Buying a Home in Korea with Money from Abroad: The Foreign Exchange Acquisition Report and Proving Your Overseas Funds

Overseas Koreans and foreign nationals who buy a home in Korea usually pay with money held abroad: savings, the proceeds of selling a home overseas, investments, or help from family. Two separate Korean regimes then come into play. Foreign exchange rules require a non-resident buyer to report the acquisition through a Korean bank and bring the money in through proper channels. Real estate transaction rules require a funding plan explaining where every won came from, and since 2025, foreign buyers must also disclose the overseas source of funds and their visa status. Getting either wrong can delay the purchase, lead to fines or a tax audit, and make it difficult to send the money back out when the home is sold. This article explains both regimes and how to document overseas funds.

1. Two Separate Regimes

	Foreign exchange acquisition report	Funding plan
Legal basis	Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and Regulations	Real Estate Transaction Reporting Act
Who	Non-residents for foreign exchange purposes	Buyers of homes in regulated areas, permit zones, or above a price threshold, including foreign buyers in permit zones
Filed with	A Korean foreign exchange bank	The local government, with the transaction report or permit application
Purpose	Controlling cross-border capital flows	Detecting speculation, illegal funds, and tax evasion

The two are reviewed by different authorities, but their information is shared and cross-checked. The funding plan should match the foreign exchange records exactly.

2. Are You a “Non-Resident” for Foreign Exchange Purposes?

Foreign exchange residence is different from nationality and from tax residence.

• Korean nationals living abroad with their main base overseas are generally non-residents for foreign exchange purposes.
• Foreign nationals living abroad, including ethnic Koreans with foreign citizenship, are non-residents.
• Foreign nationals living and working in Korea for a substantial period (generally six months or more) are usually residents for foreign exchange purposes, and different rules apply.

Key takeaway: A Korean American living in Los Angeles and a Korean national working in Singapore are both generally non-residents for this purpose, and both must follow the acquisition reporting rules.

3. The Foreign Exchange Acquisition Report, Step by Step

① Choose a Korean foreign exchange bank

• Use one bank for the whole process: receiving the funds, filing the report, and later, remitting the sale proceeds.

② Open an account in your own name

• A non-resident account in won or a foreign currency account in your name. Funds should arrive in your own account, not a relative’s.

③ Remit the funds from abroad, stating the correct purpose

• Send the money from your own overseas account and state the purpose as purchase of real estate.
• Bringing cash of more than USD 10,000 into Korea requires a customs declaration. Keep the declaration certificate, but wire transfers make a far cleaner record.

④ File the acquisition report with the bank

• Where the purchase is funded with money remitted or brought in from abroad, the non-resident generally files a real estate acquisition report with the foreign exchange bank, attaching the sale contract and other documents. The bank issues confirmation of the report.
• Some other types of acquisition may need to be reported to the Bank of Korea instead. Inheritance generally has its own treatment.
• File before paying the purchase price, or at least before the main payments. Ask the bank what it needs and when.

⑤ Pay the seller from the account

• Pay the deposit, interim payment, and balance from that account, so the record runs cleanly from your overseas account to the seller.

Overseas account → Remittance (purpose: real estate purchase) → Your Korean account → Acquisition report at the bank → Payments to the seller

4. The Funding Plan

When it is required

• Buying a home in a regulated area (speculation-overheated or adjustment target areas), regardless of price
• Buying a home elsewhere for KRW 600 million or more
• Foreign buyers in the Seoul-area foreigner permit zone, as part of the permit application (see our earlier article on the foreigner land transaction permit zone)
• In speculation-overheated areas and permit zones, supporting evidence must be submitted with the plan, not just the plan itself

What it covers

The funding plan breaks down the purchase price into:

• Own funds: bank deposits, proceeds from selling shares or bonds, gifts or inheritance, cash, proceeds from selling other real estate, and other sources
• Borrowed funds: loans by type and by named financial institution, security deposits from tenants, and other borrowing
• How the money will be paid: bank transfer, cash, or other means

The form was revised in 2026 to require more detail, such as loans by named institution and own funds by specific source.

