Travel Business Registration with a Foreign Representative — Documents Proving No Grounds for Disqualification and Apostille Preparation

Procedure

1. 1. Check the business type and registration standards

   General travel business requires capital (for an individual, the appraised value of assets) of at least 50,000,000 won, and domestic and overseas travel business at least 30,000,000 won. There must be ownership of the office or a right to use it. Also check whether the representative holds a status of stay that allows him or her to run a business in Korea.

2. 2. Prepare the documents proving no grounds for disqualification

   Prepare a document issued by the government of the country concerned or another competent authority, or a personal statement notarized by a notary public. If the country is a party to the Apostille Convention, obtain that country's apostille. If it is not, obtain consular legalization by a consul at the diplomatic mission of the Republic of Korea in that country. For travel business, the proof must cover the grounds for disqualification specific to travel business in addition to the general grounds for disqualification.

3. 3. Apply for registration with the competent city, county or district (si/gun/gu) office

   Attach the business plan, the documents proving no grounds for disqualification and proof of capital payment (for an individual, a statement of business assets with supporting evidence) to the application for registration of tourism business, and submit it to the city, county or district (si/gun/gu) office for the location of the office. A foreign-invested enterprise also submits documents proving the foreign investment.

4. 4. Take out guarantee insurance and submit proof

   After receiving the registration certificate and before starting business, take out guarantee insurance or join a mutual aid scheme, or place a business security deposit, and submit proof of this to the city, county or district (si/gun/gu) office. Business registration is also carried out around this time.

Required documents

• Application for registration of tourism business, business plan
• Copy of passport, certificate of foreigner registration (Certificate of Alien Registration)
• Documents proving no grounds for disqualification (document issued by a home-country authority or a notarized statement, with apostille or consular legalization)
• Proof of capital payment, or statement of business assets with supporting evidence
• Documents proving the right to use the office, such as the office lease contract
• Documents proving foreign investment (foreign-invested enterprises only)
• Guarantee insurance policy or proof of the business security deposit (after registration)

Fees

Agency fees for travel business registration with a foreign representative generally run in the industry from several hundred thousand won to the 1,000,000 won range, and vary with the scope of preparing home-country documents and whether a corporation is established at the same time. Costs for issuing and authenticating overseas documents are charged separately. We will advise after a consultation, based on the representative's nationality and the form of business.

See fees and official charges for this service →

Legal basis and review date

• Tourism Promotion Act, Article 4
• Tourism Promotion Act, Article 7
• Tourism Promotion Act, Article 9
• Enforcement Decree of the Tourism Promotion Act, attached Table 1
• Enforcement Rule of the Tourism Promotion Act, Article 2
• Enforcement Rule of the Tourism Promotion Act, Article 18

Checked against the statutes on 2026-10-03

Statutes and public notices change, so each case needs to be checked individually. Statute titles are given in English for reference. The Korean statutes are the authoritative text.

Check these first

• The registration standards (capital and office) must be maintained for as long as the business operates. Withdrawing the capital after registration can be a ground for an administrative disposition.

Frequently asked questions