National Pension refund when you leave Korea: the form, the timeline, and the withholding

You paid into National Pension every month. The school matched it. Now you're leaving Korea and you want that money back.

You can get it (most of it), but the process has two sharp edges nobody mentions until it's too late.

Who gets the refund

Whether you can claim a lump-sum refund depends on your nationality. Citizens of the US, Canada and Australia, for example, qualify; some other nationalities do not. Check your passport's status with NPS (1355) before you plan around the money.

You apply at any NPS branch office, not at the airport. If you are leaving within a month, bring proof of your departure date and you can choose to collect the money at the NPS counter at Incheon Airport on your way out. The airport counter only pays out claims that a branch has already accepted; it does not take new applications. You can also apply from abroad after you leave, and the money goes to your overseas account.

How much goes in each month

Since January 2026 the National Pension contribution has been 9.5% of your monthly salary, up from 9%. You pay half of it (4.75%) through payroll, and the school pays the other half. Under the 2025 pension reform the rate rises by 0.5 percentage points every January until it reaches 13% in 2033, so each year you stay, a little more goes in, and a little more comes back when you leave.

The two costs

The withholding tax. Korea withholds part of the refund at source, no exceptions. The payment notice will show you the exact percentage withheld along with the gross and net amounts, so check it there rather than guessing here. That withholding is automatic. You see it as a line item on the payment notice, and it's gone.

Whether any of the withholding can be recovered depends on your home country's tax rules, so ask a tax adviser at home before assuming it can.

The wait. Processing times vary, and a document query can add time; ask NPS for the current estimate when you file. You will not see the money the week you land home.

How to apply

You need three things:

1. Claim form. Download the Lump-Sum Refund Request from the National Pension Service website or get it from any NPS office before you leave. Fill it out while you still have your ARC number in front of you.
2. Proof you left Korea. A copy of the passport page with your departure stamp, or your alien registration card if it was formally cancelled when you left. Some NPS branches accept a one-way ticket receipt; most want the stamp.
3. Bank details. You can request payment to a Korean bank account (which you will probably close) or directly to an overseas account. Overseas transfer is cleaner, but the receiving bank may clip you for a wire fee. The form has a section for SWIFT and IBAN.

Send the packet by registered post to the National Pension Service head office in Jeonju, or submit it at any district NPS office if you are still in Korea tying up other paperwork.

What actually happens

The NPS reviews the claim, verifies your departure, calculates the sum (your contributions plus the employer match, minus the withholding tax), and issues a payment notice to the address you listed. That notice shows the gross amount, the withholding, and the net you will receive.

Then the wait starts. Keep your mailing address and email up to date with NPS so the notice and payment reach you.

The thing that goes wrong

Teachers close their Korean bank account before they apply, then list it on the form anyway because they have no other Korean account. The payment hits a closed account, bounces, and the NPS sends a letter to an address the teacher no longer checks. Months pass. If you are closing your Korean account, use an overseas one for the refund and accept the wire fee.

The other mistake is waiting too long to file. The right to the refund expires five years after you leave Korea. If you have not claimed it by then, it is gone.

If you come back to Korea later

Taking the refund closes that stretch of your pension record, and a new E-2 contract starts a new one. NPS also has a way back: once you are paying into National Pension again, you can repay the refund you took, plus interest, and the months it covered are added back to your record. Whether that is worth it depends on how long you plan to stay, so ask NPS (1355) for your figures before you decide.