Arrival forms
The form you have never heard of, and the site that wants to charge you for it.
At least 14 countries now make you file a form online before you fly. 13 of them are free. One really does charge, and it is not the one you would guess. They are new, they are obscure, and they are mandatory, which is a perfect recipe for a scam. Search any of them and you will meet paid lookalikes before you meet the real thing, because the official sites do not buy ads and the copies do. Here is every one we can source, with the real address.
Checked Aug 2026, every portal verified against the issuing government
This is documented, not a suspicion
Taiwan's National Immigration Agency has published its own warning about fake TWAC sites: fraudulent sites were buying the words travelers search for, taking fees and personal details for a filing that costs nothing. Read the notice(opens in a new tab)
The free ones
13 filings that cost nothing.
Mandatory, free, and filed on these addresses and nowhere else. If a site asks for a card number, you are on the wrong one.
ColombiaCheck-MigfreeBetween 1 and 72 hours before each flightFiled before every flight into or out of Colombia. Free on the official Migracion Colombia site, and airlines check it at boarding.Migracion Colombia signalled in 2025 that Check-Mig is no longer strictly obligatory, but airlines still ask for it and some gate agents still insist. Filing it costs nothing and removes the argument.apps.migracioncolombia.gov.co/check-mig(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Colombia
Dominican RepublicE-TicketfreeBefore each flight, arriving and leavingRequired twice on a round trip, once to enter and once to leave, each with its own QR code. Free on the official portal.eticket.migracion.gob.do(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Dominican Republic
JamaicaC5 formfreeBefore you flyJamaica's combined immigration and customs declaration, filed online before arrival for a QR code to show at the airport. Free on the official government site, and separate from any visa.enterjamaica.gov.jm(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Jamaica
PhilippineseTravelfreeWithin 72 hours before arrival, and again on departureFree and mandatory, and like the Dominican Republic it is filed on the way out as well as on the way in.etravel.gov.ph(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Philippines
SingaporeSG Arrival CardfreeWithin three days before arrivalFree and mandatory, health declaration included. Singapore stopped stamping passports, so this filing is the record of your entry.www.ica.gov.sg/enter-transit-depart/entering-singapore/sg-arrival-card(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Singapore
South Koreae-Arrival CardfreeBefore your flightReplaced the paper card on 1 January 2026, and is required from anyone entering without a K-ETA. Free on the official portal.www.e-arrivalcard.go.kr(opens in a new tab)Money guide to South Korea
Sri LankaTourist ETAfreeBefore you flyFormally an authorization rather than an arrival card, but you file it online before you fly. Free of charge for US citizens since 25 May 2026 under the 40-country fee waiver.www.eta.gov.lk(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Sri Lanka
TaiwanTaiwan Arrival Card (TWAC)freeUp to seven days before arrivalReplaced the paper arrival card on 1 October 2025. Free, mandatory, and you can file for up to 16 travelers in one go.twac.immigration.gov.tw(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Taiwan
ThailandThailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC)freeWithin 72 hours of arrivalFree and mandatory for every arrival, filed on the Thai Immigration Bureau site.tdac.immigration.go.th(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Thailand
Cambodiae-Arrival (CeA)freeWithin 7 days before arrivalCambodia's single digital arrival card, which rolls the old paper immigration, health and customs forms into one filing. Free on the official General Department of Immigration site, and separate from any visa.Required for air arrivals only. Land border crossings still use paper forms. The official site is arrival.gov.kh; paid lookalikes buy the search terms above it.arrival.gov.kh(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Cambodia
IndonesiaAll Indonesia arrival cardfreeWithin 3 days before arrivalIndonesia's single arrival declaration. Since October 2025 it combines the arrival card, customs declaration and health screening into one filing, replacing the separate customs form. Free on the official immigration site.This is now one filing, not two: the older standalone customs declaration was folded in. The official domain ends in imigrasi.go.id.allindonesia.imigrasi.go.id(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Indonesia
LaosLao Digital Immigration Form (LDIF)freeWithin 3 days before arrival and again before departureLaos's online arrival and departure card, filed for a QR code shown at the border. Free on the official Department of Immigration site, and separate from any visa.Still rolling out: as of its 2025 launch it applies at the main international airports (Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Pakse) and the first Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge, not yet every crossing. Unusually, Laos wants a departure card too, not just an arrival one.www.immigration.gov.la(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Laos
Indiae-Arrival cardfreeBefore you flyIndia's pre-arrival immigration filing, handled through the official Indian Visa Online portal (and the Su-Swagatam app). Separate from the paid e-Visa, and separate again from the customs declaration, which is the ATITHI app.Two different filings get confused here: immigration (this one) versus customs (the ATITHI app, run by Indian Customs). Neither is the paid e-Visa. Use only gov.in sites.indianvisaonline.gov.in(opens in a new tab)Money guide to India
The exception
The one that really does charge.
Worth naming precisely, because "they are all free" is the kind of shortcut that makes a traveler distrust the rest of the advice the first time it fails.
ArubaED Card20 dollars per personBefore you boardMandatory online, and the one form on this list that really does cost money: a 20 dollar per-person sustainability fee, paid on the official site.edcardaruba.aw(opens in a new tab)Money guide to Aruba
How to tell
Four things the real site always does.
- It is on a government domain. A country's own top-level domain, usually with gov in it. A .com or .org selling an arrival card is a reseller at best.
- It does not ask for a card number. With one exception on this page, these filings are free, so a payment screen is the tell.
- It does not promise to be fast. Expedited processing is a made-up product. The government processes your form at the speed it processes it.
- You reached it by typing the address, not by searching. This is the whole game. The copies outrank the originals, so use the address rather than the search box.
If you have already paid one of these sites, you may have filed nothing at all: some of them just take the money. Check directly on the official portal above, and file again there if there is no record. It is free.
Filing the right form gets you into the country. If the airline is the one that changes your plans before you get there, a different set of rules applies: see what your airline owes you.
These rules keep arriving.
Two of the forms on this page did not exist two years ago. We can let you know for free when another lands.
We think no American should lose money abroad just because nobody told them the truth about it. So we quantify what a trip really costs, show you what you can avoid, and never sell you anything to do it.