Korea ARC Address Change 2026: 15-Day Rule and ₩100K-₩1M Fines

Card: report a change of address in Korea within 15 days of moving in; file at the dong office, immigration office or on HiKorea; bring your Alien Registration Card and lease; late-report standard amounts from ₩100,000 (under 3 months) to ₩1,000,000 (2 years+) — Image generated with Canva Magic Media (background scene) for illustration purposes.

Last checked: 2026-10-21 · Sources: Immigration Act, Articles 35, 36, 98, 100 · Enforcement Decree, Article 45 · Enforcement Rule, Articles 49-3, 86 and Annex 7 · Guro District Office, online change-of-residence report · Seoul Immigration Office move notice · What changed recently: the Seoul Immigration Office moved on October 19, 2026 to 55 Jeongui-ro, Songpa-gu, and the old Mok-dong building no longer handles cases. The law did not change for this report: the Act's version of October 2, 2026 only rewords investigation clauses (Articles 4, 4-4, 4-6, 29-2 and 85), and the Rule's version of September 15, 2026 leaves Article 49-3 and Annex 7 (last revised January 23, 2026) as they were. I compared those texts with this guide again on October 21.

Every registered foreigner in Korea who changes address picks up a legal deadline the moment the boxes arrive. The deadline is 15 days, not 14. That figure comes straight from Article 36(1) of the Immigration Act in the version in force since October 2, 2026, and it matters for a practical reason: once the 15 days pass, the convenient online route closes and the report has to be made in person at an immigration office.

This guide is built from the statute itself rather than from summaries. Checking the statute on the Korean Law Information Center (law.go.kr), the relevant pieces are Article 36 (the duty), Article 98 (the penalty ceiling), Articles 102 and 103 (how immigration offices settle the penalty), Article 45 of the Enforcement Decree (where and how to file), and Article 49-3 plus Annex 7 of the Enforcement Rule (documents and the fine table). The Ministry of Government Legislation's plain-language guide (easylaw.go.kr, current as of September 15, 2026) and a district office's online-filing page were used to cross-check the procedure.

The rule in one table

Item	What the text says	Source
Who must report	A foreigner registered under Article 31 (Alien Registration Card holders) who changes their place of stay	Immigration Act Art. 36(1)
Deadline	Within 15 days from the day of moving in (전입한 날부터 15일 이내)	Immigration Act Art. 36(1)
Where	The new address's city/county/district office or eup/myeon/dong community center, or the immigration office with jurisdiction over the new address	Immigration Act Art. 36(1); Decree Art. 45(1)
Online	Allowed through the network designated by the Minister of Justice	Decree Art. 45(1)
What to bring	Your Alien Registration Card, the change-of-address form, and one proof of the move: a lease contract, a sale contract, or another document the Minister designates	Act Art. 36(2); Rule Art. 49-3(2)
Penalty ceiling	Criminal fine of up to ₩1,000,000	Immigration Act Art. 98, item 2
Usual settlement	A "notice disposition" (통고처분) setting a payment called beomchikgeum, scaled by how late you are: ₩100,000 to ₩1,000,000	Act Arts. 102-103; Rule Art. 86, Annex 7
Proxy filing	Permitted for these reports, by a person the Minister designates	Rule Art. 34(1)1

Where you can file, and the trap with the online route

The law gives three doors. You can walk into the community center (dong office) for your new address. You can go to the immigration office that covers the new address. Or you can file online.

The online route runs through HiKorea (www.hikorea.go.kr). Guro District Office's guide, last edited February 19, 2024, lays out the steps:

Create a HiKorea account and go to e-Application.
Choose "Report on Change of Residence / Change of Domestic Residence" (체류지변경신고/거소이전신고).
Sign with a joint (financial) certificate issued by a bank.
Enter the new road-name or lot-number address.
Track the result under My Page. The guide states online reports are processed within 3 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

Three details on that page change how you should plan:

After 15 days, online filing is not possible. The page states it in bold: once the deadline passes, the report must be made in person at the immigration office or branch office covering the new address. A late report therefore costs you a trip as well as a possible fine.
The back of the card is not updated online. When you file online, the new address is not written on the reverse of the card. If you want it written, you have to visit the immigration office and ask.
Families on F-3 can file together. A head of household registered for dependent (F-3) family members can file for the whole household in one online application.

The same page lists the immigration contact center at 1345 (+82-1345 from abroad), weekdays 09:00-22:00, with 17 languages including English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mongolian and Russian. If your new address falls under the Seoul Immigration Office, note its move. The Ministry of Justice notice of October 2, 2026 says the office began work at 55 Jeongui-ro, Songpa-gu (Munjeong Station exit 4, about a 10-minute walk) on October 19, 2026, and the old Mok-dong building at 151 Mokdongdong-ro no longer handles any business. Check which office covers your district on HiKorea before you travel.

For mobile ID users, Article 36(8) of the Act adds that if you hold a mobile Alien Registration Card and file through the electronic civil-service window, recording the change on the mobile card replaces the written note on the plastic one.

Documents: what changed in December 2023

Article 49-3 of the Enforcement Rule was inserted on December 14, 2023. It defines the supporting papers as any one of:

a lease contract (임대차계약서),
a sale contract (매매계약서), or
another document proving the move that the Minister of Justice designates.

Bring your Alien Registration Card as well. Article 36(2) of the Act says the card must be submitted when you report, and the office writes the new address on it and hands it back. Checking the original Easylaw summary against Rule Article 49-3 and Act Article 36(2), the lists match line for line: card, report form, and a lease or sale contract or another proof of the move.

