You arrived in Korea on a long-stay visa, someone mentioned a “90-day deadline,” and now you’re staring at a wall of conflicting forum posts and outdated university PDFs. Some call it an ARC, others call it a Residence Card, and you’re not sure if you’re even reading the right page. Take a breath. An Alien Registration Card (ARC), now officially the Residence Card, is the legal ID that every foreigner staying in Korea longer than 90 days must obtain. This guide walks you through exactly what to do this week: whether you’re required to register, by when, which documents to bring (down to the form number and photo size), where to go, how to book the slot, what it costs, and how long until the card lands in your mailbox.
ARC or Residence Card? Same document, explained in 30 seconds
If you’ve been searching “ARC Korea” but keep landing on pages that say “Residence Card,” you’re not lost. They are the same document. The card long known in English as the Alien Registration Card (외국인등록증, oegugin-deungnokjeung, literally “foreigner registration card”) now appears in English as the Residence Card (RC). Korea’s Ministry of Justice has been phasing the word “alien” out of the English name, and the redesigned Residence Card — with its new layout, color photo, and embedded IC chip — rolled out from January 1, 2025.
Here’s the part that matters: the card itself is identical in purpose. It’s your legal ID inside Korea, and it carries your unique foreigner registration number (외국인등록번호). Banks, landlords, HR departments, and most foreigners still casually say “ARC” out of habit, and that’s fine — it doesn’t change anything. Whichever term you hear, this guide covers it. You’re in the right place.
Do you need an ARC? The 90-day registration rule explained
The trigger is simple: if you plan to stay in Korea longer than 90 days, you must register and obtain a Residence Card / ARC — and you must do it within 90 days of your arrival date. If you’re only here for a short visit, you can stop reading now and enjoy your trip.
(A quick note before the numbers begin: the fees, fines, deadlines, and country lists below are current as of June 2026 and can change. Always confirm your own situation against the official sources at the end.)
Who’s required to register:
- D series — study visas, including D-2 (degree students) and D-4 (language students)
- E series — work and employment visas, including the very common E-2 (foreign language instructors)
- F series — family and resident visas, including F-4, F-5, and F-6
Who’s exempt (and can stop reading):
- A series — A-1 diplomats, A-2 government officials, and A-3 SOFA/agreement holders do not register
- Short-stay visitors — tourists and short-term visa holders in the C and B series do not register
If you’re on a tourist or diplomatic visa, this process doesn’t apply to you. For everyone else, anchor that deadline to one thing: your date of entry — the day you walked through immigration at the airport, not the date your visa was issued. This is the single most common point of confusion. Miss the deadline and you face an administrative fine (과태료, gwataeryo, literally “negligence fine”).
As of 2026, late registration carries a fine that scales with how late you are and whether you’ve slipped before, climbing into the millions of won in serious cases (the Immigration Control Act sets a statutory ceiling in the tens of millions for severe or repeat violations, and overstaying a visa is penalized separately and more heavily). Exact tiers change and vary by office, so confirm your situation with the 1345 hotline or immigration.go.kr — but the takeaway is clear: don’t let the clock run out. Not sure which visa category you fall under? Our guide to settling in Seoul as a foreigner can help you get oriented on the bigger picture.
The document checklist (and the visa-specific extras most guides skip)
This is the section that saves you a wasted trip. Bring everything below. A missing photo or the wrong form number is exactly the kind of thing that gets people turned away. Start with the universal list, then jump to the block that matches your visa.
Always required, no matter your visa:
- Your original passport
- Form 34 (통합신청서, the integrated application form) — downloadable from HiKorea or available at the office counter
- One color photo, 3.5cm × 4.5cm, taken within the last 6 months
- Proof of your Korean address (details below)
- The ₩35,000 issuance fee — often cash-only at the counter
On the fee: as of 2026 it is ₩35,000, raised from ₩30,000 effective January 1, 2025. Some older municipal and university pages still list 30,000 won, so don’t be caught short. It’s typically paid at the counter via a government revenue stamp (수입인지, suip-inji) and is frequently cash-only — bring cash to be safe. If you want the card mailed to you (most people do), an optional postal fee of around ₩3,000 applies.
Proof of address — what actually counts:
- A lease or rental contract in your name
- A dormitory certificate (if you live in student housing)
- An employer or host confirmation letter stating where you live
E-series workers (E-2 English teachers and similar)
In addition to the universal list, bring:
- Your employment contract
- Your employer’s business registration certificate
- Your degree or diploma certificate
Some offices also ask E-visa holders to present a criminal background check and a health/medical report (a medical check including a drug test) again at registration; many do not, because these were already submitted with your visa application before you arrived. So you’ve likely already handled the hardest parts — just bring the originals to the office just in case.