Additional items for foreign buyers

Since 2025, foreign buyers must also state:

• the overseas source of funds
• their visa or residence status

5. Proving Overseas Funds: Documents by Source

Korean authorities need to see where the money came from and how it reached Korea. Foreign documents generally need a Korean translation, and some may need notarization or an apostille.

Source of funds	Typical evidence
Savings	Overseas bank statements showing the balance built up over time, not a sudden recent deposit
Salary or business income	Employment contract or pay slips, and tax returns from your country of residence
Sale of an overseas home	Sale contract, closing statement, and the bank statement showing receipt of the proceeds
Investments	Brokerage statements showing the sale and the transfer to your bank account
Gift from family	Gift documentation, the donor’s bank statement, and any gift tax filings (see Section 6)
Loan	Loan agreement with the bank or lender, and evidence that the loan was paid out
Cryptocurrency	Exchange records showing acquisition, sale, and withdrawal. Expect closer scrutiny
Remittance into Korea (all cases)	Remittance records and the Korean bank’s inward remittance certificate

Key takeaway: The authorities follow the chain: source, overseas account, remittance, Korean account, seller. A gap anywhere, for example cash deposits or funds passing through a relative’s account, invites questions.

6. Gifts and Loans from Family Abroad

Many buyers rely on parents or relatives. These arrangements have tax consequences as well as documentation needs.

Gifts

• If the buyer is a Korean tax resident, gifts are generally subject to Korean gift tax, wherever the donor and the money are located.
• If the buyer is a non-resident, Korean gift tax generally applies only to gifts of property located in Korea. Money given abroad and then remitted may not be taxed in Korea, but the donor’s country may have its own gift tax rules (for example, US gift tax reporting).
• Whatever the tax result, the gift must be documented for the funding plan.

Loans

• A loan from family should be supported by a written loan agreement, a reasonable interest rate, and actual repayments.
• Korean tax authorities may treat an undocumented or unrepaid “family loan” as a gift, and may investigate the source of funds for the purchase.

7. Common Mistakes and Their Consequences

• Sending money to a relative’s Korean account and having the relative pay the seller. This breaks the paper trail and can create nominee ownership issues, which are illegal.
• Sending money as “living expenses” or another wrong purpose, then using it for the purchase. This complicates the acquisition report and later remittance.
• Skipping the acquisition report. Failure to report under the foreign exchange rules can lead to administrative fines, and criminal penalties in serious cases. It can also block the remittance of sale proceeds later.
• A funding plan that does not match the bank records. The local government can refer inconsistencies to the tax office, the police, or other agencies. In permit zones, an inadequate plan can lead to refusal of the permit.
• Large cash deposits with no explanation.
• Leaving documentation to the end. The funding plan is due with the transaction report or permit application. Overseas documents and translations take time.

8. Thinking Ahead to the Sale

How you bring money in determines how easily you can take it out.

• When a non-resident sells Korean real estate and wants to remit the proceeds abroad, banks generally ask for the original acquisition report, the sale contract, and tax clearance (capital gains tax paid). For overseas Koreans exporting property, a confirmation of real estate sale proceeds from the tax office may also be required. (See our earlier article on selling Korean real estate as a non-resident.)
• Using the same bank for the purchase and the sale simplifies this considerably.

9. Checklist

• Confirm your foreign exchange residence status
• Choose a Korean foreign exchange bank and open an account in your name
• Collect overseas evidence for every source of funds, with translations
• Remit from your own overseas account, stating real estate purchase as the purpose
• File the acquisition report with the bank, before the main payments
• Prepare the funding plan so it matches the bank records line by line
• Document any family gifts or loans, and check gift tax in both countries
• Keep all records for the eventual sale and remittance

10. Conclusion

Buying a Korean home with overseas money involves two parallel paper trails: the foreign exchange acquisition report through a Korean bank, and the funding plan filed with the local government, which now asks foreign buyers for the overseas source of funds and their visa status. Both are cross-checked, both carry penalties, and both affect what happens when you sell.

Buyers who plan the money’s route before signing, from their own overseas account into their own Korean account with the purpose stated correctly, and who gather evidence for every source, usually pass through both regimes without trouble. Those who use relatives’ accounts, cash, or undocumented family money often face delays, audits, and problems getting their money back out of Korea.