- The F-1-D is for people employed by, or running, a business outside Korea for at least a year, who keep that work while living in Korea.
- Since the programme became permanent in mid-2026, stays of up to three years are possible, granted in stages.
- The standard income bar is twice Korea’s GNI per capita — about KRW 105 million; applicants aged 18–34 living outside the capital region face a 1× bar of about KRW 52 million.
- Working for Korean employers or clients, or earning Korean-source income, is not allowed.
- Staying 183 days or more can make you a Korean tax resident; remote salary paid abroad is then taxable in Korea to the extent the law reaches it.
- To sell to Korean customers, the route is your own Korean company and a D-8 investor visa, not the F-1-D.
What the F-1-D is
The workation visa (워케이션 비자, woke-isyeon bija) — officially the F-1-D sub-category of the visiting and joining family (방문동거, bangmun donggeo) visa — lets a foreigner live in Korea while continuing to work remotely for an employer or business based abroad. It was introduced as a pilot in January 2024 under the Immigration Act and its enforcement decree, and the Ministry of Justice announced in July 2026 that it had become a permanent programme from 30 June 2026. During the pilot, from January 2024 to May 2026, around 740 visas were issued, most to people living in the capital region.
It is not a work visa. The holder may not take a job with a Korean employer, invoice Korean clients or earn Korean-source income. It is a residence visa for people whose income comes from abroad — and that is both its attraction and its limit.
Requirements in 2026
| Requirement | Rule | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Who | Employee of a company outside Korea, or owner of a business outside Korea | Freelancers with foreign clients generally qualify as business owners; check how your consulate reads it |
| Experience | At least one year in the same field | Shown by employment letter, contracts, tax returns |
| Age | 18 or older | Age tiers affect the income bar |
| Income | 1× to 2× the previous year’s GNI per capita, by age and region | About KRW 52.4 million to KRW 105 million on 2025 GNI |
| Insurance | Private health insurance meeting the minimum, for the whole stay | During the pilot: KRW 100 million cover for treatment and repatriation |
| Criminal record | Clean record certificate, apostilled or legalised | From your country, and sometimes others you lived in recently |
| Activities | No Korean employment or Korean-source income | Remote work for foreign employers and clients only |
Sources: Ministry of Justice announcements as reported in 2026; consulates publish the operative checklist.
Income. The bar is set by reference to Korea’s gross national income per capita (1인당 국민총소득) for the previous year, which for 2025 was about KRW 52.4 million. During the pilot every applicant needed twice that figure. Under the permanent rules, the bar is tiered: twice GNI — about KRW 105 million — is the standard, while applicants aged 18 to 34 who will live outside Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi need only one times GNI, and other applicants living outside the capital region or in population-decline areas fall between the two under the ministry’s notice. Income is usually proved with the previous year’s tax return or payslips and bank statements; only the main applicant needs to meet it.
Employment. The applicant must have worked in the same field for at least a year, as an employee of a company outside Korea or as the owner of a business outside Korea. Consulates ask for an employment letter issued shortly before the application confirming remote work is allowed, or for company registration and contracts for business owners.
Insurance and record. Private health insurance must cover the whole stay at the specified minimum — KRW 100 million for treatment and repatriation was the pilot standard — and each family member needs cover. A criminal record certificate from the home country, apostilled or legalised, is required; some consulates also ask for certificates from countries where the applicant lived recently.
Stay, family and extensions
Under the pilot, the visa was granted for one year and could be extended for one more. The permanent programme allows a total stay of up to three years, granted in stages and renewed at the immigration office while the conditions continue to be met. Holders register as foreign residents within 90 days of arrival and receive a residence card (외국인등록증, oegugin deungnokjeung), which opens bank accounts, phone contracts and leases.
A spouse and minor children can accompany the main applicant on the same visa type, each with insurance and the relevant family documents — marriage and birth certificates, apostilled and translated. Family members are subject to the same ban on Korean employment.
How to apply
Most applicants apply at a Korean embassy or consulate (재외공관, jaeoe gonggwan) in their country of residence, by appointment, with the documents above. Processing is usually two to four weeks; fees depend on nationality. Several consulates require the applicant to be resident in their jurisdiction.
Applicants already in Korea on a visa-free entry or a short-stay visa (B-1, B-2 or C-3) have, under the guidance reported in 2026, been able to apply for a change of status at the local immigration office instead. Practice differs between offices and consulates, so confirm before planning a trip around it. After approval, register within 90 days and keep proof that your income and insurance continue.
- Check the income bar for your age and the region where you will live.
