Foreign-Invested Company Setup in Korea: Minimum Capital and Remittance, Starting With the Real Sticking Points
When a foreigner sets up a corporation in Korea, the minimum capital must meet or exceed the threshold under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act for the entity to be recognized as a foreign-invested company.
This guide is for individual investors targeting a D-8 investment visa, overseas companies funding a Korean subsidiary from headquarters, and solo foreign entrepreneurs who have to handle remittance themselves.
We walk through how the capital threshold is actually interpreted, the foreign exchange filing required at the remittance stage, and the flow that runs from deposit evidence all the way to corporate registration.
What Is the Real Standard for Minimum Capital in Foreign-Invested Setups
It looks simple on the surface, but a single capital figure doesn't end the story.
The Threshold Under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act
The Foreign Investment Promotion Act sets a minimum per-investor amount required to be recognized as a foreign-invested company.
If you remit less than this, the foreign investment notification is rejected and your D-8 visa application itself is blocked.
Because the threshold can be adjusted through amendments or public notices, the exact figure at the time of your filing must be confirmed through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy or your designated foreign exchange bank.
Capital and Investment Funds Are Different Concepts
In practice, people often treat capital and foreign investment funds as one and the same.
Capital refers to the company's registered capital structure under the Commercial Act, while foreign investment funds are the equity contribution remitted by a foreigner under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act.
These two need to match for the Foreign-Invested Company Registration Certificate to be issued and for the visa stage to flow through without trouble.
Industry Restrictions and Their Link to Capital
If your business sits in an industry where foreign equity is capped, simply hitting the minimum capital threshold isn't enough to register.
Sectors like broadcasting, telecommunications, and parts of finance fall under restricted industries for foreign investment, where ownership ratios and prior approval requirements have to be checked separately.
Recognition as a Foreign-Invested Company and Remittance Conditions
The first thing to look at is the form of the remittance.
The Sender and Recipient Must Match
The sender must be the foreign investor in their own name, and the recipient must be a Korean capital account (a temporary deposit account or an account in the promoter's name).
Money sent under a family member's name or any third party's name is not recognized as foreign investment funds.
A weak link here means starting the registration over from scratch.
The Purpose Field on the Wire Is Key
Here is the heart of it.
When sending an international wire, the purpose field must clearly state "Capital investment" or "Equity investment" so the foreign exchange bank can process it as foreign investment funds.
Money that comes in as living expenses, tuition, or a generic remittance is hard to retrofit as capital later, and this is usually where things stall.
Split Remittance vs. Single Remittance
Both a single lump-sum remittance and multiple installments are allowed.
Splitting the remittance can spread your exchange rate exposure, but you have to keep evidence for every transfer, and the totals must reconcile cleanly on the foreign investment notification.
Real cases show that the more installments you have, the higher the chance some piece of supporting evidence goes missing.
Capital Remittance Procedure and Foreign Exchange Bank Filings
| Step | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Foreign investment notification | Pre-filing with KOTRA or a foreign exchange bank | Done before remittance |
| 2. Capital remittance | Investor's overseas account → Korean temporary deposit account | Purpose: investment |
| 3. Issuance of foreign currency purchase certificate | Issued by the receiving foreign exchange bank | Required for registration |
| 4. Corporate registration | Filed with the registry office | Capital payment evidence attached |
| 5. Foreign-invested company registration | Registered with the competent authority | Certificate received |
Foreign Exchange Filing Obligation
The remittance itself is unrestricted, but recognition as a foreign investment requires a prior filing.
Per the HiKorea guidance, if the order — foreign investment notification → remittance → foreign currency purchase certificate → corporate registration → foreign-invested company registration — gets disturbed, the D-8 visa stage will keep cycling through requests for supplementary documents.
Foreign Currency Purchase Certificate — The Most Frequently Overlooked Document
More important than any other paper is the foreign currency purchase certificate.
This single document proves the remittance, the exchange rate applied, the KRW-converted amount, and the recipient all at once.
If you ask for it late or only get the English version, you'll end up back at the bank during the registration and filing stages.
Practical tip: Right after the remittance, ask the foreign exchange bank for both the Korean and English versions of the foreign currency purchase certificate at the same time. It's common for the bank's contact person to change later, which slows down reissuance.
Free consultation now → 02-363-2251 / KakaoTalk: alexkorea
Capital size and the remittance approach vary with the investor's nationality, industry, and visa plan.
Costs differ case by case, and we'll give you precise guidance during the free consultation.
Where Remittance Most Often Gets Stuck
The most common sticking point in practice is explaining the source of funds.
If You Can't Explain Where the Money Came From, Things Tangle
Even if the money is sitting in the account, a weak explanation of the trail can derail things immediately.
Even when the international remittance lands properly, if you can't show with objective documents where the money originated (salary, business income, real estate sale, gift, etc.), the foreign-invested company registration or the D-8 visa review will come back asking for more documents.
In real reviews, the difference often comes from consistency in the source-of-funds story rather than the size of the remittance.
When Capital Falls Short Due to Exchange Rate Movement
The KRW-converted amount can fall below the threshold because of the gap between the exchange rate at the time of remittance and the rate at the time the foreign currency purchase certificate is issued — and this happens more often than you'd expect.
