F-1-D Workation Visa

You need about USD 66,000 a year, or 85 million won - that's the number every guide gives.

That figure is two GNI cycles out of date and is not a single number any more. From 30 June 2026 the Ministry of Justice applies a sliding 1x-2x of per-capita GNI depending on age and where you live in Korea. On the 2025 GNI of KRW 52.41 million the top tier is about KRW 104.82 million and the floor - ages 18-34 living outside the capital region or in a population-decline area - is about KRW 52.41 million. Several Korean consulate pages in the United States still publish the old USD 66,000 and 85-million-won wording, so an official page is not proof the number is current.

The workation visa caps you at two years - one year plus one extension - so it's not worth it for a real relocation.

The two-year cap ended on 30 June 2026, when the programme stopped being a pilot and became permanent. The Ministry of Justice now allows residence up to three years, still granted a year at a time. The catch is that the exact renewal mechanics inside that three-year window - how many extensions and of what length - have not been set out in any updated primary government document, so plan the third year as probable rather than guaranteed.

Any travel medical policy worth 100 million won will satisfy the insurance requirement.

The wording matters more than the number. The requirement is coverage above KRW 100 million for hospital treatment and evacuation to your home country - 본국후송 in the Korean text. Applications get refused when the certificate mentions medical evacuation but says nothing about return to the home country, and consular practice reads the repatriation clause as covering repatriation of remains. Read your certificate for that exact clause before you file, and if you are bringing a spouse or child, make sure the policy names each person with the full coverage amount.

If you're in the reduced-income band you just need to be young - the location part is a formality.

Both conditions have to hold together. The Ministry of Justice example is a foreigner aged 18-34 doing their workation in a non-capital-region (비수도권) or population-decline area, and only then does 1x GNI apply. Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi are the capital region, so basing yourself in Seoul pushes you up the scale regardless of age. The government published the 1x-2x band without publishing the intermediate breakpoints, so anyone who is young in Seoul, or older outside it, has to ask the consulate or immigration office what their actual number is rather than calculate it.

F-1-D is a work visa, so you can pick up Korean clients or a part-time local job on the side.

F-1 is a visiting/residence status, not a work status. Korean consular guidance states that employment activities inside Korea are strictly restricted while on F-1-D; the income that qualifies you must come from an overseas employer or your own foreign-registered company, and you need at least a year of that employment behind you before applying. Separately, staying 183 days or more in a tax year - including a 183-day stretch that straddles two tax years - makes you a Korean tax resident, which most guides skip entirely.