How to Fill Out USFK Form 195-EK-E: Decal and Deregistration

USFK Form 195EK-E is the application for the Department of Defense vehicle registration decal that lets a privately owned vehicle pass through installation gates in South Korea. You file it at your installation Vehicle Registration Office after you already hold a USFK operator’s permit, Korean license plates, valid liability insurance, and (for older vehicles) a current safety inspection. The registrar enters your vehicle into the Defense Biometric Identification System and issues the bar-coded decal you display on the vehicle.¹

What Form 195EK-E Actually Does

Form 195EK-E is the decal application, not the vehicle registration itself. The main registration is handled on USFK Form 31EK-E, which captures owner and vehicle details for the USFK registration file. Form 195EK-E is the separate step that ties your registered vehicle to DBIDS, the biometric access system that controls gate entry. Once the registrar records your Korean plate number and vehicle information in DBIDS, you receive a bar-coded decal to display on the vehicle. The decal permits vehicle access to installations according to the owner’s or operator’s DBIDS authorization.¹

Because the decal is the last piece of a longer registration sequence, you cannot walk into the VRO with only Form 195EK-E and leave with a decal. Everything else has to be in place first.

Before You Can File the 195EK-E

Registration is open to personnel with Status of Forces Agreement status in Korea: active-duty service members, DOD civilian employees, and invited contractors with verified SOFA status, plus their SOFA-status dependents. USFK Regulation 190-1 allows up to two decals per authorized individual or family, with a third if one of the vehicles is a motorcycle. Non-SOFA and non-diplomatic personnel are limited to one vehicle, with narrow exceptions for retired DOD military and civilian personnel and certain ROK military families on an installation.¹

Service members E-6 and below and DOD civilians at GS-4, WG-4, or equivalent and below face extra steps. If you live off-post at government expense because on-post housing is unavailable, you can register one vehicle with Housing Office documentation confirming your off-post status. If you live on-post and still want to register, you need an endorsement from the first O-5 in your chain of command and final approval from the Installation Commander. Bring a DD Form 2367, or USFK Form 700-19A-R-E if you are a contractor, to the registration office.¹²

USFK Operator’s Permit

You need a USFK Motor Vehicle Operator’s Permit (Form 134EK) before any of this begins. You must already hold a valid U.S. state driver’s license, ROK license, or license from another UN member country, then pass a written exam and a road-sign exam on Korean traffic regulations. Licenses not printed in English or Korean need an International Driving Permit or formal translation. The permit is valid for five years, and USFK Manual 4800.02 is the official study guide.³

Insurance, Inspection, and Korean Plates

Your vehicle needs Korean third-party liability insurance meeting the minimums set by ROK law. Recent published guidance lists 120,000,000 KRW for bodily injury or death per person and 10,000,000 KRW for property damage per accident.⁴ The insured name must match the registered owner (or you need a Power of Attorney), and the VIN on the insurance document has to match the vehicle exactly. Providers commonly writing SOFA policies include AIG, LIG, and USAA.²

A safety inspection completed within 90 days before registration is required for any vehicle two years old or older. Newer vehicles are exempt from the initial inspection for two years from the manufacture date. After initial registration, every vehicle gets a safety and emissions test every two years. Inspections happen at a USFK-certified facility on an installation or a ROK Transportation Safety-certified facility off-post.¹

Korean license plates come next. In USFK Areas III through VI, get them from your local City Hall, a Korean DMV office, or one of the installation VROs at USAG Humphreys, Osan, or Camp Walker. At Humphreys, a Pyeongtaek DMV Liaison operates inside Maude Hall and handles plate issuance for sedans and SUVs without leaving the installation. Trucks, vans, minivans, and electric vehicles have to be registered at the Pyeongtaek City DMV off-base regardless of size.⁵² You will also pay Korean road tax, which varies by engine displacement, plus local registration fees.⁶

All of this happens under a clock: you must register within 10 days of arriving in Korea or purchasing the vehicle. If you are picking up a shipped vehicle at the port or buying one locally, get temporary plates from the VRO or off-post DMV before you drive it. Temporary plates last no more than 10 days, are not transferable, and trigger a 30,000 KRW fine plus 10,000 KRW per additional day if you miss the return window. Under the ROK Automobile Management Act, failure to return temporary plates can result in a fine up to 1,000,000 KRW.¹²

Documents to Bring With Form 195EK-E

The USAG Humphreys DES access-control checklist lists what the decal application actually requires at the counter. Bring:⁷

Your completed USFK Form 195EK-E.
A copy of your Korean vehicle registration.
A copy of your vehicle insurance.
A clear copy of your USFK Form 134EK operator’s permit or Korean driver’s license.
Copies of the front and back of your DBIDS ID card.

Contractors and certain other personnel may also need a copy of an Alien Registration Card, family census registration, or business license, depending on their situation.⁷¹²

Where to Submit the Form

USFK Regulation 190-1 lists the offices authorized to process vehicle registrations and decals:¹

Directorate of Emergency Services (DES) at USAG Yongsan, USAG Humphreys, and USAG Daegu. Daegu also serves personnel assigned to Busan.
Chief, Security Forces at Osan Air Base and Kunsan Air Base.
Naval Security Officer at Chinhae Naval Base.

Blank copies of Form 195EK-E are available at the VRO, and some installations post them on their support sites.²

After You Get the Decal

Display the decal on the vehicle as directed by the issuing office. The decal permits the vehicle to enter installations consistent with the owner’s or operator’s DBIDS authorization, but it does not authorize the people inside. Security personnel still verify that the driver and passengers have their own DBIDS or visitor authorization at the gate. A vehicle found on an installation without a properly displayed decal can be cited or impounded. Report a lost or stolen decal immediately so the VRO can flag it in DBIDS and block unauthorized use.¹

Motorcycles above 125cc that can exceed 60 km/h go through the same decal process, but service members must also show proof of completing a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course or an equivalent state-approved motorcycle safety training program. Gas-powered scooters at 125cc and below do not require the MSF training under USFK policy, though the scooter still needs to be registered, insured, and driven with a valid 134EK. Individual service components may impose their own requirements on top of that baseline.¹⁸

Deregistering Before You Leave Korea

Before a permanent departure, you have to deregister the vehicle or arrange for someone else to do it. Report to the installation VRO for a registration clearance check; the VRO contacts the Korean DMV to confirm no unpaid citations are tied to your plates, and any outstanding fines must be paid at a Korean post office or bank before deregistration proceeds. You surrender both plates and USFK Form 207, along with disposition paperwork such as shipping documents, a bill of sale, a transfer agreement, or a police report if the vehicle was totaled. Your installation clearance record has to show proper disposal before you out-process.¹

Consequences of Skipping Steps

USFK Regulation 190-1 is a punitive general regulation. Driving unregistered, letting insurance lapse, or missing an inspection can result in action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for service members, and adverse administrative action for DOD civilians and contractors, with referrals to the servicing Judge Advocate or Civilian Personnel Activity Center.¹ On the Korean side, the temporary-plate fines described above apply, and any vehicle on an installation without a properly displayed decal or temporary registration is subject to citation or immediate towing.²

1
United States Forces Korea. USFK Regulation 190-1 – Motor Vehicle Traffic Supervision
2
Osan Air Base. Vehicle Registration
3
United States Forces Korea. USFK Manual 4800.02 – Guide to Safe Driving in Korea
4
8th Army. Driving Overseas
5
U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys. Pass and ID/Vehicle Registration (DBIDS)
6
RSO Korea. Driving, Vehicles and Parking
7
U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys. USAG Humphreys DES Installation Access Control Document Checklist
8
U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). Safe Driving in Korea