- Obtain the employment letter or business documents, income proof, criminal record and insurance certificate.
- Apostille or legalise foreign public documents; see apostilles for Korea.
- Book the consulate appointment, or the immigration office appointment if applying in Korea.
- Enter Korea, register within 90 days and open a bank account; see Korean banking.
- Before the first year ends, apply for the next stage with updated income and insurance documents.
Tax: the part the brochures skip
The visa does not change Korean tax law, and Korean tax law does not care what visa you hold. A foreigner who has a domicile (주소, juso) in Korea, or stays 183 days or more in a year, is a Korean tax resident (거주자, geojuja) under Article 1-2 of the Income Tax Act. A nomad who stays the full year on an F-1-D will usually be one.
Korean residents are taxed on worldwide income, with one important relief for foreigners: until a foreign resident has lived in Korea for more than five of the last ten years, foreign-source income is taxed only if it is paid in Korea or remitted to Korea, under Article 3 of the Income Tax Act. In practice, that makes the money you bring in to live on the taxable part. Salary for work performed in Korea is, however, generally treated as Korean-source employment income under the source rules even if a foreign employer pays it abroad, so the remittance relief does not reliably protect it — and the home country may claim the same income. This is the point on which guidance has been least settled; take advice before the first year ends.
Where Korean tax is due on remote salary from a foreign employer, it is class B employment income (을종 근로소득, euljong geullo sodeuk): no Korean payroll withholds it, so the nomad either joins a taxpayers’ association that withholds monthly or files a comprehensive income tax return by 31 May for the previous year. Rates run from 6% to 45% plus 10% local income tax; see income tax for foreigners in Korea for brackets, deductions and the flat rate. The tie-breaker rules in Korea’s tax treaties decide which country taxes a person who is resident in both, and foreign tax paid can be credited.
| Days in Korea in the year | Korean tax position (broadly) |
|---|---|
| Under 183 and no Korean domicile | Non-resident: Korean-source income only |
| 183 or more, or a Korean domicile | Resident: Korean tax on Korean-source income and on foreign income paid or remitted to Korea (first five years) |
| Resident more than 5 of the last 10 years | Worldwide income taxed in Korea |
Simplified; treaties and individual facts change the answer.
Short stays and visa-free entry
Many nationalities can enter Korea visa-free for 30 to 90 days, subject to Korea’s electronic travel authorisation rules. Visa-free status is for tourism, visiting and business meetings; remote work for a foreign employer during a short visit is common but sits in a grey area, and immigration officers decide at the border. The F-1-D exists so that people who want to stay for months and work remotely have a clear legal basis.
From nomad to founder
A common path is the nomad who arrives on an F-1-D, builds a network, and finds Korean clients. At that point the F-1-D stops working: Korean-source income is not allowed. The usual next step is a Korean company — a jusik hoesa — with at least KRW 100 million of foreign investment, which supports a D-8 corporate investment visa (기업투자 비자, gieop tuja bija); see D-8 requirements and the KRW 100 million question. Founders with technology or IP may qualify for the D-8-4 start-up visa through the government’s points programme; see D-8, D-8-4 or F-5.
The other path is a job: a Korean employer can sponsor an E-7 work visa; see the E-7 guide. Either way, change status before starting the Korean work, not after. Immigration offices look at the order of events: a nomad who invoiced Korean clients first and applied for a D-8 afterwards has a violation on file that can complicate every later application.
The F-1-D lets you live in Korea on foreign money. The day Korean money arrives, you need a different visa.
Voixa Korea
Costs of living as a nomad in Korea
Korea is cheaper than Tokyo, London or New York and more expensive than most of Southeast Asia. Seoul studio flats rent from roughly KRW 700,000 to KRW 1.5 million a month, usually with a deposit — sometimes large — under the Korean jeonse (전세, jeonse) and wolse (월세, wolse) systems; regional cities cost noticeably less, which the lower income tier is designed to encourage. Public transport, internet and co-working spaces are excellent and inexpensive by international standards. Budget for the lease deposit, health insurance premiums and, if you become tax resident, Korean income tax. A realistic monthly budget for a single person in Seoul, including rent, food, transport and co-working, is often in the range of KRW 2.5 to 3.5 million; in regional cities it can be a third lower. Exchange-rate swings matter more than usual, because both the income bar and your living costs are measured in won while your salary is not — leave a margin above the threshold rather than applying at the limit.
