Residence Registration and Confirmation Date (Jeonilshin-go and Hwakjeongilja)

The deadline for the residence registration is 14 days from the day you move into your new residence (Article 16, Paragraph 1 of the Resident Registration Act). The reference date is not the day of the contract or the day the remaining payment is made, but the day you actually start living in the house.

If you do not register within the period, a fine of up to 50,000 won will be imposed (Article 40, Paragraph 4 of the same Act). If you voluntarily pay the fine within the submission period after receiving a notice, it may be reduced by up to 20% (Article 18 of the Act on Regulation of Violations of Order, and Article 5 of the Enforcement Decree of the same Act).

However, the 50,000 won fine is the least of the problems in this procedure. The real damage comes later — the right to claim the deposit only starts the day after the residence registration is completed (Article 3, Paragraph 1 of the Act on Protection of Residential Leases). The law does not specify a time, but court rulings consider this "next day" as midnight of the following day (Supreme Court ruling No. 99da9981, dated May 25, 1999). If the registration is three days late, the protection of the deposit also starts three days late.

Who is responsible for the registration

• In principle, the head of the household is responsible for the registration
• Only when the head of the household cannot register, ① the person managing the household, ② the individual themselves, or ③ the spouse, direct blood relatives, direct blood relatives of the spouse, or the spouse of direct blood relatives, who have received authorization from the head of the household, may register on their behalf (Article 11, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph and Items of the Resident Registration Act). Since all four categories are included in the scope of authorization, even the parents of the spouse (in-laws) can also receive authorization
• In dormitories or other accommodations where multiple people live together, the manager of the accommodation is responsible (Article 12 of the same Act)

There are two ways. The answer depends on the situation.

You don't have to give up the confirmation date just because you're doing it online. Submitting a migration registration is considered as having completed the reporting of a housing lease contract (Article 6-5, Paragraph 1 of the Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act). If you also submit the lease contract, and the reporting is completed, the confirmation date is also issued (Article 6-5, Paragraph 3 of the same law). If you don't submit the contract, the reporting obligation is completed, but you need to obtain the confirmation date separately. There is also a place on the Government24 migration registration screen to upload the contract. However, this path only works if the lease is a reporting target contract. Whether it is a target (region, amount) is summarized in the next section.

When using Government24, the key point is confirming the head of household. If you are entering a household where someone else is already the head of household as a household member, the head of household must confirm their identity through [Fact/Truth Check → Head of Household and Migrator Confirmation] on Government24 for the registration to be completed. If the confirmation is not completed within one week after the application, the application will be canceled. If you don't realize it was canceled and go past 14 days, this is where it happens.

In summary, you make the judgment like this.

• If you sign a contract for a single room and form a single household → Government24 is sufficient. If it is a lease reporting target contract, you can complete the migration registration, lease contract reporting, and confirmation date all at once by attaching the contract.
• If you move into a place where there is already a head of household, such as a company dormitory or a relative's house → the resident center is more reliable.
• If the contract is not a lease reporting target or you have the original contract in your possession → complete the migration registration and confirmation date at once at the resident center.

The reason you must receive the confirmation date on the same day as the residence registration is because two provisions are connected.

• Right of defense against third parties — Once the delivery (move-in) of the housing and the resident registration (residence registration) are completed, the effect against third parties begins at 0:00 the next day (Article 1, Paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the Housing Lease and Rental Protection Act)
• Right of priority repayment — In addition to the above requirement for defense against third parties, if you have the confirmation date on the lease agreement certificate, you can receive the security deposit before subsequent right holders during auction or public sale (Article 2, Paragraph 2 of Article 3-2 of the same Act)

If you only complete the residence registration and delay the confirmation date, you will not have the right of priority repayment. Similarly, if you only get the confirmation date and delay the residence registration, the same applies. Moreover, the day the right of priority repayment arises is the later of the day you receive the confirmation date and the day after the delivery and residence registration is completed. If you obtain the confirmation date on the same day as or before the residence registration, the priority is established at 0:00 the day after the residence registration (Supreme Court ruling of March 23, 1999, Case No. 98da46938). If you receive the confirmation date after the residence registration, the priority is established on the same day you receive the confirmation date, not at 0:00. If the landlord's mortgage is registered first during this period, your priority will be pushed back. Therefore, it is safest to handle both on the same day.

Three Ways to Obtain the Confirmation Date

The institution responsible for granting the confirmation date is legally defined — town or village offices, neighborhood resident centers, branch offices of cities, counties, and districts, local courts and their support and registration offices, and notaries (Article 1, Paragraph 1 of Article 3-6 of the Housing Lease and Rental Protection Act).

The fee basis is divided into two similar regulations.

• 600 won for visiting — Article 1, Paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the "Rules on Granting Confirmation Dates on Housing Lease Agreement Certificates and Providing Lease Information" (Ministry of Justice Ordinance)
• 500 won for electronic confirmation date via the Internet Registration Office — Article 3 of Article 13, Paragraph 1 of the "Rules on Granting Confirmation Dates on Housing Lease Agreement Certificates and Providing Information" (Supreme Court Rules)

If You Are Subject to Lease Reporting, Reporting Equals Confirmation Date

First, check the target area. The housing lease reporting system is not a nationwide rule. It applies to the entire Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi provinces, metropolitan cities, Sejong Special Self-Governing Province, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, and the city areas of provinces, but does not apply to the county areas of provinces (Article 2, Paragraph 2 of Article 6-2 of the Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act, Article 2 of Article 4-3 of the Enforcement Regulation of the Same Act. The county areas of Gyeonggi Province are included).

