Statutory social insurance participation obligations by visa type
Statutory social insurance participation requirements for foreigners (non-Koreans) working in Korea may vary depending on the type of visa held. The most common visa categories for foreigners in Korea and their corresponding obligations are summarized below.
|
Visa type |
National Health insurance (NHI) |
National Pension (NP) |
Unemployment Insurance (UI) |
Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance (IACI) |
|
|
D-2 |
Student 유학 |
Mandatory |
NOT mandatory |
NOT mandatory |
Mandatory |
|
D-7 |
Expatriate 주재원 |
Mandatory
|
May depend on the principle of reciprocity |
||
|
D-8 |
Investment 기업투자 |
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|
F-4 |
Overseas Korean 재외동포 |
May elect to participate at workers’ discretion |
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|
D-10 |
Employment 구직 |
NOT mandatory |
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(Notes)
As an exception, foreign workers (non-Korean) from the US, France, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Spain, Turkey, Luxembourg, and Norway may be eligible for a waiver from mandatory IACI participation, provided they submit a Certificate of Coverage issued by their home country’s social security authority.
Unless a foreign (non-Korean) employee is eligible for a waiver of statutory social insurance and submits the required waiver applications along with the proper supporting documents to the Korean social insurance agencies, the foreign employee is mandatorily required to participate in Korea’s statutory social insurance programs.