A health insurance bill comes even if you did not apply

Right now

1. 1Mark the day that is six months from your entry date on the calendar. The next day, you become a self-employed insured. If you have a study (D-2), general training (D-4), marriage-based immigration (F-6), permanent residence (F-5), or non-professional employment (E-9) status, this starts from the day you entered.
2. 2If you work at a company, you can stop here. A company-reported employed insured pays premiums half and half with the company, and the minimum amount below does not apply.
3. 3When you get your first bill, set up automatic transfer right away. Since the payment deadline is the 25th of the previous month, not the next month, it is easy to end up one month behind if you pay by the calendar.

What to have ready

• Alien Registration Card (ARC): Use this to check your status and visit a branch office. If it has not been issued yet, bring your passport.
• Korean bank account and automatic transfer application: Because the deadline comes early, manual payment is easy to miss once in a while.
• A document showing your stay status: Study, religion, and humanitarian stay permits get a premium reduction.
• Family relation documents from your home country: You need these to include a spouse or child in the same household. Read the seventh step below first.
• Certificate of insurance eligibility history: Companies, schools, and public offices often ask for this. You can get it from the NHIS app or a branch office.

Phrases you can copy and paste

Step by step

1. 1

   First, decide which of the three places you belong to

   There are three ways to be enrolled in health insurance. If you are employed by a company, you become an employed insured reported by the company, and you pay premiums half and half with the company. A spouse or child who depends on an employed insured for living expenses can apply to become a dependent and does not pay premiums separately. If neither applies, you are a self-employed insured. This includes freelancers, students, people looking for work, and most adult family members of expatriates. The amounts and deadlines in this guide are about the third case. If you are not sure which group you belong to, check with the NHIS call center at 1577-1000, or for English support, 033-811-2000.

2. 2

   Six months is the baseline, and there are five exceptions

   Where:

   National Health Insurance Service (NHIS)

   A foreigner who is not an employed insured becomes a self-employed insured the day after living in Korea for six months. Since this is automatic enrollment under the law, not an application, the status is created even if you do not submit documents. There are five exceptions where the status starts immediately from the day of entry. These are marriage-based immigration (F-6), study and general training, permanent residence (F-5), non-professional employment (E-9), and re-entry after leaving Korea under certain conditions. For overseas Koreans or ethnic Koreans (F-4) who entered for a purpose other than study, if they enter school before six months have passed, the enrollment date becomes the baseline. If you do not know which stay status you have, premiums may already be accumulating from the first month, not the sixth.

3. 3

   Premiums are calculated, but there is a floor

   Cost:

   158,630 won per month in 2026

   The premium for a foreign self-employed insured is calculated using the same standards as for Korean self-employed insureds. Up to this point, the amount differs from person to person depending on income and assets. But if the calculated amount is lower than the overall average premium at the end of November of the previous year, that average premium is charged from January to December of the following year. This is why the premium does not become zero even if you have no income. The average premium for foreign self-employed insureds in 2026 announced by the NHIS is 158,630 won per month, which is 140,210 won for health insurance plus 18,420 won for long-term care insurance premium. For households whose head has permanent residence (F-5) or marriage-based immigration (F-6) status, this floor does not apply, and the amount is calculated using exactly the same standards as for Koreans.

4. 4

   Students, religion, and humanitarian stay permits get a reduction

   Whether a reduction applies depends on your stay status. Study (D-2), general training (D-4), and overseas Korean students and ethnic Korean (F-4) students attending designated schools get a 50 percent reduction. Religion (D-6), humanitarian stay permit holders (G-1-6), and their family members (G-1-12) get 30 percent. Foreigners who live permanently in Korea follow the same reduction system as Korean self-employed insureds. Having a reduction status does not mean it is applied automatically. The NHIS must confirm your stay status before it is reflected, so if the bill is not half the amount, check with a branch office.

5. 5

   The payment date is one month earlier than for others

   Korean self-employed insureds pay that month's premium by the end of that month. Foreign self-employed insureds are different. Article 109 of the National Health Insurance Act says they must pay by the 25th of the previous month. That means October's premium is paid by September 25. For the premium of the month when you acquire the status, or if you acquire the status on or after the 26th of each month, the NHIS uses a separate method. This one-month difference is the point people most often miss in this system. If you thought you could pay at the beginning of the next month, you are already one month behind.

6. 6

   If you fall behind, two things stop at once

   The first is the hospital. If you do not pay the premium due by the 25th of the previous month, and you still have not paid by the 25th of the month after the payment deadline month, you will not receive insurance benefits from the following month. This does not mean you cannot receive treatment, it means insurance will not apply, so you must pay the full amount yourself. The second is your stay. The Ministry of Justice shares overdue payment information with related ministries and checks whether foreigners applying for visa extensions have unpaid taxes and health insurance premiums. If you do not pay the overdue amount, the extension of stay is in principle limited to 6 months or less. If you pay the overdue amount, extensions are usually 2 to 5 years depending on your stay status. There is one more thing. A self-employed insured household, except for households whose head has permanent residence or marriage-based immigration status, can receive a health insurance card with an expiration date only after paying the premium.

