How do I cancel my National Health Insurance (NHIS) and settle outstanding matters when leaving Korea?

You do not "cancel" National Health Insurance the way you cancel a subscription. For a foreign local subscriber (지역가입자) the qualification lapses by operation of law, and what you actually have to do is settle the money and tell the service you are going.

How the lapse works. Under the rules the National Health Insurance Service applies to foreign residents, local-subscriber status ends on the day after your permitted period of stay ends, and also on the day after you leave the country where you stay abroad for a month or more. It also ends on the day after a deportation order is issued, and on the day you become a dependant of an employee subscriber. So the departure itself is what ends it — but it only ends cleanly if the service knows about it and nothing is outstanding.

What to do before you fly. Visit your local NHIS branch with your alien registration card, your passport and your ticket showing the departure date, plus your resignation or visa cancellation paperwork if you have it. Ask them to confirm the closing date they will apply and whether anything is unpaid. The main line is 1577-1000 and the foreign language counselling line is 033-811-2000.

Settle the premiums. Unpaid premiums do not disappear when you leave and can follow you into a later stay, so clear them at the branch, at a bank, or through the National Health Insurance website and the integrated social insurance collection portal, both of which show the amount due after identity verification. Premiums are not paid through the tax service, so do not go looking for them on Hometax. If you have overpaid, ask how the refund is returned and keep your Korean bank account open until you have it.

If you are an employee subscriber your company's HR normally files the loss of qualification as part of offboarding — ask for written confirmation that it was filed rather than assuming. Local subscribers do it themselves.

Pension is a separate matter with a separate counter: apply to the National Pension Service for the lump-sum refund (반환일시금) if your nationality qualifies, before you go.

Sources: 국민건강보험공단, 찾기쉬운 생활법령정보.

Last verified: 2026-09-28