Marriage with European
These days, international marriages with European countries such as England, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain are steadily increasing.
Our office is also proceeding with many marriage registrations and marriage visas for Korean and European couples. When you try to do it by yourself at the first time but you have difficulty in handling due to more complicated procedures than you think.
For marriage with European, the marriage registration and documents, procedures of marriage visa are all different.
However, in most European international marriages, you can apply for F-6 marriage visa even if you register your marriage only in Korea.
In order to register a marriage, you must obtain a certificate of unmarried and birth in a foreign spouse country or a certificate of marriage requirements from the Korean Embassy. In this process, you will go through translation, notarization, and apostille procedures.
Issuance of unmarried certificate for European spouse
When registering a marriage with a foreigner in Korea, a document proving that the foreign spouse meets the requirements for marriage must be attached. There is a way to get a certificate of marriage requirements from the European Embassy in Korea or to get certificate of unmarried from the Europe and send it to Korea.
If an European spouse is staying in Korea, he/she can visit the European Embassy in Korea with the original passport, fill out an application form, and issue a certificate of marriage requirements.
If your European spouse is staying in Europe, he/she can get an unmarried certificate and a birth certificate from the county in your jurisdiction and send it to Korea with apostille.
2. Registering Marriage in Korea
If you get an a certificate of marriage requirements from European Embassy in Korea or a unmarried certificate in the Europe, it must be translated into Korean again.
Korean spouses can register their marriage by visiting the district office with the Korean translation of the European spouse’s unmarried certificate, birth certificate and original passport.
After completing the marriage registration process in Korea, the name of the spouse of the Europe nationality will be listed on the marriage relationship certificate of the Korean spouse in about a week.
3. Applying for a F-6 marriage visa
When you have registered your marriage in Korea, you can apply for a marriage visa (F-6).
If a foreign spouse is legally staying in Korea, he/she can change to the status of marriage immigration (F-6) residence in Korea.
And if you live in a foreign country, you can get a visa at the Korean consulate in that country.
You need to meet certain requirements to get an F-6 marriage visa.
1. Income requirements
The income requirement for a two-person household must be 19,560,510 won or higher. However, income requirements can be met by combining the income of immediate family members living together on resident registration and also it could be recognized income from health insurance premiums, and income conversion of property.
2. Language requirements for foreign spouse
If your foreign spouse has not completed the Korean language course or does not have a Korean proficiency test score, you can invite him/her to Korea with a short-term visit to obtain TOPIK level 1 in Korea.
3. The authenticity of marriage
If a foreign spouse and a Korean spouse have been dating only through communication media, you can invite a foreign spouse with a short-term visit visa and apply for a marriage visa after dating in Korea.