Registration in South Korea: the residence card, your address, extending and the 1345 helpline
If you stay in South Korea for longer than 90 days, you register with the immigration office within 90 days. You then get a residence card, the ARC, with its own registration number, for 35,000 won. You report a new address within 15 days. Within a year you may travel in and out without a re-entry permit. With questions you call 1345.
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If you stay in South Korea for longer than 90 days, you register within 90 days of arrival with the immigration office for where you live. You then get a residence card, the ARC (Alien Registration Card, officially called Residence Card in English), with its own registration number. The card costs 35,000 won (about € 24). With the registration you are also registered at your address in Korea. If you move, you report it within 15 days.
Which papers and numbers do you get?
| What | Where | When | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| e-Arrival Card | online | from 3 days before arrival, as long as you have no K-ETA or residence card | free |
| Residence card (ARC) with registration number | immigration office | within 90 days of arrival | 35,000 won (≈ € 24) |
| Address report (F-4) | immigration office | within 90 days of arrival | |
| New address | municipality, district office or immigration office | within 15 days of the move (F-4: 14 days) | |
| New passport or different name | immigration office | within 15 days | |
| Extension | immigration office or HiKorea | before your stay expires | 60,000 won (≈ € 40) |
How do you get the residence card?
You make an appointment in advance through HiKorea, the website of the Korean immigration service. Without an appointment you often will not be seen, or you wait a long time. Bring your passport, a passport photo in the standard format and the money for the card. By law you pay the 35,000 won in cash, or with proof that it was paid in cash.
If you were granted or changed your residence status in Korea, you register right away at that moment. Children under 17 do not always get a card. When they turn 17, they apply for one within 90 days.
In Korea the residence card replaces registration in the population register. That matters, for example, when renting: your tenancy protection depends on your registration at the address. So report a move on time.
Always carry your passport or your residence card if you are 17 or older. An official may ask for it. There is also a mobile residence card on your phone, which has the same value.
What applies with the F-4 visa?
If you come on the F-4 visa for overseas Koreans, you do not get an ordinary ARC. You report your residence address within 90 days, and that counts as your registration. You report a move within 14 days, not 15. Beforehand you follow a short introductory course, unless you are 65 or older. See adopted and returning to South Korea.
How do you extend your stay?
You apply for the extension before your stay expires. You can do that online through HiKorea or at the immigration office. The fee is 60,000 won, or 30,000 won with the F-6 visa for a Korean spouse. Other amounts:
| Application | Fee |
|---|---|
| Extension | 60,000 won (≈ € 40) |
| Extension with F-6 | 30,000 won (≈ € 20) |
| Different residence status | 100,000 won (≈ € 67) |
| Permanent residence (F-5) | 200,000 won (≈ € 135) |
| Different or additional employer | 120,000 won (≈ € 81) |
May you pop back to the Netherlands?
Yes. With a residence card you do not need a re-entry permit if you come back within a year, or within your period of stay if that ends sooner. With permanent residence it is two years. If you are away longer, you apply for a re-entry permit in advance: 30,000 won for a single re-entry, 50,000 won for multiple. If you leave for good, you hand in the card at passport control.
Where can you go with questions?
- 1345, the Immigration Contact Center. Available Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 22.00, not on public holidays. You pay for the call yourself. From abroad you call +82 2 1345.
- The Dutch embassy in Seoul, 21-15 Jeongdong-gil, Jung-gu. Reachable day and night on +82 2 311 8600. The consular desk is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9.00 to 12.00, by appointment only.
You can renew your Dutch passport at the embassy, or more cheaply at a border municipality in the Netherlands. Bring your birth certificate, marriage certificate and a Certificate of Conduct (VOG) from the Netherlands, with an apostille. Korea has been a party to the Apostille Convention since 2007. What you close down in the Netherlands is in deregistering from the municipality.
In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.1: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to South Korea or go straight to step 5.1 in the open plan.
What this rests on
The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.
- Immigration Act (출입국관리법), articles 27, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37 and 88-2 — registration, card, address and departure — law.go.kr
- Enforcement Rules of the Immigration Act (출입국관리법 시행규칙), articles 44-2 and 72 — re-entry and fees — law.go.kr
- HiKorea — making an appointment and the manuals for residence (October 2026) — hikorea.go.kr
- HiKorea — the Immigration Contact Center 1345, with the opening hours — hikorea.go.kr
- Overseas Koreans Act (재외동포법), articles 6 and 10 — the address report for the F-4 visa — law.go.kr
- e-Arrival Card — who fills in the digital arrival card — e-arrivalcard.go.kr
- NederlandWereldwijd — the Dutch embassy in Seoul — nederlandwereldwijd.nl
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