Leaving Korea and Coming Back After Your E-9 Stay Ends

Checklist before you leave

1. Planned departure report (고용센터)

You can make the report from 1 month before your departure date. You can visit the 고용센터, send a fax, or use the EPS (Employment Permit System) website (www.eps.go.kr). Prepare the 출국예정신고서 (planned departure report form), a copy of your plane ticket, your passport, and your 외국인등록증 (Alien Registration Card). After you report, you get a 출국예정 확인서 (planned departure confirmation). You need this confirmation to apply for your insurance money.

2. Departure guarantee insurance money (출국만기보험금)

You get this when you leave Korea after working for 1 year or more without a break. Apply to 삼성화재 for payment at least 7 days before your departure date. The money is paid within 14 days after your departure is confirmed. You can choose to receive it in a Korean bank account, a bank account in your home country (SWIFT CODE needed), or as cash at a currency exchange counter at Incheon or Gimhae Airport.

If the 퇴직금 (severance pay) set by law is more than the insurance money, ask your company to pay the difference. Do not just take the insurance money and stop there. Even after you have left Korea, you can apply by international fax (82-505-161-1421) or through the special app. If you do not claim the money within 3 years from the day you became eligible for it, it is moved to 한국산업인력공단 (HRD Korea, Human Resources Development Service of Korea).

3. Return cost insurance money (귀국비용보험금)

You get this when you leave because your permitted stay has ended, or when you leave early for personal reasons. You apply the same way as for the departure guarantee insurance money. The time limit to claim is also 3 years. Apply for both insurances together at the same time.

4. National Pension lump-sum refund (반환일시금)

• National Pension rules are different for each country. Nepal is excluded from mandatory coverage because of the reciprocity rule. So, as a rule, Nepali E-9 workers do not join the National Pension. They have paid nothing, so they also get no lump-sum refund. If National Pension money was never taken out of your pay, you can skip this item.
• On the other hand, people with E-9 (non-professional employment) or H-2 (working visit) status who actually paid National Pension contributions can get the lump-sum refund, no matter what the law in their home country says (National Pension Act, Article 126). If your pay slip showed a National Pension deduction, ask 국민연금공단 (1355) whether your case qualifies.
• If you plan to leave from Incheon Airport within 1 month, you can use the airport payment service. Submit the claim form and the airport payment application form in advance and get a receipt. Then, on the day you leave, go to the National Pension Incheon Airport Counseling Center.
• If you have already left Korea, you can claim by mail from abroad. In this case, you may need notarization (an official stamp from a notary) in your country of residence and confirmation from the Korean consulate.

5. Tax and health insurance

• When you get your pay for the month you leave the company, the company does the year-end tax settlement (a final check of the tax you paid). You may get some tax back, or you may have to pay more.
• Make sure you get your last pay slip and your 근로소득 원천징수영수증 (certificate of income tax withheld from your wages).
• The company reports that your health insurance coverage has ended. If any insurance payment is still owed after the final calculation, it is taken out of your last pay.

6. Bank, mobile phone, housing

• Cancel your mobile phone plan before you leave. First check if you still owe a cancellation fee or payments for the phone.
• Close your bank account only after you have received all your insurance and pension money. Never give your bank account to another person.
• Check that your dormitory deposit, last pay, and pay for unused annual leave have all been settled.

If you stay past your permitted period

• If your permitted stay ends and you do not leave, you can be deported. Under the Immigration Act, you can face up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to 3천만원. In practice, many people pay a penalty fee and then leave.
• After you leave, you cannot enter Korea again for a certain period. The length of this period depends on your case.
• If you become undocumented (staying without legal status), it becomes hard to get industrial accident compensation and to claim unpaid wages. However, if you were not paid your wages, you can still file a complaint even if you are undocumented. From 6 November 2025, labor inspectors no longer have to report these workers to immigration.

Voluntary departure

When a person whose permitted stay has ended leaves Korea on their own, this is called voluntary departure (자진출국).

• If you make an advance voluntary departure report online on 하이코리아 (HiKorea, the government immigration website) at least 3 days before you leave, you do not need to visit the 출입국·외국인관서 (Immigration Office). You can go straight to the airport on your departure day.
• The government sometimes runs a special voluntary departure period for a limited time. During this period, the penalty fee may be waived (you do not have to pay it), and entry restrictions may be postponed.
• The most recent special voluntary departure period was from 1 December 2025 to 28 February 2026, and it has already ended. To find out if any program is running now, check the notices on 하이코리아 or call 1345. (Official confirmation needed)
• Outside a special period, you must pay the penalty fee, and whether entry restrictions are postponed may be different.

Ways to come back to Korea

1. Special exception to the re-entry limit (sincere worker) This is for workers who completed 4 years and 10 months in the same industry, and whose employer applied, before they left, for an employment permit to hire them again after re-entry. You can work again 1 month after the day you left. It may also include workers who changed workplaces for reasons that were not their fault, such as the business closing temporarily or shutting down.
2. Normal re-entry If you do not qualify for the special exception, you can work again on an E-9 visa only after 6 months have passed from the day you left.
3. Taking the EPS Korean language test again If neither of the two options above applies to you, you take the EPS-TOPIK again in your home country and start the whole process from the beginning.
4. E-7-4 skilled worker This is a way to stay in Korea without leaving. For the requirements, see the separate article.

Be careful

• You only get the special exception if your employer applies for an employment permit for your re-entry. Talk with your employer before you leave.
• Insurance money is not paid automatically. You must apply for it yourself.
• If a broker asks for money and says they "guarantee re-entry", it is very likely a scam. Check first with the 고용센터 or 1345.
• Before you leave, write down your home country bank account details correctly (bank name, account number, SWIFT CODE).

Frequently asked questions

Q. My departure guarantee insurance money is less than my severance pay. A. You can ask your company to pay the difference. If the company does not pay, you can file a complaint with 고용노동부 (Ministry of Employment and Labor). Call 1350 for help.

Q. I left Korea without getting my insurance money. A. You can claim it from abroad within 3 years. Contact the foreign worker insurance team at 삼성화재.

Q. How much is the lump-sum refund? A. It is calculated from the contributions you paid and the contributions your company paid, plus interest. For the exact amount, call 1355.

Q. Who buys the plane ticket? A. Return cost insurance was made to help pay for things like your plane ticket home. For details on what it covers, ask the 고용센터 or 삼성화재.

Where to get help

• 외국인종합안내센터 (Immigration Contact Center) 1345 (many languages)
• 고용노동부 customer counseling 1350
• 국민연금공단 1355
• EPS website www.eps.go.kr
• 하이코리아 www.hikorea.go.kr