If you fled to a shelter, extend your stay at the immigration office for the shelter's area

Right now

1. 1If you have nowhere to stay or you are in danger now, call the Danuri Call Center at 1577-1366. It answers 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, in 15 languages, runs emergency shelters you can enter with your children, and connects you to protective facilities.
2. 2Call 1345 and find out which Immigration Office covers the area where your shelter is. Option 1 on the automated menu gives office locations and the areas each office covers.
3. 3If your stay is about to expire, book a HiKorea visit first. You can request a booking up to one working day before the expiry date, and the Chuseok holiday from September 24 to 27 does not count as working days.

What to have ready

• Passport: HiKorea lists it as a common document for a stay extension.
• Alien Registration Card (ARC)
• Integrated application form (Form No. 34)
• Proof of your place of stay: It is one of HiKorea's common documents. We could not find any public guidance on what to submit for this while you are living in a shelter. Ask the shelter staff or the office first.
• A document showing a remedy procedure is under way: The law says an extension may be granted to people for whom a procedure such as a trial or an investigation is under way. We could not confirm from public guidance which document shows this, so ask the office first.

Phrases you can copy and paste

Step by step

1. 1

   What changed is where you go to apply

   The Korea Immigration Service of the Ministry of Justice announced the change in a press release on September 4, 2026. From Monday, August 24, foreign victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse, or human trafficking can apply not only at the Immigration Office covering their registered place of stay but also at the office covering the place where their shelter is. The applications covered are the grant and change of a status of stay and the extension of the period of stay. Before, the rule was to apply at the office covering your place of stay. So even someone who had escaped to a shelter had to go to the office for their old address. The ministry explained that there were concerns this could bring them back near the offender's daily surroundings or expose their whereabouts.

2. 2

   The law names four groups

   The press release describes the people covered as foreign nationals who fall under Article 25-2 of the Immigration Act. That article names four groups: spouses of Korean nationals for whom a remedy procedure is under way because of domestic violence; foreign nationals for whom a procedure is under way because of a sexual violence crime; foreign children for whom a procedure is under way because of a child abuse crime, together with their guardians; and foreign nationals for whom a procedure is under way as victims of human trafficking and related acts. Only the domestic violence group is limited to spouses of Korean nationals, and in the child abuse group, a guardian who committed the abuse is excluded. A remedy procedure means a court trial, an investigation by an investigative agency, or another procedure under the law.

3. 3

   An extension may be granted, it does not happen by itself

   Under Article 25-2(1), when one of these foreign nationals applies for an extension, the Minister of Justice may grant it until the remedy procedure, such as a trial, ends. Paragraph 2 says that even after that period, a further extension may be granted if it is found necessary for things like recovering from the harm. Both paragraphs say "may grant". It means an extension is not automatic just because you apply. The processing time given in the HiKorea guide is 10 days for general cases and 2 months for cases that need an investigation.

4. 4

   The first call is to the Danuri Call Center

   Where:

   Phone 1577-1366

   The Danuri Call Center is a general information phone center used by migrant women and multicultural families, and it handles counseling and emergency support for migrant women who have suffered violence. It runs 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, and counsels in Korean, English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Khmer, Mongolian, Russian, Japanese, Thai, Lao, Uzbek, Nepali, Arabic, and Indonesian. It runs its own emergency shelters you can enter with your children, and connects you to protective facilities for women who have suffered domestic violence, sexual violence, or prostitution, and to medical, legal, prosecution, and police services. When you cannot make yourself understood with the police, a hospital, or a community service center, it helps with interpretation on a three-way call. You can also get counseling in the 1:1 counseling room on the Danuri website (liveinkorea.kr).

5. 5

   Option 1 at 1345 tells you which office covers your area

   Where:

   Phone 1345 (no area code)

   The Immigration Contact Center connects when you dial 1345 without an area code, from a mobile or a landline. It counsels in 20 languages, and hours are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays. After 6 p.m., it only answers in Korean, English, and Chinese. Press 1 on the automated menu for Immigration Office locations, the areas each office covers, and office hours. To talk in your language, follow the prompts after the call connects, press the number for your language, then press the star key. Give the name of the city, county, or district where your shelter is, and you can find out which office covers it.

