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South Korea · digital nomad visa · 2026

South Korea's digital nomad visa

12months
디지털노마드(워케이션) 비자Open · checked 2026-08-18 · hikorea.go.kr

South Korea runs the 디지털노마드(워케이션) 비자 — Digital Nomad (Workation) Visa, F-1-D, an initial 12 months.

Next step

One email when the app can count this stay for you.

How we know

Every figure here is as hikorea.go.kr publishes it, checked 18 August 2026. Where a number is our own arithmetic rather than a printed figure, the row says so.

Status
Open
Visa
디지털노마드(워케이션) 비자 — Digital Nomad (Workation) Visa, F-1-D
Initial stay
12 months
Renewal
The visa itself is issued as "F-1-D(워케이션), 복수비자 발급(유효기간 1년)" — an F-1-D multiple-entry visa with one year of validity. The maximum period of stay granted at one time under the F-1 (방문동거) status is two years per the same Ministry of Justice manual.
Who qualifies
Open to "해외 사업체 소유자 또는 해외기업에 소속된 외국인으로서 원격근무가 가능한 자 중 1년 이상 동일 업종에 근무하고 있는 자 및 그 가족" — owners of overseas businesses, or employees of overseas companies, who can work remotely and have worked in the same industry for at least one year, plus their family. Minimum age 18 (accompanying dependent children excepted). Private medical insurance is required with cover of at least 100 million won for hospital treatment and repatriation. Supporting documents: visa application form, passport, photo and fee; a certificate of employment proving at least one year in the same industry; payslips and proof of balance or other income evidence; a criminal record certificate and proof of medical insurance; family relationship documents if accompanied; and, where the reduced regional income threshold is claimed, evidence of intended stay outside the Capital Area such as a lease of one month or more or a booking confirmation for accommodation or a designated workation facility.
Family
Family (spouse and minor children) may accompany the holder. Doing so raises the income threshold: 2x GNI regardless of age in the Capital Area, 1.5x GNI outside it.
Where to apply
Apply at a Korean embassy or consulate. The governing document is the Ministry of Justice / Korea Immigration Service manual "사증발급 안내매뉴얼 (체류자격별 대상 첨부서류 등)", dated 2026. 8., published on HiKorea as a downloadable HWP file; section 29 covers 방문동거 (F-1) and item 8 within it covers the F-1-D workation visa.
Official page
hikorea.go.kr
Checked
18 August 2026

Sources are listed further down the page.

What to know before you apply

IMPORTANT CORRECTION to the commonly published description. The rule is no longer a flat "twice Korea's GNI per capita". The Ministry of Justice visa-issuance manual dated August 2026 sets the F-1-D income requirement on a two-dimensional grid of age and region: 18-34 pay 1.5x GNI in the Seoul Capital Area and 1x GNI outside it; 35 and over pay 2x GNI in the Capital Area and 1.5x GNI outside it. "비수도권" is defined in the manual as anywhere other than Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi. The reduced regional threshold requires documentary proof of the intended stay, and the manual notes that the qualifying "워케이션특화시설" are the 23 workation facilities nationwide selected by the Korea Tourism Organization. SOURCING NOTE for future maintainers: Korea does not publish F-1-D details as an ordinary web page. The Korea Visa Portal, HiKorea's browsable pages, the Immigration Service site and korea.kr all returned zero hits for "워케이션", "디지털 노마드" and "F-1-D". The only official source is the HWP manual attached to the HiKorea notice cited above, which is a distribution-protected Hangul document; its text had to be extracted from the encrypted ViewText streams. The manual carries the standard caveat that immigration offices may add to or reduce the listed documents and that approval is decided on assessment.

What it means for your tax days

Not addressed in the visa-issuance manual. No Korean tax authority page was fetched for this entry, so no tax treatment is asserted. A visa is permission to stay; tax residency follows the days. South Korea treats you as tax resident once you are present 183 days A place of residence in Korea for 183 days or longer in one taxable period, and residents are taxed on worldwide income. Days are not the only test: Income Tax Act Article 1-2(1)1: a resident is an individual who has a DOMICILE in Korea or a place of RESIDENCE in Korea for 183 days or longer. NTS: "A domicile means a place where one's living is based, and is determined objectively based on the existence of family members who share a livelihood, the existence of assets in Korea, whether one holds a job in Korea, etc. A place of residence refers to a place in which one has dwelt for an extended period where general living activities such as those that would take place within a domicile do not take place." DEEMED DOMICILE — a taxpayer is deemed to have a domicile in Korea where they have an occupation which requires them to reside in Korea for 183 days or longer, or where they have family members sharing a livelihood in Korea and are deemed to reside in Korea for 183 days or longer due to their occupation or assets held in Korea. Any individual other than a resident is a non-resident, liable only on domestic-source income. The taxable period is shortened to the date of death, or to the date of departure where a resident emigrates. The full tests and the official source are on our South Korea tax-day page.

Sources

Questions people ask about South Korea

Does South Korea have a digital nomad visa?

Yes. South Korea runs the 디지털노마드(워케이션) 비자 — Digital Nomad (Workation) Visa, F-1-D, which grants an initial stay of 12 months (the visa itself is issued as "f-1-d(워케이션), 복수비자 발급(유효기간 1년)" — an f-1-d multiple-entry visa with one year of validity. the maximum period of stay granted at one time under the f-1 (방문동거) status is two years per the same ministry of justice manual.). Checked 18 August 2026 against hikorea.go.kr.

How long can you stay on the South Korea digital nomad visa?

12 months on the initial permission; the visa itself is issued as "f-1-d(워케이션), 복수비자 발급(유효기간 1년)" — an f-1-d multiple-entry visa with one year of validity. the maximum period of stay granted at one time under the f-1 (방문동거) status is two years per the same ministry of justice manual.. Stretch counts the days either way and tells you the date you must be out.

Does a digital nomad visa in South Korea make you tax resident?

Not by itself — but staying does. South Korea treats you as tax resident once you are there 183 days A place of residence in Korea for 183 days or longer in one taxable period, and residents are taxed on worldwide income. Not addressed in the visa-issuance manual. No Korean tax authority page was fetched for this entry, so no tax treatment is asserted. See our South Korea tax-day page for the tests and the official source.

How does Stretch help with the South Korea digital nomad visa?

Log the day you land and Stretch counts the days against the permission you are on, shows the date you must be out, and reminds you at 14, 7, 3 and 1 days. It also tallies the days that count towards tax residency, so the 183-day question answers itself. The counting and the alerts are free, forever.

Other digital nomad visas

South Korea, the rest of it

Stretch is a tracker, not legal advice, and this is not tax advice. Visa and tax rules change and are applied by the authority, not by an app — every figure here shows its source and the date we checked it. Checked 2026-08-18; confirm on the official page before you apply or file.