South Korea
Last verified August 7, 2026
Written for U.S. passport holders
F-1-D Workation Visa — Now Permanent
- Before mid-2026, remote work in Korea generally happened on a plain tourist stay, which was explicitly not an officially permitted use of that status — just a common, loosely-enforced practice.
- The F-1-D 'workation' visa ran as a pilot from January 2024 and was made a permanent program by the Ministry of Justice, announced July 7, 2026 — allowing up to a 3-year stay, with income thresholds as low as roughly 1x Korea's Gross National Income for younger applicants outside Seoul, and dependents included.
Tax Residency
- Under 183 days present, Korea generally has no claim on your foreign-sourced remote income.
- Past 183 days, the treatment is less clear-cut in practice — some F-1-D holders report being taxed only on Korea-sourced income, even though the law technically subjects tax residents to worldwide income taxation.
The Gotcha
The legal landscape for remote work in Korea changed substantially and recently — the F-1-D visa only became a permanent program in mid-2026, after running as a pilot since 2024. A lot of 'how to be a digital nomad in Korea' content still describes the earlier era, when working remotely there meant relying on an unofficial tourist-visa workaround rather than an actual formal legal status.
Sources
This page was drafted from the primary sources below. Rules change — check the linked page directly before relying on any of this.
- (F-1-D) Workation (Digital Nomad) Pilot Program — Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles