South Korea's Digital Nomad Visa (F-1-D): 3 Years, Lower Bar Outside Seoul
){kind=small}
Danijela Horvat
Freelance writer
Last update
)
South Korea Rating from Citizen Remote
Overall 
3.8
Internet Infrastructure 5.0
Country Stability 4.0
Cost of Living 3.0
Ease of Obtaining Visa 3.0
Taxes 4.0
Quick Visa Facts
Visa length Up to 3 years
Possible to extend? Yes. The permanent programme allows stays of up to three years, raised from two under the pilot.
Who can apply? Anyone 18+ with at least a year of employment at a company outside Korea (or who owns one) and can work remotely. No tax-treaty or visa-waiver requirement.
Minimum Income Requirements 1x to 2x Korea's GNI per capita depending on age and region. Standard 2x is about KRW 104.8m (~$74,000); ages 18-34 outside Seoul/Incheon/Gyeonggi pay 1x, about KRW 52.4m (~$37,000).
Time for visa applications Varies by consulate. The criminal background check is usually the slowest step.
Want to know if you can apply?
Complete a visa quiz and see if you qualify!
South Korea has a proper digital nomad visa. It's called the F-1-D, it's sometimes labelled the Workation visa, and it became a permanent programme on 30 June 2026 after a two-and-a-half year pilot.
If you've read anywhere that Korea doesn't really have one and you should look at a Working Holiday Visa instead, that advice is out of date. It was true until 2024. It isn't now, and this page said it too until we rewrote it.
The interesting part isn't that it exists. It's that Korea just made it dramatically cheaper to qualify, as long as you're willing to live somewhere other than Seoul.
What changed on 30 June 2026
The pilot ran from January 2024 to May 2026 with one flat income bar for everyone. The Ministry of Justice announced on 7 July that the permanent version loosened two things:
The income requirement now slides between one and two times Korea's GNI per capita, depending on your age and where you'll live. It used to be a flat two times for everyone.
The maximum stay went up to three years, from two.
Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho framed it as a settlement play rather than a tourism one, the idea being that people who spend real time in Korea might put down roots. The Korea Herald covered the announcement if you want the primary reporting.
The income bar, and the discount most people miss
Korea benchmarks this against GNI per capita, published annually by the Bank of Korea. The 2025 base figure is roughly ₩52.41 million.
From there it splits:
Standard rate, 2x GNI. Roughly ₩104.8 million a year, about $74,000. This is what most applicants pay.
Reduced rate, 1x GNI. Roughly ₩52.4 million, about $37,000. Available if you're aged 18 to 34 and living outside the capital area, meaning outside Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, or in a designated population-declining region.
That's a 50% cut in the income you need to show, and it's the single most useful thing on this page. Someone earning $40,000 who'd have been rejected outright under the pilot now qualifies, provided they're under 35 and willing to base themselves in Busan, Daegu, Jeju or one of the regional cities rather than Seoul.
Korea isn't doing this out of generosity. Its regional population decline is a serious policy problem, and the visa is one lever. But the incentive is real and you can use it.
One caveat on the numbers: because the bar tracks GNI, it moves when GNI moves. Any figure you read, this one included, is a snapshot. Check the current Bank of Korea number before you rely on it.
Who can apply
18 or older. Dependants can be younger.
At least one year of employment with a company outside Korea, or ownership of a foreign company.
Genuinely remote work. You need an employment letter confirming you can perform your job from Korea.
Income at your applicable rate, after tax.
Medical insurance covering treatment and repatriation for the whole stay.
There's no nationality restriction of the kind Japan applies. Korea doesn't require a tax treaty or a visa waiver, which makes the door wider than Japan's even though the income bar is higher.
The consulate trap
Here's something that will catch people out, and it's why you should read this section before you read anyone's checklist.
Korean consulate pages have not all been updated for the June 2026 reform. The Seattle consulate's F-1-D page, to pick one, still describes the pilot rules: a flat two times GNI with no age or region discount, insurance quoted at €70,000, and a one-year stay extendable by one more rather than three years.