Choosing where to live
The income tiers are a regional policy in disguise. Most pilot-era nomads chose Seoul, and the permanent rules nudge new arrivals towards Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Jeju, Gangneung and smaller cities by lowering the bar for younger applicants who live outside the capital region. Several provinces and cities run their own workation programmes — subsidised co-working, short-term housing and networking for remote workers — and population-decline areas offer additional local incentives. If your income sits between the two tiers, the choice of city may decide whether you qualify at all.
Busan offers a large city by the sea with an international airport and a growing start-up scene; Jeju offers nature and direct flights but a smaller professional community; Daejeon and the Sejong area are research and government hubs. Seoul remains the easiest place to live without Korean, but it is also where the higher bar applies.
Daily administration
The residence card is the key that unlocks everything else. With it, a nomad can open a Korean bank account — easier with a Korean phone number and a lease — sign up for a postpaid phone plan, use mobile payment apps and identity verification, and access the Hometax (홈택스, hometaekseu) portal for tax filings. Leases often require a deposit; registering the lease and the move-in with the local community centre protects the deposit and is needed for some tax credits. Keep the employer letter and payslips accessible: banks and landlords ask how a foreigner without a Korean employer earns a living, and the visa approval letter alone does not always satisfy them.
| Country | Headline terms of the remote-work visa |
|---|---|
| Korea (F-1-D) | Up to 3 years; 1–2× GNI per capita; no Korean-source work |
| Japan (designated activities for digital nomads) | Up to 6 months; income of at least JPY 10 million; no extension in the same year |
| Thailand (Destination Thailand Visa) | Multiple-entry, up to 5 years with stays of up to 180 days; savings requirement |
| Malaysia (DE Rantau) | Up to 2 years; minimum income for tech and digital roles |
Headline terms only, as published by each country; check current rules before comparing.
A worked example
Lena, 31, a German UX designer employed by a Berlin software company, wants to spend two years in Busan. Her salary is EUR 58,000. Because she is under 35 and will live outside the capital region, her bar is one times GNI — about KRW 52.4 million — which her salary clears at current exchange rates; in Seoul she would need about KRW 105 million. Her employer writes a letter confirming permanent remote work; she obtains a German police certificate with apostille and an international health policy with KRW 100 million of cover, and applies at the Korean consulate in Frankfurt.
In Busan she registers within 90 days and enrols in national health insurance. She will be in Korea more than 183 days, so she and her German adviser review where she is tax resident under the Korea–Germany treaty and how her salary will be reported — the step most nomads skip. When a Korean agency asks her to design an app, she declines the invoice: that would breach her visa. A year later she forms a small Korean company and moves to a D-8, keeping the Berlin job as a client of the company.
Mistakes we see
- Invoicing Korean clients on an F-1-D.
- Using pilot-era rules — the 2× bar for everyone and a two-year cap — after the 2026 changes.
- Ignoring tax residence after 183 days.
- Insurance that lapses before the stay ends, or does not cover family members.
- Documents without apostilles or older than the consulate accepts.
- Assuming you can switch inside Korea without checking with the local immigration office.
Korean terms you will meet
Questions readers ask
Does South Korea have a digital nomad visa?
Yes. The F-1-D workation visa, piloted from January 2024, became a permanent programme from 30 June 2026.
What income do I need for the Korean digital nomad visa?
Twice Korea’s previous-year GNI per capita as standard — about KRW 105 million on 2025 figures — or one times GNI, about KRW 52 million, for applicants aged 18–34 living outside the capital region.
How long can I stay on the F-1-D?
Up to three years under the permanent programme, granted in stages; the pilot allowed one year plus one.
Can I work for Korean companies on the F-1-D?
No. Korean employment and Korean-source income are prohibited.
Do digital nomads pay tax in Korea?
If you stay 183 days or more or have a Korean domicile you are generally tax resident, and Korea can tax remote income under its rules and treaties. Take advice on your situation.
Can I bring my family on the F-1-D?
Yes, a spouse and minor children, each with insurance; only the main applicant must meet the income bar.
Can I apply from inside Korea?
Some immigration offices accept changes of status from visa-free or short-stay visas; others require a consulate application. Confirm locally.
Alexander Baranov
Founder of the BCA Group · cross-border corporate and tax adviser since 2008
Alexander advises foreign founders and groups on company formation, tax structuring and corporate law in more than 40 jurisdictions across Europe, the Gulf, Asia and Latin America. He is the author of nine books on international business and tax and writes regularly for professional finance and tax journals. He works in English, German, Spanish and Russian.
This guide is based on the Korean statutes cited in the text and on our own filings. It is reviewed when the law or official rates change.