D-2 and D-4 students
In addition to the universal list, bring:
- A certificate of enrollment or your standard certificate of admission (표준입학허가서) from your school
- A tuition payment receipt may also be requested, so bring it if you have it
F-series family and resident visas
Documents vary by sub-type, so match yours:
- F-6 (marriage migrant): marriage certificate, your spouse’s Korean ID, and a family relation certificate
- F-4 (overseas Korean): proof of Korean heritage or family relationship
- F-5 (permanent resident): income/asset proof and social integration program results
The TB chest X-ray requirement
Nationals of roughly three dozen designated high-TB-incidence countries must also submit a tuberculosis (결핵, gyeolhaek) chest X-ray certificate from a designated hospital. The list includes countries such as China, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Russia, and Uzbekistan, along with others across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The exact membership and count are revised periodically, so check whether your country is currently on the official list rather than assuming. Children under 6 and pregnant women are exempt, as are A-1/A-2/A-3 holders.
Book your slot on HiKorea (walk-ins are refused)
A common mistake catches people every week: they gather their documents, travel to the immigration office, and get turned away at the door because they never booked. The initial card application is in-person and reservation-only. There are no walk-ins. You must book first.
The reservation runs through HiKorea, the official online immigration portal. The path is:
- Go to hikorea.go.kr
- Select Reserve Visit (방문예약)
- Choose the immigration office for your district
That last step has its own trap. Office jurisdiction is determined by where you live, not where you work. If you live in one district and teach in another, you book the office covering your residence (출입국·외국인청/사무소, the Immigration Office). Booking the wrong office means another wasted reservation.
One more practical note: in Seoul and other big cities, slots fill up fast — sometimes a week or more out. Book early so your appointment still lands comfortably inside the 90-day window. And note that while HiKorea handles many services online through its e-Application system, the card issuance and reissuance specifically must be done as a booked in-person visit — it cannot be completed online. (Service rules can change, so verify the current wording on hikorea.go.kr before you rely on it.)
The office visit, step by step
Once you’ve got your reservation and your document folder in hand, the visit itself is straightforward. Here’s what to expect so nothing surprises you:
- Arrive 10–15 minutes early and take a queue ticket when you walk in.
- When your number is called, submit your documents at the counter.
- Pay the ₩35,000 fee at the counter (cash, remember).
- The counter process takes roughly 15–30 minutes. Fingerprinting is done where applicable.
- You’re done. The card is not issued on the spot.
After your visit, processing takes about 4 weeks for most applicants (some student-visa cases run closer to 5–6 weeks, and timing varies by region and season). The finished card is mailed to your registered address — which is exactly why that postal fee and accurate address matter. In-person pickup is also possible if you prefer. Either way, plan around the wait: don’t expect to walk out the same day with a card in your wallet.
While you wait: the Mobile Residence Card and what the ARC unlocks
The wait isn’t dead time. Since January 1, 2025, two genuinely new features make this period easier and the card more useful.
The free Mobile Residence Card. Korea now offers a digital version of your Residence Card through the official “Mobile IDentification” app (available on iOS and Android). It’s free and carries the same legal validity as the physical card. To use it, you need to be age 14 or older and own a smartphone with a postpaid phone plan registered in your own name. You activate it either by tapping your IC-chip card to your phone or by scanning a QR code at the immigration office. If you don’t have a Korean plan in your name yet, our guide to SIM and eSIM options for foreigners walks through how to get set up.
IC-chip physical cards. As of 2026, physical Residence Cards are embedded with an integrated IC chip (MIFARE Plus). In practice, this is what enables the tap-to-activate feature for the mobile card and makes the card harder to forge — a quiet upgrade that most stale guides won’t mention.
And here’s the payoff that makes all of this worth it. Once you’re registered, your Residence Card / ARC is the key that unlocks the rest of life in Korea:
- Opening a Korean bank account — see our step-by-step guide for foreigners
- Getting a postpaid phone contract in your own name
- Enrolling in National Health Insurance (국민건강보험) — more in our NHIS guide for foreigners
For anything this guide doesn’t cover — an unusual visa sub-type, an edge case at your office, or a question about your specific fine — call 1345, the Immigration Contact Center. It’s a multilingual hotline with interpretation available, and it’s the fastest way to get a real answer. The official sources to bookmark are hikorea.go.kr (reservations and e-applications) and immigration.go.kr (the Korea Immigration Service).
That’s the whole process. Confirm you’re required to register, count 90 days from your arrival date, gather your universal documents plus your visa-specific extras, book your HiKorea slot for the office covering where you live, show up early with cash, and wait about four weeks for the card to arrive. Do it this week and you’ll be well inside the deadline — with a bank account and phone plan waiting on the other side.
Disclaimer: This guide is for general informational purposes only and reflects rules, fees, and procedures as of June 2026. Immigration requirements, fee amounts, fine schedules, and the high-TB-incidence country list change periodically and can vary by office. Always confirm the current official procedure and your specific situation at hikorea.go.kr or by calling 1345 before acting. This is not legal advice. See our full Disclaimer. Last updated: June 2026.
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