are checked |
| Item 5 | Issuing an emergency passport | — |
| Item 6 | Issued under the proviso to Art. 9(4) | The under-18 provision |
| Decree Art. 15(2) | Someone an agency says may travel only for a set period, e.g. during a trial — that period | Exception to 1 year |
Item 3 was deleted on 5 January 2021. The check and its 30 days are in lost passport report and reissue.
Applying for an emergency passport — Decree Art. 14, Ordinance Art. 4(6)–(7)
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Basic documents (Decree Art. 14) | (1) application (2) proof of eligibility for a single-use passport (not where you simply ask) (3) 1 passport photo (4) documents the Ordinance sets | — |
| Statement (Ordinance (6)) | Form No. 1-2, the emergency passport application statement, with proof of the reason | E.g. a ticket or itinerary (our example) |
| Reduction proof (Ordinance (7)) | For the reduced fee, a relative’s death certificate, injury certificate or hospital admission note or other proof; may be skipped if the Minister can confirm it via the mission | — |
The humanitarian rate — annex note 4
Annex note 4 says that when an emergency passport is for travel because of the death, grave illness or injury of a relative staying outside the issuing country, or similar humanitarian grounds accepted by the Minister, the fee is 17,000 won in Korea or 17 dollars at a mission. That is 33,000 won less than 50,000 (our sum). Of the Korean fee, the agency handling cost is listed separately: 11,000 won, or 3,740 won at the reduced rate.
📌 Ordinance Art. 4(7) cites “note 3 of the Decree annex”, but in the current annex (amended 10 February 2026) the humanitarian rate is note 4 and note 3 defines the passport fact certificate. The numbering seems to have shifted when the annex changed (our reading); both mean the same reduction.
When a single-use passport ends — Act Art. 13(1)9
It loses effect when the holder returns to the country that issued it — or, if a mission issued it, the country where that mission is. Read literally, one issued in Korea ends on return to Korea, and one issued by a mission abroad ends on return to that country (our reading). The next trip needs a new ordinary passport.
The humanitarian exception passport — Act Art. 12-3, Decree Art. 26-3
There is a route even for someone refused or restricted. If the Minister accepts that the person must leave urgently because a spouse, their own or their spouse’s lineal relative or sibling staying abroad has died or is similarly gravely ill or injured, a passport usable only for that trip may be issued, valid for the minimum period the trip needs.
Who gets a travel certificate — Decree Art. 16
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Item 1 | A stateless person leaving the country | — |
| Item 4 | A person adopted abroad | — |
| Item 5 | Someone who must carry one under Art. 10 of the Inter-Korean Exchange Act, as the Minister accepts | — |
| Item 5-2 | Someone staying or living abroad whose passport was refused or restricted, or who was deported from a foreign country, and needs it to come home | The case a traveller might meet |
| Item 6 | A foreigner deported under Immigration Act Art. 46 who cannot get their own country’s passport | — |
| Item 7 | Others like the above whom the Minister finds need one urgently | Items 2–3 deleted |
Fee and validity — the tool
Updates as you choose. Fees are the annex figures (missions charge the same number in US dollars). The humanitarian rate in annex note 4 applies only to emergency passports, when the Minister accepts that the trip is for a relative abroad who has died or is gravely ill or injured.
Missions charge the same number in dollars: 50 for an emergency passport, 17 single-use, 25 for a travel certificate. Multiple-use passport fees and the exchange contribution are in passport fees.
Checklist
- ☐ Emergency passport statement and proof of the reason
- ☐ 1 passport photo
- ☐ For humanitarian grounds: death certificate, injury certificate or admission note
- ☐ Whether your destination admits a non-electronic single-use passport (our view)
- ☐ Apply for a new ordinary passport once home
Questions that remain
Is an emergency passport issued on the spot?
The articles we read give no processing time, only the “no time” definition. Ask the office how long it takes.
Will every country accept it?
The Passport Act only governs what Korea issues. Whether a non-electronic single-use passport is accepted is up to the destination; check its entry rules.
Sources
- Korean law database (law.go.kr) — Passport Act Arts. 4–6, 12-3, 13, 14 — source (effective 28 August 2026, Act No. 21383; checked 28 October 2026). Definition and single-use issue of emergency passports, their exclusion from the validity article, single-use cases, the humanitarian exception, loss of effect on return, travel certificates within 1 year.
- Korean law database — Passport Act Enforcement Decree Arts. 2, 3, 14–16, 26-3 and annex — source (effective 1 March 2026, Presidential Decree No. 36078; annex amended 10 February 2026; checked 28 October 2026). Colours and pages, electronic-data exception, single-use documents and validity, travel certificate eligibility, relatives for humanitarian grounds, fees and note 4.
- Korean law database — Passport Act Enforcement Ordinance Art. 4(6)–(7) — source (effective 1 June 2026, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ordinance No. 160; checked 28 October 2026). The application statement and proof for the reduction.
- Not read. Processing times by office; whether each country accepts emergency passports.
- What we added. The “worth noting” column and the Korean everyday gloss.
Where to check further
- Passport offices and Korean missions — timing and documents.
- Your destination’s embassy — whether it accepts emergency or single-use passports.
Written on 28 October 2026. The content is from the source; the glosses are ours.
