I am leaving Korea and need to cancel my National Health Insurance (NHIS) and settle any outstanding?

When leaving Korea, you must cancel NHIS (국민건강보험) within 14 days of your ARC cancellation or departure. The process is straightforward and prevents you from accumulating unpaid premiums after you've left. Visit your local National Health Insurance Service branch (find via nhis.or.kr) with your ARC, passport, flight ticket showing departure date, and a copy of your visa cancellation or job termination letter if applicable. They'll process the cancellation on the spot.

If you have outstanding premiums, you must settle them before departure or they'll follow you to your next visit (and can block re-entry on certain visas). You can pay at the NHIS office, any bank, online via Hometax, or transfer from your Korean account. If you've overpaid, NHIS will refund the difference to your Korean bank account within 2 weeks, so don't close the bank account until you receive it. For employees, your company's HR usually handles cancellation as part of offboarding (퇴사 처리), but confirm in writing that they've completed it. Self-employed (지역 가입자) must do it personally. The 1577-1000 NHIS hotline has English support during business hours. For pension, file the lump-sum refund (반환일시금) request separately at the National Pension Service before your departure if you're from a country with a refund agreement.