If you live in employer-provided housing, a dormitory, or a relative's apartment with no contract in your name, the third category is the relevant one. The statute leaves the list to the Minister and does not spell it out, so ask the office or call 1345 before you go rather than assuming a dormitory letter will be accepted.

The fine: a criminal penalty settled on a sliding scale

Here is the part most guides skip. Missing the address deadline is not an administrative fine (과태료). It sits in Article 98 of the Immigration Act, the penalty chapter, alongside failing to carry your passport or card: "a person who violates the duty to report a change of residence under Article 36(1)" faces a fine (벌금) of up to ₩1,000,000.

The Act also gives offices a way to settle without a court. Article 102 lets the head of an immigration office issue a written notice ordering payment of an amount equivalent to the fine, the beomchikgeum. Article 103 hands the amounts to a Ministry of Justice ordinance, and Annex 7 of the Enforcement Rule (last revised January 23, 2026, and unchanged in the Rule's current version of September 15, 2026) sets them by length of delay. Row 조 of the table covers the address report:

How late the report is	Standard amount
Less than 3 months	₩100,000
3 months to less than 6 months	₩300,000
6 months to less than 1 year	₩500,000
1 year to less than 2 years	₩700,000
2 years or more	₩1,000,000

Checking the original Annex 7 against Article 98, item 2: the top band, ₩1,000,000 for a delay of two years or more, is exactly the statutory ceiling, so the standard amount never exceeds what a court could impose. Easylaw's summary cites the same Article 98, item 2 ceiling of ₩1,000,000.

The table is a starting point. Three provisions move it, all from the text:

Up or down by half. Article 86(2) of the Rule lets the office head raise or lower the standard amount within one-half, considering age and circumstances, the motive and result of the violation, ability to pay, and the number of violations. A ₩100,000 case can therefore land anywhere from ₩50,000 to ₩150,000.
Exemption is possible. Article 103(2) of the Act lets the Minister of Justice waive the notice disposition altogether after weighing the same factors. Article 86(3) of the Rule also lets the office head, with the Minister's approval, set an amount outside the table where it is unavoidable.

Article 102-2 allows payment by credit or debit card through a designated payment agent, and the Rule names the Bank of Korea, its designated treasury agents and post offices as collection points (Article 87).

Don't confuse it with the other 15-day rule

Article 35 sets a separate 15-day duty for changes to your registered details: name, sex, date of birth, nationality, and passport number, issue date and expiry. That one is reported to the immigration office only, not to a community center. Its penalty is different too: Article 100(2)1 makes it an administrative fine of up to ₩1,000,000. Renewing your passport and moving house in the same month means two separate reports.

A worked example

Say you sign a lease and move into a new studio in Mapo-gu on Monday, November 2, 2026.

Deadline: 15 days from the move-in date. Counting November 2 as day one, the last day is Monday, November 16; counting from the next day, it is Tuesday, November 17. Article 36 does not spell out how the first day is counted, so treat November 16 as the safe date. Both are weekdays, so community centers and immigration offices are open either way.
Easiest route: file on HiKorea with your bank certificate and a photo of the lease, then expect up to 3 working days for processing.
If you miss it by a month: online is closed. Visit the immigration office covering Mapo-gu with the card and the lease. Under Annex 7 the standard amount for a delay of under 3 months is ₩100,000, adjustable by half either way.

Who this does not cover

Short-term visitors who never registered under Article 31 have no address-change duty under Article 36, because the article applies only to registered foreigners.
Overseas Koreans with a domestic residence report (거소신고) follow a parallel process. Guro's guide lists "change of domestic residence" on the same HiKorea menu with the same 15-day deadline.
Employers. Separate reporting duties for employers of foreign workers sit elsewhere in the Act and are not covered here.

Next steps

Check the move-in date on the lease you signed with the owner, count 15 days, and put that target date in your calendar.
If you are inside the window and have a bank certificate, file on HiKorea.
If not, go to the dong community center or the immigration office for the new address with your card and the contract.
If you also renewed your passport, file the separate Article 35 report at the immigration office.

New arrivals working through registration for the first time can read the Korea Alien Registration 90-day deadline guide, and the first 90 days in Korea checklist puts the address report alongside the other early deadlines. Immigration offices also close on public holidays; the Korea in October 2026 holiday guide lists the dates that fall inside this month's moving window.

What this guide could not confirm

Whether a fee is charged for an address-change report. The Enforcement Rule's fee article was not matched against this specific report, so no amount is stated here.
The current HiKorea screen labels and whether a joint certificate is still the only sign-in option. The steps above come from Guro District Office's page last edited February 19, 2024.
How the 15 days are counted when the move-in day itself is included or excluded. Article 36 says "from the day of moving in" without a counting rule.
Which documents the Minister has designated under Rule Art. 49-3(2)3 for people without a lease or sale contract.
The share of cases in which offices reduce or waive the beomchikgeum. The text allows both; no published statistics were found.

This guide summarizes the published legal texts and the filing procedure. For a specific case, such as a late report or a move without a contract, call 1345 or ask the immigration office covering your new address.

Sources (first retrieved October 1, 2026; the statute, decree, rule, Easylaw and Guro pages were opened again on October 21, 2026, and the Seoul office notice was added that day):

To work out your own last day, the 15-day address report calculator on this site shows both ways of counting.

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