Settle-in checklist
Living in Korea

Settle-in checklist

Each task is documented elsewhere — what travelers miss is the order. Do these in sequence in your first two weeks.

  1. 1

    Arrival basics

    eSIM/prepaid SIM, T-money, cash, address card. Get connected before anything else.

    Arrival pack →
  2. 2

    Apply for your ARC

    File within 90 days at an immigration office via HiKorea booking.

    🧾 Bring: Passport, photo, application, fee, proof of address/enrollment

    Visa / ARC / HiKorea →
  3. 3

    Open a bank account

    Before ARC you get a limited account; full features after ARC. Bring passport + phone.

    Banking + NHIS →
  4. 4

    Get a phone plan (010)

    Move prepaid → postpaid once you have ARC. Needed for app verification across Korea.

    Mobile carrier / 010 →
  5. 5

    Move in & register

    Sign the lease, do 전입신고 (resident registration) + 확정일자 at the community center, set up utilities.

    Renting a home →
  6. 6

    NHIS (health insurance)

    Long-stayers are auto-enrolled — no application needed. D-2 degree students are covered from the date of alien registration on first entry, not after a wait; only D-4 trainees wait 6 months from entry. Pay on time — arrears can block visa renewal.

    Banking + NHIS →

The order matters more than any single step because each one is the input to the next. The ARC is the key that turns a limited bank account into a full one and a prepaid SIM into a postpaid 010 line, and that 010 number is what clears the identity check on nearly every Korean app afterwards. Doing them out of order does not fail loudly — it strands you in a half-state where you have an account you cannot transfer from and apps you cannot sign into.

Two deadlines are worth writing down. The ARC is filed within 90 days of arrival through a HiKorea booking, and the resident registration (전입신고) is done at the community centre when you move in, together with the 확정일자 stamp that protects your deposit. Health insurance is the step people expect to have to do and do not: long-stayers are enrolled automatically, D-2 degree students from the date of alien registration on first entry. What does need attention is paying it — arrears can block a visa renewal later, which is a slow problem that starts quietly.