I plan to spend 2-3 months per year living in Korea?

For two or three months a year, the entry route depends on your nationality and the housing question is mostly about avoiding a large deposit.

Entry. Many nationalities enter visa-free for a stay of 30 to 90 days, which for visa-waiver travellers is administered through K-ETA, applied for online before you fly. Both the fee and the validity period of a K-ETA have been changed by the authorities more than once, and temporary exemptions have applied to some nationalities, so check your own case on the official K-ETA site (k-eta.go.kr) close to your travel date rather than relying on a figure in a guide. If you need longer or want certainty, a short-term visit visa (C-3) from a Korean embassy gives single or multiple entries, and a multiple-entry version is the usual choice for someone who returns every year. If you have Korean heritage, the F-4 overseas Korean visa is worth asking about because it changes the calculus entirely.

Remote work is a separate question from entry. Korea has introduced a residence status for remote workers, but the code, the income threshold and the permitted length of stay are exactly the details that have been revised, so confirm the current requirements on HiKorea (hikorea.go.kr) or with 1345 before you plan around it. Working on a tourist entry is not the same thing as visiting.

Housing. For a stay of this length you want monthly rental rather than a jeonse or wolse contract with a large deposit. Serviced studios and monthly officetel rentals, sharehouses, and long-stay listings on Airbnb all avoid the tens of millions of won a standard lease requires. Sharehouses and serviced operators usually sign in English and take a modest deposit. Expect to pay more per month than a resident on a one-year lease does — that premium is what buys you the flexibility.

Practical things that carry over between visits. A Korean bank account makes each stay easier; banks differ in what they will open for a short-term visitor, and Hana Bank is one of those with foreign-customer desks — note that Korea Exchange Bank merged into Hana in 2015, so "KEB Hana" is the same bank under an old name. A prepaid or long-term SIM from a Korean carrier is straightforward, and a T-money transit card keeps its balance between trips.

Avoiding scams: view the room or take a video call before paying, pay into the named account of the person on the contract, and get the terms in writing. The Seoul Global Center reviews contracts free of charge.

Last verified: 2026-09-28