South Korea vs Spain Digital Nomad Visa Compared

Minimum income

105,000,000 KRW / year

Per the 2026-07-07 Ministry of Justice announcement (visa relaunched as permanent 2026-06-30, replacing the pilot's flat 2x-GNI rule with this tiered formula). The rule is denominated in WON, not dollars: it keys off the Bank of Korea's published prior-year per-capita GNI (KRW 52.41 million for 2025), so 2x = ~KRW 105 million and the relaxed tier = ~KRW 52.4 million. This resolves the USD 65,800-vs-73,926 split tracked here since 2026-07-29: both were conversions of the SAME KRW 105 million rule at different exchange rates (~1,596 and ~1,420 KRW/USD respectively), not competing thresholds - which is why neither could ever be sourced to a distinct official figure. Publishing the won amount removes that FX artifact; any dollar equivalent drifts with the rate (the site's own FX table, used only by the eligibility shortlister, was itself found stale during this same pass and refreshed - see lib/matcher.ts). RE-CHECKED 2026-08-03/05: Korea Herald's post-launch visa Q&A independently corroborates a third tier - ages 18-34 intending to live in Greater Seoul need 1.5x GNI (~KRW 78.6 million) - and notes holders who relocate into Greater Seoul after approval must meet the higher threshold at renewal or move back out within 6 months. Not marked 'official' - hikorea.go.kr, immigration.go.kr and mofa.go.kr all still 403 on direct fetch, so no primary Korean-government page has been read. The full official multiplier table for other intermediate age/region combinations remains unpublished anywhere found - treat the three tiers above as the load-bearing ones, not a complete table.

source · verified 2026-08-06

2,849 EUR / month

RULE is official (200% of monthly SMI, per consulate). Euro figure is DERIVED from the 2026 SMI: Real Decreto 126/2026 fixed it at EUR 1,221/month (14 payments) / EUR 17,094/year. The commonly-cited ~2,442 figure is 2x the nominal monthly SMI; the fiche's EUR 2,849 is 200% of the SMI annualized then reprorated over 12 months (EUR 17,094 / 12 x 2) - the basis Extranjeria/UGE is reported to actually apply. Family uplift (official): +75% SMI first member, +25% each additional. RE-VERIFIED 2026-07-25: this arithmetic (200% x EUR 1,424.50 reprorated monthly = EUR 2,849) independently checks out against the official SMI decree, strengthening confidence without changing the figure.

source · verified 2026-07-25

Visa duration

12 months, renewable

1-year initial grant, renewable annually, extended from a 2-year to a 3-year total cap per a 2026-07-07 Ministry of Justice announcement - corroborated across 5+ independent secondary sources (incl. a EY Global tax alert and an immigration law firm), not yet read on an official Korean government page directly (hikorea.go.kr/immigration.go.kr/mofa.go.kr all 403 on direct fetch).

source · verified 2026-07-25

12 months, renewable

Consular visa/permit valid up to 1 year. In-country UGE route reportedly grants up to 3 years, renewable for 2 more years (5-year max) - re-checked 2026-07-17, now well-corroborated across independent legal sources, still not read on an official page directly. RENEWAL, re-checked 2026-07-18: the Supreme Court (STS 2130/2026, 2026-05-05) voided the rule letting a residence card lapse solely for 6+ months of annual absence - that ruling is about the EU-family-member card, but is reported by several 2026 sources to reinforce the same protection for DNV renewals by analogy (not an official DNV-specific ruling). Separately, a TSJ Madrid ruling (Sentencia 26/2026, Rec. 305/2025) upheld terminating a remote-worker permit for not registering with Spanish Social Security from day one - the UGE's reorganized Digital Nomad Office is reported to be enforcing requirements like this more strictly in 2026 (also flagging fraudulent documents and reused agent paperwork), so renewal risk has shifted, not disappeared. RE-VERIFIED 2026-07-24: exact citation resolved to Judgment 564/2026, ECLI:ES:TS:2026:2130 (5 May 2026). New: the Interior Ministry has reportedly issued an interim circular telling Extranjeria/police to suspend open absence-based extinction procedures pending a formal Royal Decree rewrite - a concrete favorable step, still on secondary legal-news sourcing rather than a fetchable official circular. RE-CHECKED 2026-07-30: the awaited Royal Decree rewrite is still unpublished - a candidate BOE item from this window, Real Decreto 316/2026 (14 April 2026, BOE-A-2026-8284), was checked and ruled out as it only reforms arraigo/regularizacion-extraordinaria provisions (RD 1155/2024), not the absence-based extinction rule. Separately, secondary sources now report the UGE-CE is tightening application-stage scrutiny too, not just renewals: applicants are reportedly being asked for 3 months of payslips/invoices plus bank-ownership certificates to counter ad-hoc-contract fraud, alongside stricter health-insurance and Social Security document review - consistent with the broader 2026 enforcement tightening already flagged, not a new legal requirement. CORRECTION, RE-VERIFIED 2026-08-05: the 'applied by analogy' framing above is imprecise - STS 731/2023 (2023, predating this tracking window) is the ruling that actually voided the GENERAL temporary-residence absence-extinction rule the DNV falls under, already reflected in RD 1155/2024 (no automatic extinction for absences); STS 2130/2026 is a separate ruling limited to the EU-family-member card track. The favorable renewal picture for DNV holders is better sourced to STS 731/2023 / RD 1155/2024 directly than stretched from STS 2130/2026. RE-VERIFIED 2026-08-06: this distinction independently re-confirmed; still no Royal Decree rewrite published (most recent related BOE item, BOE-A-2026-16070 of 22 July 2026, is a purely administrative order, not a substantive change).

source · verified 2026-08-06

Tax regime

Remote income earned for a non-Korean employer or client - the only kind the F-1-D visa permits - is not taxed by Korea for the common case (physical presence under 183 days/year). Employees who do qualify as tax resident can elect an optional 19% flat tax rate instead of Korea's progressive brackets; freelancers and sole proprietors are not eligible for that flat rate.