7. 7

   To include family in the same household, documents cross borders

   To include a spouse or child in a self-employed insured household, or to register them as a dependent of an employed insured, you must prove the family relationship. Submitting the original documents from your home country is not enough. The documents must either have been confirmed by the foreign ministry of the issuing country, have an apostille if the country is a member of the Apostille Convention, or be documents issued and confirmed by an institution recognized by the NHIS. You also need a Korean translation. It must be either a notarized translation or one translated by a certified foreign-language translator and issued with a translation confirmation certificate. Since in some countries it can take several weeks just to request the documents from home, start as soon as you decide you need them.

8. 8

   If you already have medical coverage elsewhere, you may be excluded, but only once

   If you already receive medical coverage equivalent to the medical benefits of Korean health insurance under foreign laws, foreign insurance, or a contract with an employer, you can apply for exclusion from health insurance. This often applies to expatriates whose companies provide overseas medical insurance. Employed insureds must apply within 14 days from the date they report acquisition of status to have it applied retroactively to the acquisition date, and if they apply after that, they lose the status from the date of application. People excluded this way can later apply to the NHIS and regain the status. However, once they re-enter, they cannot apply for exclusion again for the same reason. If you change companies and try to use this again, there is no way to do it then.

The Korean words

지역가입자jiyeok gaipja, An insured person not affiliated with a company

Anyone not reported by a company belongs here. The amounts and deadlines in this guide are about this group.

직장가입자jikjang gaipja, A person enrolled through a company

Premiums are split half and half with the company. Check it on your payslip, not on a bill.

피부양자pibuyangja, Family members who depend on an employed insured for living expenses

If approved through application, they do not pay their own premium. There are separate income and asset standards.

세대주sedaeju, The head of the household that receives the premium bill

Whether the floor amount applies and whether a health insurance card is issued depends on the head of household's stay status.

고지서gojiseo, A premium bill

It comes by mail or app. Not receiving it does not mean you do not have to pay.

체납chenap, An unpaid state after missing the deadline

This is where hospital benefit suspension and stay extension limits begin.

경감gyeonggam, A reduction in the premium

Study gets 50 percent, and religion and humanitarian stay permits get 30 percent.

자격득실확인서jagyeok deuksil hwaginseo, A document proving insurance history

Companies, schools, and public offices often ask for this. You can get it right away from the NHIS app.

Easy to miss

• ·Thinking you have to apply to be enrolled. Self-employed insured status is automatic, so even if you do nothing, the status is created and premiums accumulate.
• ·Thinking that if you have no income, you will have no premium. If the calculated amount is lower than the average premium, you pay the average premium.
• ·Thinking the payment deadline is next month. For foreign self-employed insureds, it is the 25th of the previous month, and because of this one-month difference, even careful payers can be marked overdue in the first month.
• ·Hearing at the hospital that insurance does not apply and trying to fix it at the hospital counter. Benefit suspension is lifted only after the overdue amount is settled with the NHIS.
• ·Trying to pay everything right before the stay extension review. The Ministry of Justice checks overdue payments during the review, and if there is nonpayment, the extension is limited to 6 months or less.
• ·Believing that if the bill did not arrive, you are not yet enrolled. If your address is not updated, only the bill does not arrive, and premiums still accumulate.
• ·Thinking you can use exclusion from health insurance again later. Once you re-enroll, you cannot apply a second time for the same reason.

You can skip this if

• If your company or school enrolled you in the four major insurances, you are an employed insured. The floor amount and the 25th deadline in this guide do not apply.
• If you have permanent residence (F-5) or marriage-based immigration (F-6) status, the amount is calculated using the same standards as for Korean self-employed insureds. The average premium floor does not apply.
• If you came for tourism or a short visit, this does not apply to you. That case is about travel insurance and non-covered hospital fees.
• The amounts in this guide are for 2026, and the rules were checked in September 2026. Premium rates and average premiums are set again every year.

Where this comes from

• Standards for charging regional insurance premiums for overseas Koreans and foreigners, National Health Insurance Service
• Notice on the 2026 premium rate increase, National Health Insurance Service
• Standards for applying health insurance to long-term resident overseas Koreans and foreigners, Ministry of Health and Welfare Notice No. 2025-69, National Law Information Center
• Article 109 of the National Health Insurance Act, special provisions for foreigners, National Health Insurance Service legal information
• System for checking taxes and health insurance premium arrears before foreign visa extension, Ministry of Justice
• Guidance for foreigners, National Health Insurance Service