First Encounter Voucher (첫만남이용권) in Korea for Foreign Residents

The First Encounter Voucher (첫만남이용권) puts ₩2,000,000 in a spending account for your first child, or ₩3,000,000 for your second child and beyond, loaded onto the National Happiness Card at birth. For foreign residents, the key question is whether your household visa type qualifies. This guide answers that directly, then walks through how to claim it.

All figures in this guide are as of May 2026. Verify current amounts and deadlines at voucher.go.kr or bokjiro.go.kr before applying.

---

What the First Encounter Voucher is

The First Encounter Voucher is a one-time spending voucher issued by the Ministry of Health and Welfare through the National Social Service Voucher Program. The amounts are:

• First child: ₩2,000,000
• Second child and beyond: ₩3,000,000

The voucher loads onto the National Happiness Card (국민행복카드), a government-issued payment card that also carries other benefits like the pregnancy medical voucher and childcare subsidies.

The voucher was introduced in 2022 and expanded in 2024. Only children born on or after 1 January 2024 qualify for the current amounts. Children born before that date are not eligible.

---

Who qualifies: the two household types

Foreign residents fall into one of two categories. Your eligibility depends on which one applies to you.

Household type 1: one Korean parent

If one parent is a Korean national, the Korean parent claims the voucher. The foreign parent's visa does not matter. The voucher is available to the Korean parent on the same terms as any other Korean family.

This covers:

• Korean father or mother married to a foreign national on any visa (F-6, E-7, E-2, D-10, or any other)
• Korean parent in an unmarried household raising a child with a foreign co-parent

Household type 2: two foreign-national parents

If both parents are foreign nationals, at least one parent must hold one of these three visas:

If neither parent holds F-2, F-5, or F-6, the household does not qualify.

E-series and D-series two-foreign-parent households do not qualify. This includes households where both parents hold E-7, E-2, E-9, D-2, D-8, or any other non-F visa. The visa condition mirrors the eligibility rules for several other Korean family welfare programs.

---

How the First Encounter Voucher relates to other child benefits

Three birth-related benefits often get confused. They are separate programs with separate applications.

First Encounter Voucher (첫만남이용권)

One-time spending voucher. ₩2M or ₩3M. Loaded at birth. This guide.

Parental Allowance (부모급여)

Monthly cash payment for children under 2. The amounts as of 2026 are ₩1,000,000 per month for children under 12 months and ₩500,000 per month for children aged 12-23 months (as of 2026 -- verify at bokjiro.go.kr). Eligibility rules for foreign residents are similar to those for the First Encounter Voucher. A qualifying household can receive both the voucher and the Parental Allowance.

Child Allowance (아동수당)

Monthly payment of ₩100,000 for children under 8. Restricted to children with Korean nationality (주민등록번호). Children of two foreign-national parents who hold only foreign citizenship do not qualify for the Child Allowance, even if their parents qualify for the First Encounter Voucher.

The Happy Birth One-Stop Service (행복출산 원스톱 서비스) can submit applications for multiple benefits at once. Ask the community service center staff to include everything you are eligible for.

---

How to apply

Option 1: Happy Birth One-Stop Service (recommended)

The fastest route is to bundle the voucher application with birth registration. When you register the birth at your local community service center (주민센터), tell the staff you want to use the Happy Birth One-Stop Service (행복출산 원스톱 서비스). This single submission can process:

• Birth registration
• First Encounter Voucher application
• Parental Allowance application
• Pregnancy medical voucher registration (if not yet received)

This approach saves multiple visits.

Option 2: Online at bokjiro.go.kr

Go to bokjiro.go.kr and search for "첫만남이용권." You need a Korean digital identity verification method (government-issued login or a compatible phone number linked to your Alien Registration Card). If you have difficulty accessing the online portal, apply in person instead.

What you need to bring (in-person application)

Bring the following documents to your community service center:

• Your Alien Registration Card (외국인등록증)
• Your child's birth certificate (or health insurance documents showing the birth)
• Your spouse's ID documents if applying as a mixed-nationality household
• Bank account details for the National Happiness Card application, if you do not already have one

Getting a National Happiness Card (국민행복카드)

The voucher cannot load until you have a National Happiness Card. If you do not already have one, you must apply for one through a partner bank. Partner banks include:

• KB Kookmin Bank (국민은행)
• Shinhan Bank (신한은행)
• Woori Bank (우리은행)
• NH Nonghyup Bank (농협은행)

The bank will issue the card, and the government system will load the voucher balance onto it. The card functions as a standard payment card at eligible merchants.

