South Korea Just Launched a Digital Nomad Visa. It Is Way Easier to Get If You Are Under 35.
On June 30, South Korea officially launched its F-1-D Workation Visa, converting a two year pilot into permanent law. What is different about this one is the structure, not the existence of the visa.
The income threshold now depends on your age and where you live. If you are between 18 and 34 and willing to live outside the Seoul metro area, you need roughly $37,000 a year. If you are 35 or older and want to live in Seoul, you need about $74,000. Same visa. Different math.
I spend a lot of time tracking nomad visa requirements, and this is the first one that has made me stop and think about whether age tiering is the right approach. It is clever policy. It is also, depending on your age, either a gift or a penalty.
Most nomad visas use a single income number. Portugal requires €3,680 a month whether you are 25 or 55. Spain requires roughly €2,850. Korea decided that a 28 year old freelancer living in Busan should not have to prove the same income as a 45 year old executive in Gangnam.
The practical result: Korea’s visa is easier to access for younger nomads than most European alternatives. The tradeoff is geographic. Seoul is one of the world’s great cities, and the higher threshold to live there reflects that. If you are willing to base yourself in Busan, Daegu, or Gwangju, the financial barrier drops substantially.
What you actually need
The visa allows up to three years of stay, renewed annually. You cannot work for a Korean employer. Your income must come from a foreign company or your own foreign business, and you need at least one year of employment history with that company.
You need a clean criminal background check with an Apostille. You need private health insurance covering at least 100 million won, which is roughly $70,000 to $75,000 in medical and repatriation coverage. Your spouse and minor children can join you under your application. The visa fee is about $45 for US applicants.
The income tiers break out like this: ages 18 to 34, living outside Greater Seoul, roughly $37,000 per year. Ages 35 and older, living in Seoul, Incheon, or Gyeonggi Province, roughly $74,000. Everyone else falls into the middle tier at about $55,000.
During the pilot program, every applicant regardless of age or location needed the full 2x GNI, roughly $74,000. The new structure cuts that by half for younger nomads outside the capital. That is a deliberate policy choice to spread nomad spending beyond Seoul, and I think it will work. Busan and Gwangju are underrated cities.
Why this matters
Korea was already on the nomad radar after the pilot program launched in 2024. The internet is excellent. The public transit is world class. The cities are safe and function reliably at all hours. The food scene rewards exploration. The culture takes work seriously without being oppressive about it. I spent two weeks in Seoul in 2023 and the combination of infrastructure and intensity stuck with me longer than any other Asian city I have visited.
The permanent launch with tiered income requirements changes who can get in. A 30 year old developer earning $50,000 from a remote US job could not qualify for the pilot at the old $74,000 threshold. Now they qualify for the middle tier. A 26 year old freelancer earning $40,000 could not come close before. Now they can, if they live outside Seoul.
This is not the cheapest nomad destination in Asia. It is not Thailand or Vietnam. For someone who wants Asian infrastructure without the chaos, who values safety and efficiency, and who can meet the income requirements, Korea just opened a door that was locked for a lot of people. Whether you should walk through it depends on what kind of nomad experience you actually want, not what looks good on Instagram.
Visa details from the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Korea Herald, and Erickson Immigration Group, July 2026. Income thresholds based on 2025 GNI per capita of approximately 52.41 million won.
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