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LIFE IN KOREAPosted by Fair-Compote-6650 🇬🇪 Georgia · 1 month ago
Can you use a goshiwon address for a bank account?
opening a korean bank account in my first weeks and the only address i'll have is the goshiwon.
does that work or do banks want something more permanent
does that work or do banks want something more permanent
7 comments
OFFICIAL ANSWER
TaehyunALLO TEAM
Operations & Local Support · Seoul
Yes. A goshiwon address works for a bank account and it is what a large share of newly arrived students use.
What banks actually want: an address they can send correspondence to and that matches your other documents. A goshiwon address with the room number does that.
What to bring when you open the account:
- Passport
- ARC if you have it. If you do not yet, most banks will open a restricted account with your passport, a Korean phone number and your certificate of enrolment.
- Korean phone number registered in your own name. This is non-negotiable and it is the thing people are missing.
- Certificate of enrolment from your school
- Your address written out exactly, including the room number
The realistic expectation: with a passport but no ARC you get an account with limits — often no international transfers and a daily transfer cap. Once your ARC arrives you go back and upgrade it, and the limits lift. That is normal and not a rejection.
Practical points specific to a goshiwon address:
- Include the room number. A bank card posted to a 40-room building with no room number can go astray.
- When you move out to a one-room, update the address at the bank as well as at the community centre. People update immigration and forget the bank, and then a reissued card goes to the old building.
- Some students have the card sent to a branch for pickup instead of by post. Ask — it removes the problem entirely.
Which banks are easiest: KEB Hana, Woori and Shinhan all have branches used to foreign students, and the ones near large universities deal with this every March and September. Go on a weekday morning, not Friday afternoon.
What banks actually want: an address they can send correspondence to and that matches your other documents. A goshiwon address with the room number does that.
What to bring when you open the account:
- Passport
- ARC if you have it. If you do not yet, most banks will open a restricted account with your passport, a Korean phone number and your certificate of enrolment.
- Korean phone number registered in your own name. This is non-negotiable and it is the thing people are missing.
- Certificate of enrolment from your school
- Your address written out exactly, including the room number
The realistic expectation: with a passport but no ARC you get an account with limits — often no international transfers and a daily transfer cap. Once your ARC arrives you go back and upgrade it, and the limits lift. That is normal and not a rejection.
Practical points specific to a goshiwon address:
- Include the room number. A bank card posted to a 40-room building with no room number can go astray.
- When you move out to a one-room, update the address at the bank as well as at the community centre. People update immigration and forget the bank, and then a reissued card goes to the old building.
- Some students have the card sent to a branch for pickup instead of by post. Ask — it removes the problem entirely.
Which banks are easiest: KEB Hana, Woori and Shinhan all have branches used to foreign students, and the ones near large universities deal with this every March and September. Go on a weekday morning, not Friday afternoon.
Was this helpful?Updated 1 month ago
7 comments
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You can still post anonymously after signing in.opened mine with a goshiwon address, no problem at all. the phone number in my own name was the thing they actually cared about
16
good, that's the answer i needed
7
phone first, then address, then bank. that's the order everything unlocks in
6
ask them to hold the card at the branch instead of posting it. mine went to the building and sat in a pile for a week
13
or at minimum make sure the room number is on it
5
you'll get a limited account without an ARC. that's normal, not a rejection. go back and upgrade when the card arrives
11
update the bank when you move out too. people update immigration and forget the bank, then a new card goes to their old goshiwon
9
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