6. 6

   Visit bookings close one working day before expiry

   Where:

   HiKorea visit booking

   For a stay extension, you book a visit on HiKorea and apply at the office on the day you booked. You can request a visit booking up to one working day before the expiry date of your stay. Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays do not count as working days. The spouse of a Korean national (F-6) status cannot be extended through HiKorea e-applications, so you have to go to the office in person. The common documents HiKorea lists are the integrated application form (Form No. 34), your passport, your ARC, and proof of your place of stay. Documents for each status of stay are in the Ministry of Justice's separate guide manual by status of stay.

7. 7

   Legal counseling opens on Tuesday afternoons by booking

   The Danuri Call Center runs legal counseling linked with the Korean Bar Association every Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. You need to book in advance. You can use it when you need to prepare for a trial or an investigation alongside your stay extension. 1345 provides three-way interpretation for village lawyer consultations for foreign nationals.

8. 8

   Counters close for the four days of Chuseok

   The 2026 Chuseok public holidays run from Thursday, September 24 to Saturday, September 26, and government offices are closed for four days through Sunday, September 27. There is no substitute holiday, so counters open again on Monday, September 28. Because the booking deadline is counted in working days, if your expiry date falls around then, it is safer to finish booking by Wednesday, September 23, before the holiday starts.

The Korean words

체류기간 연장허가cheryu gigan yeonjang heoga, Permission to extend your period of stay

The name of the application on HiKorea.

체류자격 변경cheryu jagyeok byeongyeong, Changing your status of stay to another type

With this change, you can also apply for it at the office for your shelter's area.

관할gwanhal, The area an office is responsible for

You can now also apply at the office responsible for the place where your shelter is.

출입국, 외국인청churipguk oegugincheong, The Ministry of Justice office that handles stay applications

Depending on its size, it may also be called an office or a branch office.

보호시설bohosiseol, A shelter where victims stay

The press release calls it a protective facility for foreign victims, such as a shelter.

권리구제 절차gwolli guje jeolcha, A legal procedure to put right the harm done

For example, a court trial or an investigation by an investigative agency.

긴급피난시설gingeup pinan siseol, A place you can stay right away in an emergency

Run by the Danuri Call Center, and you can enter with your children.

3자 통화samja tonghwa, A call where a counselor joins to interpret

Offered by the Danuri Call Center and 1345.

방문예약bangmun yeyak, Booking a date before you go to an office

You book it on HiKorea.

체류지 입증서류cheryuji ipjeung seoryu, A document showing where you live

A common document for a stay extension.

Easy to miss

• ·Thinking you can only apply at the office for your old place of stay. Since August 24, you can also apply at the office covering the area where your shelter is.
• ·Believing the extension happens automatically once you apply. The law says the Minister of Justice may grant it.
• ·Assuming every victim of domestic violence is covered. The domestic violence group only covers foreign nationals who are spouses of Korean nationals.
• ·Trying to extend an F-6 (spouse of a Korean national) status through HiKorea e-applications. F-6 is left out of e-application extensions, so you have to go to the office.
• ·Trying to book a visit on the expiry date itself. Bookings only go up to one working day before the expiry date.
• ·Expecting counseling in your own language from 1345 late at night. After 6 p.m. it only answers in Korean, English, and Chinese. If it is urgent, call the Danuri Call Center, which is open 24 hours.

You can skip this if

• If you are extending your stay for reasons unrelated to violence, the rule is still to apply at the office covering your registered place of stay.
• If no remedy procedure, such as a trial or an investigation, is under way, you are not covered by the special provision in Article 25-2. Talk to the Danuri Call Center first.
• This guide was checked on September 16, 2026. We could not find public guidance on what people staying in a shelter submit as proof of their place of stay or as proof that a procedure is under way.

Where this comes from

• Closing gaps in stay applications for foreign victims of violence, September 4, 2026, Ministry of Justice press release (Korea Immigration Service)
• Immigration Act Article 25-2, special provisions for marriage migrants and others, Korean Law Information Center
• HiKorea application guide, stay extension for registered foreign nationals (Korea Immigration Service)
• Immigration Contact Center (1345) guide (Korea Immigration Service)
• Danuri Call Center 1577-1366 service guide (Danuri multicultural family support portal)
• Lunar and solar calendar converter (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute)
• Regulations on Holidays of Government Offices (Korean Law Information Center)