Settling your deposit and money owed to you before leaving Korea

Once your departure date is set, check the following one by one.

• Whether you have received your lease deposit back, and if not, whether you have applied for an order for registration of lease rights
• Whether you have unpaid wages or severance pay, and whether you have filed a petition with the Labor Office
• If you work under the Employment Permit System, your Departure Guarantee Insurance application and the account to receive it
• Evidence of other money owed to you, such as money you lent to others or money lost to fraud
• When to close your Korean phone number and bank account

If you move your registered residence or leave Korea without receiving your deposit, you may lose protection for that home. If your lease has ended and you have not received your deposit, apply for an order for registration of lease rights before leaving and confirm that the registration has been made (Housing Lease Protection Act Article 3-3). After that, your priority over the deposit is maintained even if you leave Korea.

If you have agreed on a return date with the landlord, keep it in a text message or in writing, and decide which account the deposit will be paid into.

When you leave a job, the company must pay your wages and severance pay within 14 days. If you file a petition with the Labor Office before leaving Korea and have the unpaid wages confirmed, you can use this for a lawsuit or a substitute payment application even after you leave. In principle, Departure Guarantee Insurance is paid within 14 days after departure and must be claimed within 3 years.

If you appoint a lawyer as your litigation representative, the lawsuit and enforcement can continue after you leave. Prepare a power of attorney, copies of your identity documents, your overseas contact details and the account to receive money before you leave. The verification procedures (such as notarization) needed when sending documents from abroad differ by country.

A plaintiff with no address in Korea may be ordered, at the other party's request, to provide security for litigation costs (Civil Procedure Act Article 117). We take this into account when planning the litigation strategy.

Apart from a lawyer's advice, you can get general information from public help lines. You can contact the Ministry of Justice Immigration Contact Center (외국인종합안내센터, dial 1345 in Korea with no area code) for stay and visa procedures, the Ministry of Employment and Labor Customer Counseling Center (dial 1350 with no area code) for labor issues such as unpaid wages, and the Korea Legal Aid Corporation (132) for everyday legal advice.

If you have already received a decision or are in a dispute with a deadline, such as a lawsuit or objection, general information alone may not be enough. First check the deadline stated in your documents, and also get advice from a lawyer.

Jisan Law organizes what must be done before you leave, such as lease registration, petitions to the Labor Office and provisional attachments, according to your departure date, and continues the lawsuit and enforcement as your representative after you leave. Consultations are available in English.