Visa requirements for North Korean citizens

North Korean citizens need a Schengen visa, which covers all member states for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, North Korea and 0 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

No country asks holders of the North Korean passport for a visa beforehand while its own citizens enter North Korea without one.

The reverse holds for 37 countries: holders of the North Korean passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for North Korea (Armenia, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde and 32 others).

105 countries ask holders of the North Korean passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 12 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in North Korea.

93 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in North Korea, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for North Korea, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in South Korea (31), Japan (12) and China (9).

The United States refused 33% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of North Korea in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 102 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 94 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Visa-free travel with the North Korean passport

By continent, the North Korean passport is visa-free in 4 countries in the Americas, 2 countries in Asia, 1 country in Africa and 1 country in Oceania. The longest visa-free stays for North Korean citizens are allowed in Guyana (90 days), Haiti (90 days), the Seychelles (90 days), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (90 days), Micronesia (30 days) and Dominica (21 days).

Visa on arrival

North Korean citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Armenia, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Djibouti and 20 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how North Korean citizens enter Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia and 47 others. Ivory Coast, Kenya and Suriname ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

Where North Korean citizens are not admitted

According to the visa data used here, North Korean citizens are currently not admitted to Japan and Sri Lanka.

North Korea’s neighbours

For the neighbouring countries, the rules are: China (visa required), South Korea (e-Visa) and Russia (e-Visa for up to 30 days).

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the South Korean passport ranks 2nd (164 destinations), the Russian passport ranks 79th (115 destinations) and the Chinese passport ranks 113th (78 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 198 need a visa from an embassy or consulate for North Korea.