If you are an international student in Seoul, you have five main choices: a university dorm (기숙사), a goshiwon (고시원), a one-room (원룸) or officetel (오피스텔) lease, a share house (쉐어하우스), or a homestay. Dorms are limited, so apply early and plan a second option. Whatever you choose, report your address within 15 days of moving in.
This guide is for students on D-2 (degree) and D-4 (language study) visas. For the visa itself, read the D-2 visa guide and the Korean language school guide.
The five options compared
This table compares the options by how they work. For rents, see the live tables further down.
| Option | What it is | How you get it | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| University dorm (기숙사) | A residence run by or for your university | You apply to the university housing office | Places are limited. Rules and dates change |
| Goshiwon (고시원) | A building of very small rooms with shared facilities | You contract with the goshiwon operator | Room size, window and building age |
| One-room (원룸) or officetel (오피스텔) | A small home with its own lease | You sign a lease with a landlord, often through an agent | Deposit (보증금), agent fee, moving costs |
| Share house (쉐어하우스) | A home where each resident rents a room | You contract with the operator or a tenant | Read what the contract says about deposit, rent and exit |
| Homestay or boarding house (하숙집) | A room in a host's home, often with meals | You agree terms with the host | Ask what the price covers and how to end it |
Share houses, boarding houses and homestays are not covered by a room-size rule that we found. Read the contract and ask questions before you pay. For a longer comparison of the legal shape of goshiwon, one-rooms and officetels, read goshiwon vs officetel vs one-room.
Dorms at major universities
Check the dorm first, but do not count on a place: Yonsei, for example, says its Sinchon dorm places are not guaranteed. Each one sets its own rules, and the rules change. The facts below come from each university's own pages. Before you plan around any of them, ask your housing office for current dates, fees and rules.
Yonsei University (연세대학교). Yonsei's Global One-Stop Service Center says SK Global House and International House are for exchange, visiting and international students. The Muak dorms are for enrolled full-degree students only. The Sinchon dorm place is not guaranteed because demand is high, and Yonsei tells students to look at off-campus housing as well. Undergraduate freshmen, international students included, apply to the Songdo dorms for their first year, except students in certain majors.
Korea University (고려대학교). The international dorms serve foreign undergraduates, exchange and visiting students, and foreign graduate students taking enough credits. In the 2026 fall notice, partner-school exchange students had first priority and new foreign undergraduates came second. Rooms are assigned at random, and a negative TB test result is required.
Seoul National University (서울대학교). Undergraduate and graduate students enrolled or about to enroll on the Gwanak campus may apply. A health certificate with a chest X-ray and a measles antibody test is required.
Kyung Hee University (경희대학교). Sewha Hall is a residence hall with many international residents, run by a student house council. Its guide is undated, so confirm the details with the Office of International Affairs.
We did not research the dorms at Hongik, Ewha, Sogang, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Konkuk or Sejong. Ask their housing offices. Whatever your university, ask these four questions:
- Can a first-year or newly admitted international student apply?
- When does the application open, and does it close early?
- What does a semester cost, and is there a refundable deposit?
- What documents and health checks are required?
Rents near each campus
Many students rent a one-room or officetel near campus. The figures below are medians of real lease contracts reported to the government, from Seoulstart's monthly data. They are not asking prices. The latest update covers August 2026. Half of the reported contracts were cheaper and half were more expensive.
First, find the district for your campus.
| Campus area | University | District | Rent page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sinchon (신촌) | Yonsei, Ewha, Sogang | Seodaemun-gu and Mapo-gu | Seodaemun-gu, Mapo-gu |
| Hongdae (홍대) | Hongik | Mapo-gu | Mapo-gu |
| Anam (안암) | Korea University | Seongbuk-gu | Seongbuk-gu |
| Hoegi and Imun (회기, 이문) | Kyung Hee, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies | Dongdaemun-gu | Dongdaemun-gu |
| Gwanak (관악) | Seoul National University | Gwanak-gu | Gwanak-gu |
| Gwangjin (광진) | Konkuk, Sejong | Gwangjin-gu | Gwangjin-gu |
Now compare the median officetel rent in those districts and in Seoul as a whole, sorted from the lowest rent to the highest:
| Area | Monthly rent | Deposit | Contracts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gwanak-gu | ₩600,000 | ₩20m | 266 |
| Seoul | ₩700,000 | ₩10m | 4,373 |
| Mapo-gu | ₩750,000 | ₩10m | 294 |
| Seongbuk-gu | ₩750,000 | ₩10m | 51 |
| Dongdaemun-gu | ₩770,000 | ₩10m | 342 |
| Seodaemun-gu | ₩865,000 | ₩10m | 134 |
| Gwangjin-gu | ₩900,000 | ₩10m | 154 |
Medians of contracts reported in August 2026. Rent figures are for new leases, the price someone moving in signs; where fewer than 10 new leases were reported, all leases are used. Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport real transaction records (국토교통부 실거래가), processed by Seoulstart. Updated monthly.
Many student one-rooms are in villas and small multi-household buildings (빌라, 다세대), not officetels. Here is the same list for villas:
| Area | Monthly rent | Deposit | Contracts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gwanak-gu | ₩500,000 | ₩50m | 245 |
| Seoul | ₩550,000 | ₩40m | 4,458 |
| Gwangjin-gu | ₩575,000 | ₩35m | 218 |
| Dongdaemun-gu | ₩590,000 | ₩10m | 137 |
| Seodaemun-gu | ₩600,000 | ₩10m | 190 |
| Mapo-gu | ₩600,000 | ₩20m | 266 |
| Seongbuk-gu | ₩600,000 | ₩20m | 153 |
Medians of contracts reported in August 2026. Rent figures are for new leases, the price someone moving in signs; where fewer than 10 new leases were reported, all leases are used. Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport real transaction records (국토교통부 실거래가), processed by Seoulstart. Updated monthly.