When this happens, you have to send more money, and the registration timeline usually slips while that's being arranged.
When the Remittance Path Is Complex
Routes like home country → third country → Korea, or transfers through currency exchangers and fintech remittance services, may not be recognized by foreign exchange banks as equity contributions.
A direct bank-to-bank SWIFT transfer is the safest path, and this is the deciding factor in cases that come up every year.
The Flow From Capital Deposit to Registration
| Item | Capital stage | Registration stage |
|---|---|---|
| Required documents | Foreign currency purchase certificate, remittance receipt | Articles of incorporation, promoter minutes, capital payment evidence |
| Handling body | Foreign exchange bank, KOTRA | Competent registry office |
| Processing time | 1–3 business days after remittance | In business days once documents are complete |
| Practical variables | Exchange rate, purpose-field entry | Officer composition, head office address |
The Format of Capital Payment Evidence
The court registry office requires proof that the capital actually arrived in the company's account.
The temporary deposit account balance certificate, the foreign currency purchase certificate, and the remittance receipt — all three need to line up consistently for the registration to clear in one pass.
If the picture isn't tight, you'll get a correction order from the registry, and the timeline slips by 2–3 weeks.
Linking the Foreign-Invested Company Registration Certificate to the Visa
The Foreign-Invested Company Registration Certificate is the core supporting document for the D-8 visa application.
If too much time passes between issuance of the certificate and the visa filing, additional documents are easy to get hit with; processing times vary by immigration office, and we'd recommend a consultation to map out the right sequence for your case.
Caution: A Foreign-Invested Company Registration Certificate does not automatically lead to a D-8 visa. The substance of the business, the office, and the business plan are reviewed separately.
Insufficient Capital and Weak Evidence — Where Cases Diverge
Does the Business Plan Justify the Capital Size
Even with plenty of paperwork, if the business plan doesn't fit the capital amount, the review stays weak.
If your capital is just barely above the threshold, the plan needs to show that the business scale, revenue projection, and labor cost structure can actually be operated on that amount.
A clean numerical narrative passes review more reliably than a long-winded plan.
Timing of a Capital Increase
If you plan a capital increase right after incorporation, it's procedurally simpler to start with enough capital from the beginning.
A capital increase pulls in articles-of-incorporation amendments, registration changes, and a foreign investment change notification, all of which add cost and time.
In a recent comparable case, a missed step in the capital increase procedure prevented the registration certificate from being renewed; which approach works best for your timeline is something we can sort out in a consultation.
Trends in Amending the Foreign Investment Promotion Act
The Enforcement Decree of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act is amended periodically — see the Korea Law Information Center.
Some provisions have been updated recently, so confirming exactly how they apply to your situation calls for a specialist's review.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1. Does all of the capital need to be remitted in one go when setting up a foreign-invested company?
Split remittances are allowed.
That said, the purpose, foreign currency purchase certificate, and aggregated totals must all match across each transfer for the company to be recognized as foreign-invested.
Q2. Can the capital be received into a foreign friend's Korean account first and then deposited?
The funds must be remitted directly from the investor's overseas account in their own name to the company's capital account to qualify as foreign investment funds.
Routing through a third party makes recognition of the equity contribution very unlikely.
Q3. What happens if the capital comes up just slightly short of the threshold?
The foreign-invested company registration is rejected, and the basis for the D-8 visa simply doesn't form.
Building in a margin above the threshold from the outset, to absorb exchange rate moves, is the safer route in practice.
Q4. Can I use funds raised by selling cryptocurrency as capital?
It's possible, but the source-of-funds evidence is demanding.
The exchange withdrawal records, the exchange rate at the time of sale, and the deposit flow into your home-country account all need to connect cleanly; whether your specific case qualifies is something we'd review in a consultation.
Q5. Can the capital be used right after it's remitted?
Until corporate registration and foreign-invested company registration are both complete, keeping the funds parked in the temporary deposit account is the safer call.
Withdrawing before registration can affect the capital payment evidence.
Q6. If I lose the remittance receipt, can I get it reissued?
You can request reissuance from the sending bank and the foreign exchange bank.
That said, the longer it takes, the harder it becomes to confirm the historical exchange rate, so locking down all the documents right after the remittance is the practical safe play.
Need a Specialist Consultation?
Minimum capital and remittance for foreign-invested company setup sit at the intersection of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act, the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, the Commercial Act, and the Immigration Act.
What separates real reviews isn't the capital number — it's the remittance flow and the source-of-funds explanation.
Vision Administrative Office handles foreign investment, corporate setup, and visa work as a single connected process.
Costs differ case by case, and we'll give you precise guidance during the free consultation.
Vision Administrative Office — Service Information
- Name: Vision Administrative Office (VISION Administrative Office)
- Phone: 02-363-2251
- Email: 5000meter@gmail.com
- KakaoTalk: alexkorea
- Address: 3F, Sungwoo Building, 324 Toegye-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (04614)
We can take you through capital sizing for foreign-invested company setup, remittance procedures, foreign investment notifications, and the D-8 visa — all from a single point of contact.
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