Procedure for Establishing a Home-Visit Care Center (In-Home Welfare Center for Senior Citizens) — Report of Establishment and Designation as a Long-Term Care Institution

Procedure

1. 1. Deciding which services to provide

   First decide which services to combine among home-visit care, home-visit bathing, home-visit nursing, day and night care, short-term care and in-home support services for senior citizens. The facility area and the staff required depend on the combination of services.

2. 2. Checking the office and the building use

   You need an independent office space of at least a certain area, with a counseling space and a document storage space. The building use is reviewed as a neighborhood living facility, business facility, or facility for senior citizens and children. Day and night care and short-term care require a total floor area of 90㎡ or more (if the user capacity is 6 or more, add living room or bedroom space of 6.6㎡ or more per person), and in-home support services for senior citizens require an exclusive area of 33㎡ or more.

3. 3. Securing the facility head and staff

   The head of the facility must be a person who meets the prescribed requirements, such as a social worker qualification. Meet the staffing standards for each service: care workers for home-visit care, and nurses, nursing assistants, dental hygienists and the like for home-visit nursing.

4. 4. Report of establishment

   Prepare the documents on facility standards and staff and the operating rules, and file a report of establishment of an in-home welfare facility for senior citizens with the competent city, county or district (si/gun/gu) office.

5. 5. Application for designation as a long-term care institution

   Once the report of establishment is accepted, apply for designation as a long-term care institution and undergo the designation review. Only after designation can you provide benefit services to long-term care beneficiaries and claim the costs.

Required documents

• Report of establishment of an in-home welfare facility for senior citizens
• Building register, floor plan, and proof of the right to use the office (ownership or lease)
• List of the facility head and employees and copies of their qualification certificates
• Operating rules and business plan
• Application for designation as a long-term care institution and designation review materials
• Staff documents for home-visit nursing, if home-visit nursing is provided

Fees

There is no government fee for the report of establishment or the application for designation themselves. In the industry, fees for preparing establishment documents range from several hundred thousand won to several million won and vary with the combination of services and the scope of drafting the operating rules and designation review materials. We will advise you after a consultation based on the office and the operating plan.

See fees and official charges for this service →

Legal basis and review date

• Welfare of Senior Citizens Act, Article 38
• Welfare of Senior Citizens Act, Article 39
• Enforcement Rule of the Welfare of Senior Citizens Act, attached Table 9
• Long-Term Care Insurance Act, Article 31
• Long-Term Care Insurance Act, Article 23
• Long-Term Care Insurance Act, Article 32-3

Checked against the statutes on 2026-09-30

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

• Before signing a lease, first check whether the building use and the office area and partitioning meet the standards.
• Designation as a long-term care institution is subject to review and has a period of validity, so it must be renewed before the period expires.

Frequently asked questions