Your first 90 days in Korea

The dependency chain

Almost every problem new arrivals hit comes from the same knot:

Week 1

Prepaid SIM, at the airport

Counters at Incheon and Gimhae sell prepaid SIMs on a passport with no registration card and no address. Buy the longest term available — you will need the number continuously for at least two months. Check before you fly that your handset is unlocked.

Ask explicitly whether the SIM supports 본인인증 (identity verification). Some do not, and that matters later.

Confirm your address

Your registration card is issued against a specific address, so this has to come before the appointment. Whatever your situation, get the paperwork:

• Renting: the lease agreement.
• Company or school housing: a housing provision certificate.
• Staying with someone: their consent letter, ID copy, and lease or property document.
• Dormitory: a certificate of residence from the institution.

If you have not found a place yet, that is fine — but it is the thing gating everything else, so treat it as urgent rather than as settling in. See wolse or jeonse.

Book the immigration appointment

Do this on day one, before you have every document. Seoul offices routinely show nothing available for three to six weeks, and the slot is the scarce resource — you can gather documents while you wait.

Book at hikorea.go.kr, at the office covering your address rather than the nearest one.

Install the essentials

• KakaoTalk — messaging, and socially near-mandatory.
• Naver Map or Kakao Map — Google Maps has restricted data in Korea and gives poor walking and transit directions.
• Naver Papago — better than most alternatives for Korean.
• Subway Korea or the equivalent for transit.

Get a transport card

A T-money or Cashbee card from any convenience store, topped up with cash. It works on subways, buses and taxis nationwide. Register it against your registration number once you have one, so the spending counts in your year-end tax settlement.

Weeks 2–4

Assemble the registration documents

Application form, passport, a Korean-specification passport photo (3.5 × 4.5 cm, white background — any photo studio knows it as a 여권사진), proof of address, the fee, and the documents specific to your status. Full list in the registration checklist.

Ring 1345 to confirm the list for your status and office. It answers in English and it prevents wasted trips.

Learn the neighbourhood

Worth doing deliberately in the first weeks:

• Your local district office (주민센터) — you will use it for address registration and certificates.
• The nearest clinic and pharmacy.
• Your nearest bank branch, ideally one used to foreign customers.
• Where the bins go, and on which days. Korean waste separation is strict and fines are real. Food waste is separate and usually needs a paid bag or a card.

Set up utilities

If you are renting privately, electricity, gas and water go into your name or are billed through the landlord. Confirm which. Get internet installed early — it takes a week or two and needs a Korean payment method, so it may have to wait for the bank account.

The registration appointment

Arrive fifteen minutes early with originals and photocopies of everything. Fingerprints and a photograph are taken. The visit is usually under an hour if the file is in order.

You will receive a receipt (신청확인서). Keep it with your passport — it proves lawful status while the card is produced, which takes two to three weeks.

Weeks 5–8: once the card arrives

The card carries your registration number, and that number unlocks the rest of the country.

Open a bank account

Go to a branch used to foreign customers — near a university, in an industrial area, or in a district with many foreign residents. Bring your card, passport, phone number, and proof of purpose (employment contract, certificate of employment, enrolment certificate, or lease).

Expect a limited account capped at ₩1,000,000 a day online. That is standard, not a judgement, and it is lifted once you can show three months of salary or a settled tenancy. See the bank comparison.

Move to a postpaid phone plan

Now possible with your card and bank account. An MVNO (알뜰폰) runs on the same networks as the three major carriers at often half the price — worth doing if you already own a handset. Port your existing number rather than starting again.

Check your health insurance

• Employed? Your employer enrolled you from day one. Confirm the deduction appears on your payslip.
• Not employed? You become a compulsory regional subscriber after six months. Budget for it — foreign regional subscribers pay a minimum premium regardless of income.

See the health insurance guide.

Register for online services

With a card and a phone number in your own name you can now set up identity verification (본인인증), which unlocks Government24 for certificates, Hometax for tax, the NHIS portal, and most delivery and payment apps.

Some Korean apps reject Latin-script names in the name field. Our name converter gives you the Hangul spelling to paste.

Weeks 9–12

• Start Korean. KIIP is free, runs evenings and weekends, and counts towards permanent residence later. Starting in month three rather than year three is worth years down the line. See TOPIK or KIIP.
• Consider your driving licence. An International Driving Permit lasts one year from entry and cannot be renewed inside Korea. If you will drive, start the exchange — the embassy verification step is slow.
• Think about your visa trajectory. If you intend to stay, the F-2-7 points system is worth understanding now rather than in year four, because several of the point categories reward things you can start today.

Things that catch people out

• The 14-day address change report. Every time you move, within 14 days, at your local district office. Free, ten minutes, and the most commonly missed obligation in the system. Missing it costs F-2-7 points years later.
• Carrying your registration card. It is a legal obligation for foreign residents, not a suggestion.
• Waste separation. Fines are real and neighbours do report.
• Cash receipts. Ask for a 현금영수증 whenever you pay cash — give your phone number at the till. It counts towards your tax deduction all year.
• Not enrolling in health insurance because nobody sent a bill. Enrolment is automatic; the bill will find you, and arrears reach immigration.

The 90-day deadline

Registration must be completed within 90 days of entry. Late registration carries a fine and goes on your immigration record. If no appointment is available before day 90, book the earliest slot anyway and keep the confirmation — officers generally accept a booked appointment as evidence of good faith, and calling 1345 to explain in advance is better than explaining afterwards.