Arrival

A week-by-week plan for your first 30 days in Korea: SIM and T-money on day one, the HiKorea appointment in week two, then banking, apps and real life.

Last updated: August 2026 This is general information, not legal or immigration advice. Extension rules depend on your residence status and your individual circumstances, and they change. Confirm anything that affects your status with the official sources at the end, or with the immigration contact centre, before you act. Almost every English-language guide to extending … Read more

Last updated: August 2026 Taxis in Korea look like the easy part. There are a lot of them, they cost less than you are used to paying, and they are clean. Then you stand at the curb with your arm out, three taxis with the red vacant light on drive straight past, and you start … Read more

Last updated: July 2026 At some point after you settle in Korea, the message arrives. A friend from home, or a parent, or a sibling, says they are thinking of visiting. And you realise that everything you know about living here — your residence card, your bank account, your transit card — tells you almost … Read more

Last updated: July 2026 You will be sent a link. Your employer sends one, your university sends one, a forum thread sends a third — and they are not the same website. Korea runs its entry and immigration services across separate portals that look official, sound similar, and share nothing with each other, not even … Read more

Last updated: July 2026 Everyone tells you to “just do it on HiKorea.” Your university sends a link. Your HR team sends a link. A forum thread from 2019 sends a link. Nobody mentions that the site will refuse to make you an account until a plastic card exists in your hand, that half the … Read more

Last updaLast updated: July 2026 You type your name exactly as printed on your passport. The site rejects it. You reverse the order. Rejected. You try it with a space, without a space, all caps, mixed case — and somewhere around attempt six a small grey box appears: “The entered name does not match.” No … Read more

Last updated: July 2026 Your T-money card charges you full fare, every single tap. That's fine for a light rider — but if you commute, Korea will literally hand money back to you through two government schemes. And 2026 is the year to pay attention: one pass retired this summer, and its replacement arrives on … Read more

Last updated: July 2026 One small card runs your daily life in Korea: subway, bus, taxi, even the convenience store. Here’s everything about T-money — including how to put it inside your iPhone or Android and the refund trick most people miss when leaving. What Is T-money? A rechargeable transit card accepted on subways and … Read more