According to the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam standards, it is as follows.

• Busan and Ulsan — They are metropolitan cities, so the entire area is subject to reporting. Gijang and Ulju counties are also included as part of the metropolitan city jurisdiction.
• Gyeongnam — Only the city areas such as Changwon, Gimhae, Yangsan, and Geoje are subject to reporting. The county areas such as Haman, Changnyeong, Goseong, and Uiryeong are not subject to reporting.

If the housing lease agreement in the target area has a deposit exceeding 60 million won or a monthly rent exceeding 300,000 won (30만원), it must be reported within 30 days from the date of the contract (Article 1 of Article 4-3 of the Enforcement Regulation, the reporting deadline is specified in Article 1 of Article 6-2 of the Act). Even if the deposit is small, if the monthly rent exceeds 300,000 won, it is subject to reporting — for example, if you sign a contract for a one-room apartment in Sasang-gu, Busan, with a deposit of 5 million won and a monthly rent of 450,000 won (45만원), it is subject to reporting. On the other hand, if you sign a contract for a one-room apartment near the industrial complex in Haman County with the same conditions, you are not required to report, and therefore cannot substitute the confirmation date with lease reporting, so you must obtain it separately from the resident center or the Internet Registration Office.

There are three ways to report. The shortest path for the person reading this guide is the first one.

1. Attached to the residence registration — Whether you go to the resident center or the government 24 service, if you submit the lease agreement along with the residence registration, it is considered as having made the lease report (Article 1, Paragraph 1 of Article 6-5 of the Act), and the confirmation date is also considered to be granted by that submission (Article 3 of the same provision). One contract document completes three tasks.
2. RTMS — If you do not use the residence registration route, you report separately through the Real Estate Transaction Management System of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
3. Visit the local town, village, or neighborhood resident center — If you report only the lease separately.

Fines for non-reporting or delayed reporting depend on the contract amount range and the delay period, ranging from 20,000 to 300,000 won, and false reporting can result in up to 1,000,000 won. The legal limit of "up to 1,000,000 won" (Article 3, Paragraph 5 of Article 28 of the same Act) is an upper limit, and the actual amount is determined by the special table in the Enforcement Regulation of the same Act. The guidance period that started in June 2021 ends on May 31, 2025, and actual penalties will be applied to contracts signed after June 1, 2025.

Staying in a dormitory does not exempt you from the obligation to report your residence change.

According to Article 6, Paragraph 1 of the Resident Registration Act, anyone who has an address or residence in the jurisdictional area with the purpose of residing for 30 days or more is subject to registration. A company dormitory is also considered a residence. If you are planning to work for three months and move into a dormitory, you are subject to the obligation.

The person responsible for the report is slightly different. According to Article 12 of the Resident Registration Act, for residents living in dormitories or other accommodations where multiple people reside together, the manager of the accommodation must report within 14 days from the date the reporting reason occurs. However, if the manager is unable to report, the individual must do it themselves.

This is where the problem arises. If you assume the company will handle it and wait, but 14 days pass, that is an issue. Just check with the general affairs or human resources officer during the first week of employment.

> "Is the dormitory residence registration handled by the company in bulk, or do I have to do it myself?"

If the company does not handle it, you must process it at the resident center within 14 days.

In most cases, moving into a dormitory is not considered a housing lease agreement, so the confirmation date (확정일자) does not apply. However, if you have a separate lease agreement and paid a deposit, you can obtain the confirmation date using that lease agreement.

Whether the company you are joining operates a dormitory and whether you can take a shuttle bus to work can be checked in advance in the on-site information section of the BIZ360 Small and Medium Enterprise details. Once you know where you will be living, you can also set your residence change schedule.

Finishing the move-in report does not change your address everywhere. Separate what follows automatically from what you must do yourself.

Car — usually nothing extra to do

If the owner whose resident registration address is the vehicle's base location files a move-in report under the Resident Registration Act, it is considered an application for change registration (Motor Vehicle Registration Decree, Article 22 (2) 5). If the car is in your own name and its registered base location is your home address, the move-in report alone finishes it.

In other cases (the car is in a company's name, or the base location differs from your resident registration), apply for change registration within 30 days from the day the reason arose (Motor Vehicle Management Act, Article 11 (1); Motor Vehicle Registration Decree, Article 22 (1)).

Mail — it follows only if you apply

Mail sent to the old address does not automatically go to the new one. Apply for the post office's mail forwarding service for change of residence (주거이전 우편물 전송서비스), and mail sent to your previous address will be forwarded to your new home.

The fee depends on the zone, and zones are set at the city/province (시·도) level (per one person).

Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam are different zones from one another. Moving from Busan to Ulsan, or coming down from the capital area to Gimhae, costs 7,000 won from the first 3 months. Apply at the Internet Post Office, Gov24 (정부24), or a post office counter, or together with your move-in report at the community service center.

If you are a foreign national — 15 days, not 14

A person who has completed foreigner registration files a stay-address change report (체류지 변경신고), not resident registration. The deadline is within 15 days from moving in (Immigration Act, Article 36 (1)). Report to the si/gun/gu or eup/myeon/dong office of the new address, or to the immigration office with jurisdiction over it; online reporting is also possible at HiKorea (하이코리아).

Failing to report makes you subject to a criminal fine of up to 1 million won (100만원) (same Act, Article 98, Item 2). It is a criminal fine (벌금), not an administrative fine.

The rest

Addresses at private institutions — banks, telecom companies, insurers — do not change with the move-in report. Change each one separately.