A district with few reported contracts shows "Too few" instead of a number. Take Gwanak-gu, where Seoul National University is. Median villa rent: ₩500,000. Median deposit: ₩50m. A median says nothing about one building or one room. Use it to set a budget, then check real contracts.
A monthly-rent lease is a deposit plus monthly rent. A bigger deposit can go with a smaller rent. Add the two together when you compare offers. Read rent in Seoul for how the deposit and rent trade off.
To see all districts, open rent in Seoul. To check a specific building, see past rents for a building before you sign.
Goshiwon rules
A goshiwon that meets the national and Seoul standards is legally a multi-living facility (다중생활시설). Room size and windows are set by the city.
Seoul's rule for a new goshiwon room:
- Living room area of at least 7 m² for the exclusive space only, or at least 9 m² if a private toilet is inside the exclusive space.
- A window to the outside with a clear opening at least 0.5 m wide and 1.0 m high that you can escape through.
This rule applies to building permits, notifications and changes of use filed after the amendment took effect. An older goshiwon may have rooms that do not meet it. Look at the room and the window before you pay.
This guide does not say whether the lease protections below cover a goshiwon room. Ask the operator for the contract in writing and read what it says about the deposit and about leaving.
When to start looking
Start with the dorm, because it is the one option with deadlines. Yonsei's fall 2026 international-dorm application opened in early June for an August move-in, and Yonsei's own page says spots are not guaranteed. Apply when your admission letter arrives, and check your university housing office for the current dates.
Look for a lease once you know where your campus is and when you can move. Work out a budget with the live tables above and Seoulstart's move-in cost tool. Your 90-day registration clock starts on the day you enter Korea, so do not hold off on registering while you wait for housing.
Your address and your ARC
Register as a foreigner. A foreigner who will stay more than 90 days must register within 90 days of entry, at the immigration office that covers their address. You file an application form and your passport, plus other documents set by the Ministry of Justice. If you entered on a short-term status and change to a longer one such as D-2 inside Korea, you register when the change is granted. Failing to register is punished by up to one year in prison or a fine of up to ₩10 million.
Report each new address within 15 days. After you register, you must report your new address within 15 days of moving in. You can file at the district or neighborhood office for the new address, or at the immigration office. You hand in your Alien Registration Card (외국인등록증, ARC), and the office writes the new address on it. A mobile ARC can be updated online. Failing to file is punished by a criminal fine (벌금) of up to ₩1 million under Article 98 of the Immigration Act. This is a criminal fine, not an administrative fee.
What counts as proof of your new address. The official form accepts a lease, a purchase contract, a dorm move-in certificate (기숙사 입주확인서), an accommodation-provision certificate (숙소제공확인서) and a goshiwon payment receipt, or another document that shows you live at the address. So a dorm resident can report without a lease. See the ARC registration guide for the step-by-step process.
Why it matters for your lease. For a registered foreigner, the Immigration Act registration and address report stand in for the resident registration and move-in report. That is what gives a foreign tenant lease protection.
Protect your deposit
This section is about a lease for a one-room or officetel. Read it before you pay a deposit. For the full scam checklist, read how to avoid deposit scams, and for the documents to ask for, the lease documents checklist.
- Move in and report your address. Your lease is protected against third parties from the day after you have the keys and have registered your address. For foreign residents, the 15-day address report does this job.
- Get a confirmed date (확정일자) on the lease. With the keys and the address report, it lets you recover your deposit ahead of later creditors if the home is auctioned. It is given at the neighborhood community center (동 주민센터), a district office branch, a court, a registry office or a notary.
- Know the small-deposit priority. Under the current rule (in force since February 21, 2023), a Seoul tenant whose deposit is ₩165 million or less is covered, and up to ₩55 million of the deposit is repaid ahead of other creditors. It is also capped at half of the home's value. You must have met the move-in requirement before the auction filing is recorded.
- Run the check before you pay. Use Seoulstart's deposit safety check before you transfer money, and see past rents for a building before you sign.
Agent fee
Seoul sets a ceiling for agent fees (중개보수) on leases by lease value. These are the bands up to ₩600 million:
| Lease value | Ceiling rate | Fee limit |
|---|---|---|
| Under ₩50 million | 0.5% | ₩200,000 |
| ₩50 million to under ₩100 million | 0.4% | ₩300,000 |
| ₩100 million to under ₩600 million | 0.3% | none |
You and the agent agree the fee within the ceiling. For how the lease value of a monthly-rent lease is worked out, read rent in Seoul, then use the move-in cost tool for your whole budget.
Public housing
In the notices we read, international students are excluded from the youth programs. The 3rd 2025 Seoul Youth Safe Housing (청년안심주택) notice, dated December 30, 2025, says foreigners and overseas Koreans cannot apply. The 2025 FAQ for Seoul youth monthly rent support (청년월세지원) says foreigners cannot apply because the program needs Seoul resident registration. A newer notice may differ, so check the Seoul housing portal before you decide.
Next steps
- Ask your university housing office about dorm dates and fees.
- Open your campus district on Seoulstart Housing and compare it with the tables above.
- Read where to live in Seoul to choose a neighborhood, and the student apps guide and part-time work on a student visa when you plan your budget.