Vos 30 premiers jours à Séoul : checklist jour par jour pour étrangers

Plan for ₩3,000,000–5,000,000 covering one month of housing (₩1.2M–2.5M for co-living or a serviced apartment), SIM activation, T-money transit, groceries, the ARC application fee (₩30,000), and a buffer for gym, hagwon, or social. This excludes the flight in and any deposit if you're signing a long-term direct lease — those are separate from month one.

Yes. Every other task — ARC application, bank account, NHIS enrollment, even an embassy registration — depends on having a fixed Seoul address. Foreigners who land without booked housing typically lose 5–10 days bouncing between short stays while viewing long-term places, miss their ARC application window, and sign whatever apartment is available instead of what they want. Book at least 30 days of co-living, a serviced apartment, or a monthly stay before you board.

Standard ARC processing in Seoul runs 4–6 weeks but can stretch to 8 weeks during peak intake months (March, September). Request an ARC application receipt at your appointment — it serves as interim ID for some banking and contract situations. Healthcare enrollment, postpaid SIM upgrades, and full Korean banking apps wait until the physical card arrives.

Several banks let foreigners open a basic passport-only account at flagship branches with foreigner-services desks (KEB Hana, Woori, Shinhan, KB Kookmin). Toss Bank and KakaoBank generally require an ARC. Visit a branch in Myeongdong, Itaewon, or near a major university — those staff handle foreigner paperwork daily and usually have English-speaking tellers. Bring your passport, visa, address proof from your housing, and ₩50,000 for the initial deposit.

Long-stay foreigners are required to enroll in NHIS after six months of residence in Korea, per the National Health Insurance Service. ARC plus address proof are needed at the local NHIS branch. For foreigners not on an employer-paid plan, monthly premiums are tiered by reported income — see the [NHIS foreigner subscriber portal](https://www.nhis.or.kr/english/wbheaa02000m01.do) for current tier amounts. Most month-one arrivals defer this paperwork to month two.

Only if you have your ARC. Korea Immigration Integration Program enrollment runs through HiKorea and requires a valid ARC plus the social-integration program prerequisites. If you're committed to learning Korean from week one, paid hagwon programs (Yonsei KLI, Sogang KLI, Ganada Korean) accept passport-only enrollment and start every quarter. Most foreigners begin paid classes in month one and switch to KIIP once their ARC unlocks it.

Trying to solve housing on arrival. The second-biggest is over-scheduling social events while still jet-lagged and operationally swamped. Land with housing booked, sleep through the first 48 hours, and treat week one as logistics-only. Push social calendar to week three when your apps, money, address, and ARC paperwork are stable. Foreigners who burn through energy in week one tend to skip weeks two and three entirely.

Postpaid contracts with KT, SK Telecom, and LG U+ require an ARC plus Korean credit history (or a deposit waiver). Realistic timing: weeks 6–8 after the ARC arrives. Until then, prepaid plans (KT M Mobile, EG SIM, U+ MVNOs) at ₩30,000–60,000/month for unlimited data work passport-only. The full eSIM-to-prepaid-to-postpaid sequence is in our [Apps and eSIM stack guide for Seoul](/blog/navigating-seoul-solo-apps-esim-foreigner).