GlobeQuest
Legal & ID🇰🇷 Busan, South Korea

Your visa, the ninety-day ARC deadline, and Busan's regional visa route

Korea separates entry from residence completely. Visa-free entry or a K-ETA lets you visit; it never lets you work or stay. The long-stay category — E-7 skilled work, E-2 teaching, D-8 startup, D-10 job search, D-2 study, F-6 spouse, F-1-D remote work — is normally issued by a Korean consulate before you fly. Once here, you have ninety days to register at the immigration office and obtain the Alien Registration Card, and its thirteen-digit number is what every Korean system authenticates you against. Busan adds a route the capital does not have: three of its districts are designated population-decline areas where a local recommendation can open the F-2-R regional residence visa.

Total cost
Consular visa issuance is typically KRW 60,000–130,000 depending on category and mission. ARC registration is KRW 30,000 plus a small postage charge. Apostilles, translations and criminal record checks obtained at home are usually the larger part of the bill.
Time needed
Roughly six to fourteen weeks end to end: two to eight weeks for the visa, then registration within ninety days of arrival, then three to six weeks for the card itself.
Validity
ARC validity tracks your visa, typically one to three years, and is extended at immigration through HiKorea before expiry. The F-2-7 points visa requires 80 points on the immigration scoring table; the items and weights are revised periodically, so score yourself against the current table rather than an old summary. F-5 permanent residence generally follows several years on F-2 with sufficient income and Korean proficiency.
Verified
August 2026
High confidence·Non-Korean nationals moving to Busan for more than ninety days. Immigration is national and run by the Korea Immigration Service through HiKorea; the office covering most of Busan is the Busan Immigration Office, with the regional-visa recommendation handled by the district and city government.

Before you start

  • A passport valid well beyond your intended stay
  • A long-stay visa matching your actual purpose, usually issued at a consulate abroad rather than changed in-country
  • A documented Busan address — a lease, a dormitory contract, or a signed landlord or employer confirmation
  • Category evidence: an employment contract and sponsor filing for work visas, proof of foreign employment, income and private medical cover for F-1-D

Step-by-step

  1. 1

    Settle the visa category before you travel

    Most long-stay categories must be issued by a Korean consulate in your country of residence, and several cannot be switched into from inside Korea. E-7 has occupation-code and salary thresholds set by the Ministry of Justice; E-2 requires a degree and a criminal record check apostilled at home. Getting this wrong means leaving and re-applying.

    Via employerWho: You with your sponsoring employer, university or consulate2–8 weeksConsular issuance fee, typically KRW 60,000–130,000
  2. 2

    Book the HiKorea appointment the week you land

    Immigration offices do not take walk-ins for registration. Reserve a slot at hikorea.go.kr for the office covering your district — Busan Immigration Office serves most of the city. Slots go quickly in the February and August intake seasons. The multilingual Immigration Contact Center on 1345 can help if the portal defeats you.

    OnlineWho: YouBook on arrival; slots often several weeks outFree to reserve
  3. 3

    Register and apply for the ARC within ninety days

    Attend in person with your passport, the application form, a 3.5 × 4.5 cm photo, proof of your Busan address and your category documents. Biometrics are taken at the counter. The fee is KRW 30,000, plus a few thousand more if you want the card posted. The ninety days is a legal deadline and overrunning it carries a fine that follows you into later applications.

    In personWho: YouOne appointment, 30–60 minutesKRW 30,000 plus postage
  4. 4

    Collect the card and add the mobile version

    The physical card takes roughly three to six weeks, longer in peak season. A mobile residence card in the government ID app has been issued since January 2025 and carries the same legal weight as the plastic; banks have accepted it for account opening since 21 March 2025, which is useful in the gap before the card arrives.

    Mobile appWho: You3–6 weeksNo further government fee
  5. 5

    Check whether your district opens the regional visa route

    The Ministry of Justice publishes an annual operating plan for the regional-specialised visa. Dong-gu, Seo-gu and Yeongdo-gu in Busan are on the designated population-decline list, with Jung-gu and Geumjeong-gu treated as areas of concern. A city or district recommendation can open F-2-R with lower income and points thresholds, in exchange for living and working in the region.

    In personWho: You with the district office and Busan Metropolitan CityAnnual quota cycleStandard status-change fee
  6. 6

    Report changes and plan the F-2 to F-5 ladder early

    Address changes, employer changes and passport renewals must be reported to immigration, generally within fourteen days. If you intend to stay, the ordinary long-term route runs through the F-2-7 points visa and then F-5 permanent residence, and Korean-language certification and the KIIP social integration programme carry weight on both — start them years before you need them.

    In personWho: YouOngoing

Documents you’ll need

  • Passport, original plus a copy of the photo page
  • Completed integrated application form from HiKorea or the office
  • One colour photo, 3.5 × 4.5 cm, taken within six months
  • Proof of your Busan address — lease, dormitory contract or a signed confirmation letter
  • Category evidence: employment contract and sponsor documents, enrolment certificate, or foreign employment, income and insurance proof for F-1-D
  • Tuberculosis screening result, required for some nationalities and categories

Things most newcomers don’t know

Three Busan districts sit on the Ministry of Justice population-decline list, and living in one of them can change which visa you qualify for.

The regional-specialised visa lets designated local governments recommend foreigners for F-2-R residence at thresholds below the national points route, in return for a commitment to live and work in the area. Dong-gu, Seo-gu and Yeongdo-gu are designated; Haeundae and Suyeong are not. Someone choosing a neighbourhood purely on the beach is unknowingly choosing a harder immigration path.

Source: Ministry of Justice — regional-specialised visa operating plan

The ninety-day ARC deadline runs from entry, but the HiKorea booking queue does not care.

Registration appointments cannot be walked in, and in the February and August intake surges the nearest slot can be weeks away. The legal deadline is still ninety days from arrival, so a late booking is your problem rather than the office's. Book in your first week, keep refreshing for cancellations, and call 1345 if you genuinely cannot find a slot before the deadline.

Source: HiKorea — Korea Immigration Service

Visa-free entry and the K-ETA are travel permissions, not a trial period for living here.

Ninety days of visa-free entry covers tourism and business meetings and nothing else. Working on it — including remote work billed abroad, in the immigration service's reading — risks fines, departure orders and re-entry bans, and it does not count toward any residence clock. The correct sequence is always the category first, then the move.

Source: Korea Immigration Service; K-ETA official portal

Korean-language certification is the quiet gatekeeper on the whole long-term route.

TOPIK levels and the government's KIIP social integration programme feed the F-2-7 points table, shorten the road to F-5 permanent residence, and appear in the regional visa criteria too. They take a year or more of evening classes, so people who start thinking about permanent residence in year four discover they are two years behind where they assumed they were.

Source: Korea Immigration Service — points system and KIIP

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Treating ninety days of visa-free entry as permission to work or to look for work.
  • Booking the HiKorea appointment late and running into the ninety-day registration deadline.
  • Choosing a neighbourhood without checking whether it sits inside a designated population-decline district.
  • Assuming a work visa can be switched to from inside Korea when your category requires a consulate abroad.
  • Leaving TOPIK and KIIP until the year you actually want to apply for F-2 or F-5.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.

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Sources

Last verified August 2026. Government processes change — always confirm critical details against the official source before acting.

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