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South Korea's F-1-D Digital Nomad Visa Is Now Permanent: Full Guide

South Korea's F-1-D workcation visa is no longer a pilot. The income test now depends on your age and where in Korea you live, the maximum stay is 3 years, and medical insurance with a set minimum coverage is required.

Geunjeongjeon, the Imperial Throne Hall at Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul, South Korea.
Photo by Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Published: 2026-10-16 · Last verified: 2026-10-16 · Numbers apply to US passport holders

Rules change. Confirm the current rules with the official sources linked below before you apply, pay a fee, or book travel around a date in this guide.

What changed

South Korea ran the Digital Nomad (Workation) visa, status code F-1-D, as a pilot from January 2024 to May 2026. During the pilot, every applicant faced the same income test of 2 times Korea's GNI per capita, and the stay was capped at 2 years. On June 30, 2026, the Ministry of Justice made F-1-D a permanent program. Two rules changed. The income test now has tiers based on age and region, running from 1 times to 2 times GNI per capita. The maximum total stay went from 2 years to 3 years.

The visa lets you live in Korea while you work remotely for an employer or business based outside Korea. Work for a Korean employer, and other profit making activity for a Korean business, is prohibited. All other South Korea routes are on the South Korea country page.

Who qualifies

The income thresholds, with the math

The test uses the previous year's GNI per capita. For applications in 2026, that is the 2025 figure: KRW 52,416,000 a year. The Korean embassy in Singapore publishes the monthly equivalent as KRW 4,368,000, which is the annual figure divided by 12. Each tier is a multiple of that base:

Family exception: the Singapore embassy guidance says an applicant bringing a spouse or minor children needs 2 times GNI (KRW 104,832,000) in the Seoul metropolitan area and 1.5 times GNI (KRW 78,624,000) outside it, whatever their age. For a 30 year old moving to Seoul with a spouse, the bar goes up from KRW 78,624,000 to KRW 104,832,000. The same guidance measures age by calendar year.

The base figure resets every year. The tiers are multiples of the previous year's GNI per capita, so an extension filed in 2027 will probably be tested against the 2026 figure, which is not yet in our data. Your income has to pass the tier in force when you file, not only the one in force when you first applied.

Seoul metropolitan area, Jeju, and the rest of Korea

Official guidance defines the Seoul metropolitan area as Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province. Everywhere else counts as non metropolitan for the income test. That includes Jeju, so on the published definition an applicant who will live on Jeju uses the lower non metropolitan tier: 1 times GNI at age 18 to 34, or 1.5 times GNI at 35 or over. Designated population declining regions get the same lower tier.

The tier depends on where you will live. Moving into Seoul, Incheon, or Gyeonggi after qualifying at the lower tier could mean you no longer meet the condition your visa was granted on. Extensions re-test the conditions, so plan for your income to clear the tier for where you actually live.

Health insurance

You must hold medical insurance with at least KRW 100,000,000 of coverage for both treatment and repatriation. Extensions re-test the insurance condition, so the policy has to stay in force, at that coverage level, through the whole period you hold the visa.

How long you can stay: the 3 year cap

Each grant runs up to 1 year, and you can extend 1 year at a time up to a total of 3 years, which is about 1,095 days. In practice that means 1 initial grant and up to 2 extensions. The visa is multiple entry. You file extensions at the local immigration office in Korea, and each one re-tests the conditions, including income and insurance. The 3 year limit is a hard cap on this status. To stay longer you need to qualify for a different status.

You apply at a Korean embassy or consulate before you travel. You cannot get F-1-D by changing status inside Korea, so you cannot enter visa free and switch. No single official processing standard is published. Missions set their own timelines, commonly reported at about 2 to 3 weeks.

Visa free entry is not a substitute. US passport holders get 90 days per entry for tourism and business visits, but that status does not authorize work, and it cannot be extended into a long stay. US citizens are exempt from the K-ETA requirement through December 31, 2026. Unless that exemption is extended again, a K-ETA will be required from January 1, 2027.

Cost

Tax residency

Under Korea's Income Tax Act, you are a tax resident if you have a domicile in Korea or a place of residence in Korea for 183 days or more in a tax year. Residents are taxed on worldwide income, subject to treaty relief. This test is separate from your visa. A holder who spends most of a 1 year grant in Korea will pass 183 days, because 183 days is just over half a year. Meeting the visa income tier says nothing about how your income is taxed. Check where you will be resident and how treaty relief applies before you arrive.

What F-1-D does not lead to

F-1-D has no direct path to permanent residence. The general permanent residence category counts 5 years on D-7 to E-7 work statuses or on F-2 residence, and F-1 is not one of them. Time on F-1-D does not count. General naturalization requires permanent residence plus 5 consecutive years of domicile in Korea, under Article 6 of the Nationality Act, so F-1-D has no direct path to citizenship either. To settle long term, you would first need to move to a qualifying work or residence status, such as an E-7 job with a Korean employer or points based F-2-7 residence. Both are covered on the South Korea country page.

Before you apply

Country pages

Official sources

Facts in this guide last verified against the sources: 2026-10-16