The short version
You do not need to finish everything in the first week.
Get three things in order first, a place to sleep, a way to be reached, a way to pay, and the rest follows.
Deadlines that matter
Foreigner registration, if you will stay more than 90 days
By when: Within 90 days of entry. Book the visit for a date no later than the day before the 90th day
If you miss it: Late registration is punishable under the Immigration Act, and in practice a notification penalty applies from 200,000 won. The guide on getting your Alien Registration Card covers the booking and the cash fee.
Right now
- 1Lock down where you sleep tonight first. The rest can wait until tomorrow.
- 2Set up a way to be reached, a phone number, or at least a messenger.
- 3Secure one thing you can pay with right now, cash or a card that works.
What to have ready
- Passport and visa documents
- Your first lodging address
- Something to pay with right now: Cash included.
Phrases you can copy and paste
Step by step
- 1
Sort out where you sleep first
Get through the first days on a booked or short-term place. You do not have to rush a long-term home.
- 2
Set up a way to be reached
A Korean phone number makes a lot of things easier. Until then, keep at least a messenger or email open so people can reach you.
- 3
Secure one way to pay
One working card or cash gets you through the first week. A domestic account can wait.
- 4
Save 119 and 112 before you need them
119 is for a fire, a rescue or an ambulance and 112 is for the police. Save both next to your address written in Korean, because where you are is the first thing the operator asks. 119 also takes text messages, photos and video calls if you cannot talk. The guide on who to call in an emergency covers the interpreter lines as well.
- 5
If you are staying more than 90 days, book your registration this week
- Where:
- HiKorea (hikorea.go.kr), then the immigration office for your address
Foreigner registration is due within 90 days of entry, at the immigration office with jurisdiction over where you live. The visit has to be booked on HiKorea, the booking needs no account, and a booking only reserves a date, so the 90 days keep running while you wait for it. Booking in the first week leaves room if slots are scarce.
Watch it happen
Videos other people made, picked because they show a part of this guide that words cannot. They are not our sources: the rules and figures above come from the official pages listed at the end.
First Hour in Korea 🇰🇷 | What to Prepare & What to Do When You Land
Channel: PhatLife Project, English narration, English subtitles
Starts where this guide starts, at the airport with nothing set up yet, and works through the first things in the order they actually block each other.
Moving to South Korea Checklist! Don’t Forget These Things!!!!!!
Channel: Annah Pokubye , English narration, auto-generated English subtitles
A moving checklist rather than a travel one, so it covers the things you only need if you are staying, and the ones easier to bring than to buy here.
The Korean words
- 외국인등록oegugin-deungnok, foreigner registration
- Registration for long-term foreign residents. It produces your Alien Registration Card.
- 출입국, 외국인청churipguk oegugincheong, immigration office
- The government office that handles stay and registration.
- 단기 숙소dan-gi sukso, short-term lodging
- A place you stay for a few days at a time.
Easy to miss
- Leaving foreigner registration until the end of the 90 days. A booking after the deadline does not stop the clock.
- Trying to finish everything on day one wears you out. A place to sleep and a way to be reached is enough for day one.
- Rushing a long-term lease is easy to regret later. Give it a few days.
You can skip this if
- If a company or school is arranging your lodging and registration, follow their guidance first.
When it is time for a person
- If a place to stay, registration and being reachable all stall at once in your first week, it may be time for a person who can help with settling in more broadly.
Don't Panic Companion
If you would rather not do this alone
A Korean companion can go with you for this: to the counter, the shop, the clinic or the viewing, and stay until it is sorted. It is paid help from the person who writes these guides, arranged by email.
One honest note. My English is limited, so this is not an interpreting service. A translation app can carry the words. What a companion adds is asking the clerk or the landlord again, reading what is actually going on, and being someone beside you who is not in a hurry.
Paid. The fee and the date are agreed by email before anything is booked. Asking costs nothing.
Where this comes from
- HiKorea, Korea Immigration Service
- Who registers and when: within 90 days of entry for a stay of more than 90 days (HiKorea, Korea Immigration Service, 법무부 출입국, 외국인정책본부)
- Immigration Act art. 31, foreigner registration (Korean Law Information Center, 법제처 국가법령정보센터)
- Reporting to 119 by call, text, video call, app and web (National Fire Agency, 소방청)
Rules, fees and deadlines change and depend on your exact case. Please confirm the details with the official sources before you act.