The employee insured (Workplace Health Insurance)

• Foreigners working at a company with more than five employees are eligible for workplace medical insurance.
• The spouses and children under age 20 of foreign employees can also receive medical insurance coverage.
• The insurance is put in effect when employers enroll their employees in a medical insurance program. By law, the employer is responsible for submitting the employee’s application for national health insurance to the National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC). Health insurance coverage starts with the date of employment and ends with the date of termination of employment.

Self-employed insured (Community Health Insurance)

• Those not eligible for Workplace Medical Insurance are entitled to enroll for Community Health Insurance(self-employed insured).
• For enrollment, a foreigner should submit an application to an NHIC branch office in his/her residential area with the required documents including alien registration card and passport.
• Those who intend to stay in Korea for more than one year under one of the following visas can receive health insurance coverage.
• D-1(Culture & arts), D-2 (Study), D-3(Industrial training), D-4 (Training), D-5 (Media coverage), D-6(Religion), D-7 (Stationing), D-8(Corporate investment), D-9 (Trade and management), E-7(Specific occupation), E-8(Industrial trainee employment), F-3(the Spouses of those with one of the above visas and their children under the age of 20).
  • - The dependents and children of individuals under an F-1 visa (visiting and joining families)
  • - A long-term foreign resident in Korea under an F-2 visa (Residence)
  • - An overseas Korean resident who is in Korea under an F-4 visa (Korean residents abroad)

Enrollment procedures and required documents

• For health insurance application, a qualified foreigner should submit an application and the required documents including a copy of the certificate of foreign registration or a copy of a certificate of domestic residence and a certificate of income.
• Employers are responsible for submitting applications of foreign employees to the National Health Insurance Corporation with the required documentation.
• For health insurance coverage of the foreigner’s family members, he/she should submit a document verifying family relationship to the employer.

Insurance benefits

• Foreigners receive the same insurance benefits as Koreans do for the health services they use.
• As insurance benefits, an insured person pays 20~50% of the total medical cost at a hospital or clinic and 30% of the drug cost at a pharmacy.