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Flag of South Korea

South Korea

Workcation Visa (F-1-D)

PR: NoUTC+9

The requirements

Programme status
Open, accepting applications
Minimum monthly income
$6,290 a month
Required savings
None
Annual total
$75,480
Initial duration
1 year, extendable to 3
Family allowed
Yes
Apply online
No, in person or by post

Tiered by age and where you live, from the Bank of Korea's prior-year GNI per capita (2025: ~KRW 52.41M). 18-34 in the capital area 1.5x (KRW 78.62M/yr); 18-34 outside it 1x (KRW 52.41M); 35+ in the capital area 2x (KRW 104.83M); 35+ outside it 1.5x. Bringing family in the capital area is 2x whatever your age, 1.5x outside it. The figure in the table is the 2x tier, which is where most holders are: 85% of them were in Seoul, Gyeonggi or Incheon in May 2026.

How this figure is set: A formula in law, so the amount moves when its base moves. The wording on the source is: KRW 52.41M-104.83M/year depending on age and region (1x-2x GNI per capita, 2025: KRW 52.41M). 18-34 non-capital 1x; 18-34 capital and 35+ non-capital 1.5x (KRW 78.62M); 35+ capital 2x (KRW 104.83M). Formula: 1x to 2x the previous year's GNI per capita as published by the Bank of Korea, graded by the applicant's age and whether they will live in the capital area (수도권) or outside it, with population-decline areas counted as outside. Family in tow fixes the multiplier at 2x in the capital area and 1.5x outside it. The pilot applied a flat 2x to everyone until 30 June 2026.

Income confidence: high · checked 2026-09-18
Legal basis: Ministry of Justice press release of 7 July 2026 ('연봉 1억' 문턱은 낮추고 체류기간은 최대 3년으로), which makes the 2024 pilot a permanent scheme from 30 June 2026 and carries the full F-1-D annex: the four income tiers with their won amounts, the documents, the insurance minimum and the three-year cap. Read directly from the PDF at immigration.go.kr/bbs/moj/182/496858/download.do.

Does this lead to permanent residence?

No pathway. F-1 not on the F-5 qualifying list (D-7 to E-7, F-2); the years earn no PR credit.

The Ministry of Justice's 7 July 2026 notice making F-1-D permanent sets the stay at one year on registration, extendable a year at a time to a maximum of three, and says nothing about permanent residence. Immigration-consultancy sources describe F-5-1 general permanent residency as requiring five continuous years on D-7 through E-7 or F-2 status; F-1 does not appear on that list. That F-1-D is excluded is inferred from its absence off the qualifying-status list, not from an explicit MOJ statement naming F-1-D; Hi Korea's own F-5 eligibility page could not be made to render to confirm the list directly. The three-year cap is now long enough to matter, which is why the exclusion rests on the status list rather than on running out of time.

Pathway confidence: medium · checked 2026-09-18

Where it is

Seoul sits at 37.57° N, 126.98° E.

South Korea picked out on a world map

Open in Google Maps ↗A map of Seoul. This is the only link here that leaves the site.

Your position is worked out on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Time zone

  • UTC+9 Seoul (Asia/Seoul)

The country

Region
Asia · East Asia
Capital
Seoul
Currency
KRW

Nearest

The countries covered here whose capitals are closest to Seoul.

What it costs to live there

$1,450 per person, per month. That is what one resident of South Korea spends in an average month with housing included — not what a newcomer renting at market rates will spend, which is higher, and furthest above it in the cheapest countries.

Seoul
$1,693 / month incl. rent
of which rent $706
Busan
$1,284 / month incl. rent
of which rent $466

City figures are crowdsourced from livingcost.net, not official: one person's monthly spending plus the rent of a one-bedroom flat outside the centre. They are here because a national average cannot show the spread between a capital and the places people actually move to. Checked 2026-09-20.

Cost of living confidence: high · checked 2026-09-20
World Bank national accounts, reference year 2025: households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure (NE.CON.PRVT.CD, current US$) divided by population (SP.POP.TOTL) and by twelve. This is what one resident spends in an average month with housing included, since national accounts count the imputed rent of owner-occupiers. It is an average over the whole population, not a visitor's budget, so a newly arrived remote worker renting at market rates will spend more - see the city figures for what that looks like.

Languages

  • Korean official

Shares of the population from Unicode CLDR: official, then anything spoken by a quarter of the country, an eighth, or a fiftieth. It answers "will I be understood", not "how good is their English".

How to apply

  1. Check you clear the requirements above — $6,290 a month is the figure this row records.
  2. Gather what the official page asks for:
    • Visa application form (별지 제17호 서식)
    • Passport
    • One standard-format photograph
    • Fee
    • Proof of income: employment certificate, payslips and bank transaction records
    • Criminal record certificate
    • Proof of private health insurance covering at least KRW 100 million
    • Proof of family relationship, if family members come too
    • Where claiming the lower non-capital rate: proof of the intended stay outside the capital area, such as a lease of a month or more or a booking confirmation for accommodation or a workcation facility
    Documents confidence: high · checked 2026-09-18
    The annex to the Ministry of Justice's 7 July 2026 press release (제출 서류), read directly. It is the ministry's own list, not a guide's checklist.
  3. Apply in person or by post — this programme has no online route.
  4. Sort out where you will stay for the first stretch. Airlines check this at the desk and will not board you without it, whatever your visa says —what counts as proof of accommodation.
  5. Verify every figure on the official page before you spend money. Thresholds are set in local currency and move every year.

Korea Immigration notice ↗

Permanent from 30 June 2026, after a two-and-a-half year pilot that issued 743 visas. You must have worked a year or more in the same industry for a company outside Korea, and no work or profit-making activity inside Korea is allowed. Private health insurance covering at least KRW 100 million is required. Applied for at a Korean embassy or consulate, but somebody already in the country on a B-1, B-2 or C-3 short-stay stamp can change status without leaving. Living outside the capital area lowers the income bar by half a multiple, or a full one if you are under 35.

A starting point, not advice. Figures are converted to US dollars at open-market rates; official thresholds are set in local currency. Sources: official source ↗. Data checked . Compiled by .