That isn't the consulate being wrong so much as official pages lagging a policy change by weeks or months. It's normal. But it means you can read two official-looking sources and get two different answers.
What to do about it: treat the reform as the current policy, and confirm the specifics with the consulate that will actually process your application. If their page still shows pilot figures, ask them directly rather than assuming. The insurance figure in particular is quoted as €70,000 on some pages and around $75,000 elsewhere, and those aren't the same number.
How long you can stay
Up to three years, which is a meaningful jump from the pilot's two.
For context, that's six times what Japan allows. Japan's digital nomad visa caps you at six months with no renewal and no residence card. Korea gives you three years and treats you as a resident.
If your plan is to actually live somewhere in Asia for a while rather than pass through, that difference matters more than the income bar does.
Can family come?
Yes. Spouses and dependent children can accompany you, and dependants can be under 18.
They'll need their own medical insurance covering the stay. Budget for that alongside your own, because family cover is the cost people forget when they're modelling this.
What you'll need to submit
Visa application form, valid passport and a photo
Employment verification letter, confirming current employment, at least a year of history, and that you can work remotely from Korea
Proof of income at your applicable rate, after tax
Medical insurance documentation covering treatment and repatriation
A criminal background check, issued within the last six months
Family relationship documents, if dependants are coming
The background check is the slow one. Start it before anything else.
If you don't qualify, Korea's other routes
The F-1-D isn't the only way in, and if the income bar rules you out it's worth knowing what else exists. This is also why this page used to point at the Working Holiday Visa. That advice wasn't mad, it was just written before the F-1-D existed.
Working Holiday (H-1). Open to nationals of 29 partner countries, generally aged 18 to 30, though several countries negotiate higher caps. Lets you stay up to two years and, unlike the F-1-D, take short-term local work. Usually requires you to be unmarried with no dependants.
Jobseeker (D-10). For people actively looking for employment with a Korean company. It bridges the gap between jobs and does not permit full-time work while you search. Not a remote-work route.
Long-term resident (F-2-7). A points-based residency track scored on things like income, age, education and Korean language ability. A longer game than a nomad visa, and the route people take when they decide to stay.
The dividing line is simple. The F-1-D is for people whose income comes from outside Korea. The others assume you want to earn inside it. Picking the wrong one is the most common mistake here, and it is not a small one to unwind.
Is it worth it?
If you're under 35 and open to living outside Seoul, this is one of the better deals in Asia right now. About $37,000 in income for up to three years in a country with genuinely excellent infrastructure is hard to beat.
If you need to be in Seoul, or you're over 34, you're looking at roughly $74,000 and the maths gets harder. Worth comparing against Malaysia's DE Rantau programme and Indonesia's Bali route, both of which ask for far less.
Our full list of digital nomad visa countries puts the rest of the region side by side.
Does South Korea have a digital nomad visa?
Yes. The F-1-D, sometimes called the Workation visa, became a permanent programme on 30 June 2026 after piloting from January 2024. It allows stays of up to three years for people employed by companies outside Korea.
How much income do I need?
Between one and two times Korea's GNI per capita, depending on age and location. The standard rate is 2x, roughly $74,000. If you're 18 to 34 and living outside Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, it drops to 1x, roughly $37,000.
Why do consulate pages show different numbers?
Because not all of them have been updated for the June 2026 reform. Some still describe the pilot rules, including a flat 2x income bar and a shorter stay. Confirm with the consulate handling your application rather than assuming any single page is current.
How long can I stay?
Up to three years, increased from two under the pilot. That is considerably longer than most digital nomad visas in the region.
Do I need a tax treaty or visa waiver with Korea?
No. Unlike Japan, which restricts its visa to 51 countries holding both a tax treaty and a visa waiver, Korea has no equivalent nationality gate.
Can my family come with me?
Yes. Spouses and dependent children can accompany you, and dependants can be under 18. Each will need medical insurance covering the stay.
Weighing Korea against the rest of Asia?
Join the Citizen Remote community and compare notes with people already working across the region.
){kind=small}
