Alien Registration Korea: It's a Criminal Charge, Not Just a Fine — Up to 1 Year Jail or 10 Million Won

Article 31 of Korea's Immigration Act requires any foreigner staying more than 90 days after entry to register as a foreigner with the immigration office covering their place of residence. Failing to do so is punishable under the Immigration Act's penal provisions by up to 1 year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won, and can also lead to deportation. In practice, immigration offices are known to use a penalty notice under Article 103 instead of referring every case to court, but this investigation could not directly access the Enforcement Rule's Attached Table setting out the step-by-step amounts for that notice — the rule only confirms that office heads may reduce or increase the base amount by up to half, meaning the real figure varies case by case. I am not stating an unverified amount as fact. By contrast, failing to report a change of address within 15 days under Article 36(1) draws a fine capped at 1 million won under Article 100 — also not broken into fixed steps by law, with the actual figure set case by case by the regional immigration office. A lot of guidance online blurs registration and address-change violations together as "just a fine," but skipping registration itself is a criminal matter, not an administrative one. I checked Articles 31, 36 and 100 of the Immigration Act on the National Law Information Center (law.go.kr) and the Easy-to-Find Everyday Legal Information site (easylaw.go.kr, under "International Students > Alien Registration") directly on 2026-11-05. However, the Enforcement Rule's Attached Table on penalty-notice amounts would not open, so I could not verify the specific figures in it.