If you already have a National Happiness Card from a previous benefit (for example, from the pregnancy medical voucher), the First Encounter Voucher will load onto the same card.

---

Spending the voucher

Where you can spend it

The voucher is accepted at merchants that participate in the National Happiness Card system. Most major categories are covered:

• Grocery stores and supermarkets
• Baby goods and children's clothing stores
• Pharmacies
• Hospitals and clinics (for non-covered medical costs)
• Online shopping platforms that accept the card
• General service businesses

Where you cannot spend it

Excluded merchant categories include gambling establishments and certain entertainment venues. When in doubt, check whether a specific merchant accepts the card before you plan to spend there. The voucher portal at voucher.go.kr has a merchant lookup tool.

Spending deadline

The voucher expires when the child reaches a specific age set by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The exact deadline is confirmed at the time of issuance. Do not assume the balance rolls over indefinitely. Check your remaining balance regularly through your issuing bank's mobile app or at voucher.go.kr.

Spend the balance before the deadline. Once it expires, the amount cannot be recovered.

---

After you apply: what happens next

1. Your application is processed by the community service center or online system. Processing typically takes a few business days.
2. You receive confirmation that the voucher has been approved.
3. The balance loads onto your National Happiness Card.
4. You can begin spending at eligible merchants immediately.

If the voucher does not appear on your card within a week of approval confirmation, contact your issuing bank or call the welfare helpline at 129 (Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korean). For English-language assistance, contact Danuri at 1577-1366.

---

Common questions about foreign resident eligibility

Both my spouse and I are on E-7 visas. Can we apply?

No. A two-foreign-parent household where both parents hold E-series visas does not qualify. The voucher requires at least one parent to hold F-2, F-5, or F-6.

I hold an F-6 visa and my spouse holds an E-9 visa. Do we qualify?

Yes. You hold F-6, which is one of the qualifying visas. Your household qualifies, and you apply as the qualifying parent.

My spouse is Korean and I am on an E-2 visa. Do we qualify?

Yes. One parent is Korean. The Korean parent claims the voucher. Your visa does not affect eligibility.

We are both F-2 holders. Do we qualify?

Yes. F-2 is one of the three qualifying visa types for two-foreign-parent households.

My child has both Korean and foreign nationality. Does that affect anything?

Dual nationality through a Korean parent generally means the Korean parent claims the voucher in the standard way. Discuss your specific documentation situation with the community service center staff if anything is unclear.

---

What to do if your household does not qualify

If your household does not meet the visa criteria for the First Encounter Voucher, check whether you qualify for other benefits that have different eligibility rules.

The pregnancy medical voucher (임신출산 진료비 지원) is available to NHIS-enrolled pregnant persons with an Alien Registration Card, regardless of visa type. It covers pregnancy-related medical costs and loads onto the National Happiness Card. If you received this during pregnancy, that card is ready to receive other vouchers once you meet the qualifying criteria.

The Parental Allowance (부모급여) follows eligibility rules similar to the First Encounter Voucher. If you do not qualify for the voucher, you likely do not qualify for the Parental Allowance either under the two-foreign-parent path, but check at bokjiro.go.kr with your specific visa combination in case rules have changed.

Some local governments run their own birth-related support programs with different eligibility criteria. Ask your community service center what programs your district (구) or city offers beyond the national programs.

---

Summary: eligibility at a glance

---

What's changed

• 2026-05-28: Guide first published covering eligibility for foreign residents, the F-2/F-5/F-6 carve-out for two-foreign-parent households, how to claim via the Happy Birth One-Stop Service, National Happiness Card issuance, and spending rules.

@misc{seoulstart-korea-first-encounter-voucher-guide,
  author = {{Seoulstart Editorial Team}},
  title = {{First Encounter Voucher (첫만남이용권) in Korea for Foreign Residents (2026)}},
  year = {2026},
  publisher = {Seoulstart},
  url = {https://seoulstart.com/guides/korea-first-encounter-voucher-guide},
  note = {Last updated May 28, 2026}
}