Multiple independent tax-focused outlets (Greenback Tax Services, Bright!Tax, krinsider, Nomad Tax Guide) converge on Korea not taxing foreign-sourced remote income while the visa's own ban on Korean employers holds. Several of the same sources flag that guidance on the >183-day resident-status threshold is still evolving/unsettled - noted here rather than presented as resolved. Not marked 'official': hikorea.go.kr/immigration.go.kr/mofa.go.kr still unreachable on direct fetch, so this is search-result-synthesized secondary reporting, not a primary Korean-government page read.

source · verified 2026-08-16

Optional special expat regime (Beckham Law): 24% flat on Spanish-source income up to EUR 600k (47% above that threshold from the same payer); foreign-source income generally untaxed under the regime.

Beckham eligibility differs for employees vs self-employed. Re-checked 2026-07-17: the 24% rate (47% above EUR 600k from the same payer) is now independently corroborated by search-indexed content across several distinct pages on AEAT's own domain (sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es), including the exact URL above - not just the single secondary blog originally cited. sourceUrl updated to AEAT directly; confidence stays "reported" rather than "official" because the page still 403s on a literal direct fetch (proxy policy denial affecting all .gob.es domains this pass), so this rests on a search-engine read of AEAT's indexed content, not a page fetch.

source · verified 2026-07-17

Family (spouse / children)

Spouse + children admitted

Independent secondary coverage (Y-Axis, Bright!Tax, VisasUpdate, SharedHomies, Trenity Consultants) consistently reports that a spouse and minor children may accompany the primary F-1-D applicant as dependents, that only the primary applicant must meet the income threshold (dependents are not separately income-tested), that dependents cannot work in Korea, and that each dependent needs their own private health insurance. No source reports a distinct per-dependent income uplift for this program, so upliftPerDependent is left unset rather than guessed. Not marked 'official' - hikorea.go.kr/immigration.go.kr/mofa.go.kr still unreachable on direct fetch.

source · verified 2026-08-16

Spouse + children admitted (+75% SMI first member, +25% each additional)

source · verified 2026-07-17

Application fees

90 USD

USD 90 for the initial 1-year multiple-entry visa application, plus 60,000 KRW (~USD 41) per annual extension up to the 3-year total cap. Three independent secondary sources converge on this figure (Korea Herald's post-launch visa Q&A, an EY Global tax alert, an Envoy Global news alert), replacing the previously-scattered range (~USD 45-100 depending on nationality/fee type) - a materially more specific and better-corroborated figure than before. Not marked 'official' - hikorea.go.kr/immigration.go.kr/mofa.go.kr still 403 on direct fetch, so no primary Korean-government page has been read; by-nationality fee variance may still apply and is not ruled out. RE-CHECKED 2026-08-19: no comprehensive by-nationality fee table found this pass either - the general pattern (USD 90 default; USD 45 flat reciprocity fee applying to ALL Korean visa categories for US nationals, not F-1-D-specific; CAD 121.50 via the Canada consulate's F-1-D page) is reconfirmed, not contradicted. No material change.

source · verified 2026-08-06

TBD

Health insurance

Required - Private health insurance covering medical treatment AND repatriation, minimum KRW 100,000,000 (~USD 75,000-76,000) coverage, for the full duration of stay.

Graduates out of TBD this pass: the KRW 100,000,000 figure, previously only a search-snippet-level lead, is now traceable to a consulate-level MOFA page (Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle, F-1-D program page) plus 5+ independent secondary guides (Seoulstart, HaniSeoul, krinsider, koreaplus-lifes, americanvisitorinsurance.com) converging on the same figure for medical treatment AND repatriation - several sources warn 'repatriation' must be explicitly named on the policy or the application is rejected. Not marked 'official' - hikorea.go.kr/immigration.go.kr/mofa.go.kr root pages remain 403 on direct fetch, so this rests on a consulate sub-page plus secondary corroboration, not a primary ministry page read.

source · verified 2026-08-19

Required - Full-coverage public or private health insurance from an entity authorized to operate in Spain.

Re-checked 2026-07-17: multiple 2026 sources report the UGE-CE has tightened enforcement this year, rejecting policies with high copays, coverage gaps, exclusions, or waiting periods - full, unrestricted coverage matters more than it used to.

source · verified 2026-07-17

Processing time

TBD

10 days from the day after submission (may extend)

This 10-day figure is for the consular visa route specifically. The separate in-country UGE residence-authorization route is reported to run on its own clock: up to 20 business days for a decision, plus up to 10 business days to correct an incomplete application if requested.

source · verified 2026-07-17

🇰🇷 South Korea vs 🇪🇸 Spain: Digital Nomad Visa Compared

Related comparisons