What does emigrating to South Korea cost?
Answer a few short questions and you have an honest range for your situation. For every item it says whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The visa itself is the smallest item: you apply through the visa centre of the Korean embassy in The Hague, and after arrival the residence card costs 35,000 won, about 24 euros. The money sits in three other items: the deposit for your home, which in Korea is often many months' rent; healthcare, first your own policy and then, for most routes after six months, the Korean national health insurance; and the move by sea. One thing we state honestly. The visa centre's fees were on its site until 30 June 2026; at the counter the amount may differ.
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A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 4.500 – € 15.400
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 3.000 – € 9.000
- Health insurance, first year€ 600 – € 3.500
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 250 – € 800
- De verhuizing
- € 500 – € 1.400
- De eerste maanden
- € 3.700 – € 13.300
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- The visa and the visa centre's service fee(estimate)€ 100 – € 200
- The residence card (ARC) in Korea€ 20 – € 30
- Extending your stay in Korea€ 0 – € 70
- The K-ETA, from 2027, for whoever still travels without a visa€ 0 – € 10
- VOG, apostilles, translations and the health certificate(estimate)€ 150 – € 500
The amount depends on your route and the number of documents. Almost every route asks for a VOG covering the whole country, with an apostille from the court, usually no older than six months (for the F-6 three months). Diplomas for the E-7 and the certificates of whoever comes along also get an apostille. For the F-4, the F-1-D and a permanent status Korea asks for the original with a certified translation; for other routes a translation into English or Korean may be enough. For the F-6 a health certificate with a TB test comes on top. There's no fixed rate at an official source for the translations and the medical certificate; count on a few tens of euros per document.
De verhuizing
- Flights(estimate)€ 500 – € 1.400
The amount is for one way from Amsterdam to Seoul (Incheon), direct or with one change. The spread sits in the season and the luggage: whoever travels with extra suitcases pays the top.
De eerste maanden
- Health insurance, first year(estimate)€ 600 – € 3.500
South Korea isn't on the CAK's list of treaty countries: your Dutch healthcare doesn't continue. If you work in Korea, you're insured through your employer with the NHIS, the Korean health insurance; you pay half of 7.19 percent of your wages, and it comes off your pay. If you don't work there, you're insured yourself with your own policy for the first six months, and after that compulsorily with the NHIS. The lowest premium for a foreigner without work in 2026 is about 158,630 won a month, around 107 euros; we didn't find that amount at the NHIS itself. The F-1-D asks for your own policy with at least 100 million won of cover. The bottom is an employee, the top a couple of advanced age with an international policy.
- The first months(estimate)€ 3.000 – € 9.000
This item consists of the deposit, the first month's rent, furnishing what didn't come along, and the months in which you still have double costs. In Korea you rent with a deposit: with jeonse you pay only a very large deposit and no monthly rent, with wolse a smaller deposit plus monthly rent. You get the deposit back, but it does have to be on the table first. A rental contract legally runs for at least two years. Count the exchange-rate risk too: your income comes in euros, life runs in won.
- Bank, phone, passport photos, tax adviser and the first desks(estimate)€ 150 – € 600
Small money, but it all comes at once in the first weeks. It's about a Korean bank account, a phone contract (often with a deposit for foreigners), the passport photos and copies you hand in at every desk, and a conversation with a tax adviser. Cash above 10,000 dollars you declare on arrival; when leaving the EU you declare 10,000 euros or more.
- Exchanging your driving licence for a Korean one€ 10 – € 150
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 1 to 3% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 2.500 to € 7.500.
The fixed item for the buyer is the acquisition tax (취득세) on a home: 1 percent up to 600 million won, rising to 3 percent above 900 million won (Local Taxes Act, article 11 paragraph 1 point 8). Whoever already has a second or third home in an area with stricter rules pays more (article 13-2). On top of that come an education tax, a rural development tax and the estate agent; we didn't look those up, so the band covers only the acquisition tax. You report the purchase to the municipality within 30 days of signing.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
A foreigner may buy a home in Korea, but in all of Seoul, nine districts of Incheon and 23 cities in Gyeonggi you need a permit in advance. That rule applies at least until 25 August 2027. A permit is also needed for land in military zones, near protected heritage and in nature areas; without one the contract is void. With Korean ancestry (F-4) too you're legally a foreigner: ask whether the permit requirement also applies to you.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 26 October 2026.
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