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LIFE IN KOREAPosted by Marta 🇵🇱 Poland · 2 weeks ago
First week checklist — what order do you do everything in?
ARC, bank, phone, transport card, school registration. everything seems to need one of the others first, it's circular.
what's the right order so you don't waste days going back and forth
what's the right order so you don't waste days going back and forth
10 comments
OFFICIAL ANSWER
TaehyunALLO TEAM
Operations & Local Support · Seoul
It is circular, but there is one order that unlocks it. The key is that the phone number comes first and the ARC comes last.
The order:
Day 1 — Arrive. Buy a T-money card at any convenience store and top it up (10,000 won is plenty to start). Get a prepaid SIM registered in your own name, exactly as on your passport. If you land late, the airport counter is worth the small premium. Sleep.
Day 2 — Settle into your accommodation. If you are still looking, view rooms today. Get a residence certificate or contract from wherever you are staying, including a goshiwon — you need proof of address for everything that follows.
Day 3 — Open a bank account. Bring passport, phone number, proof of address, and your certificate of enrolment if you have it. Go on a weekday morning, to a branch used to foreigners. Expect it to take a while, and expect that the debit card arrives by post in about a week. Some accounts are restricted until you have an ARC — that is normal, not a rejection.
Day 3 or 4 — Apply for the ARC appointment on HiKorea. You can only do this once you have an address. The appointment itself will be weeks away; book the earliest you can find and move on. You have 90 days, so there is no emergency.
Day 4 or 5 — School registration, placement test, orientation. Bring your passport, photos and any documents the school listed.
Day 5 to 7 — Buy your textbooks (after the placement test, not before), a household starter kit from Daiso, and walk your commute at the actual time you will do it.
Weeks 2 to 6 — Attend the ARC appointment when it comes. Once the card arrives, convert your prepaid SIM to a contract, upgrade your bank account, and register your address if it changed.
The two rules that break the circularity: the phone number is the root dependency, so get it first; and the ARC is the last link, not the first, so do not wait on it for anything else.
Bring passport photos. Six of them. You will use them all.
The order:
Day 1 — Arrive. Buy a T-money card at any convenience store and top it up (10,000 won is plenty to start). Get a prepaid SIM registered in your own name, exactly as on your passport. If you land late, the airport counter is worth the small premium. Sleep.
Day 2 — Settle into your accommodation. If you are still looking, view rooms today. Get a residence certificate or contract from wherever you are staying, including a goshiwon — you need proof of address for everything that follows.
Day 3 — Open a bank account. Bring passport, phone number, proof of address, and your certificate of enrolment if you have it. Go on a weekday morning, to a branch used to foreigners. Expect it to take a while, and expect that the debit card arrives by post in about a week. Some accounts are restricted until you have an ARC — that is normal, not a rejection.
Day 3 or 4 — Apply for the ARC appointment on HiKorea. You can only do this once you have an address. The appointment itself will be weeks away; book the earliest you can find and move on. You have 90 days, so there is no emergency.
Day 4 or 5 — School registration, placement test, orientation. Bring your passport, photos and any documents the school listed.
Day 5 to 7 — Buy your textbooks (after the placement test, not before), a household starter kit from Daiso, and walk your commute at the actual time you will do it.
Weeks 2 to 6 — Attend the ARC appointment when it comes. Once the card arrives, convert your prepaid SIM to a contract, upgrade your bank account, and register your address if it changed.
The two rules that break the circularity: the phone number is the root dependency, so get it first; and the ARC is the last link, not the first, so do not wait on it for anything else.
Bring passport photos. Six of them. You will use them all.
Was this helpful?Updated 2 weeks ago
10 comments
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You can still post anonymously after signing in.phone first. everything else needs it and nothing else needs the ARC as urgently as people think. i wasted three days trying to do it in the wrong order
29
saving this whole comment thread, thank you
9
phone → address → bank → ARC booking. that's the dependency chain and it's the whole answer
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the bank card arriving by post a week later catches everyone. you have an account but no card. budget cash for that week
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and the app is often restricted until you have the ARC. transfer limits, no international transfers
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weekday morning at the bank. friday afternoon is the worst possible time and they may not have an english-speaking staff member available
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do not buy textbooks before the placement test. i've seen three people do it and get placed differently
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and you can't return them. it's a small waste but a completely avoidable one
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walk your commute at the actual time. mine looked 20 minutes on the map and was 32 at 8am with the crowds
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six passport photos. i brought two and ran out in week one
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