Korean Job Discussion Forums

[flicknut]

I came here from China on an E-2 visa. Before I left, I hoped to process my wife's dependent F3 visa. Unfortunately, the Korean embassy in Beijing was clueless about our F3 questions (because I'm American and not Korean). They would not even let my wife through the gate. In the end, they told me that we would need to get a visa issuance number from a local immigration office in Korea.

So, now I'm in Korea waiting for my ARC (and my wife). I called immigration today. I was transferred to three different people on my first phone call. They all said that I cannot begin the F3 process in Korea, and that my wife would need to go to a Korean embassy in China. On the fourth call, the lady told me I should have processed the F3 along with my E2.

My wife called the Korean embassy again. This time they told my wife that she cannot get a F3 visa because I'm just a teacher and not a business owner (whatever that means).

Before transferring me today, one of the immigration officers told me that my wife could come here on a tourist visa and that we could change it to an F3. This is impossible because Chinese citizens need a house and car in their name before they can get a tourist visa to Korea. It's easier if they go through a tourist agency, but the agency will hold their passports for the entire duration of the trip.

Can someone tell me what I need to do? Can I get a F3 visa issuance number from an immigration office here?

[mc_jc]

A friend of mine brought his Chinese wife over in 2005 for a few months as he was finishing up his job.
Sadly, yes- she would need to prove that she has 50,000RMB in the bank in order to process her tourist visa. But once she was here, he gathered all the documents he needed for her to change her visa from a tourist visa to an F-3 visa.
But even then it was a hassle because he needed to have their marriage certificate translated from Chinese to Korean and provide bank account information, rent info as well as an employment certificate and tax info. He told me even then they were not happy and jokingly told him to go to the US embassy and get an affidavid stating that the US gov't doesn't issue marriage certificates if the marriage was performed in another country. But he did and brought it to the immigation officer as well as the director of the section. He overrode his subordinates rejection and issued her a visa.

The key is getting her a tourist visa.
Another thing could be for her to travel to Korea via either Canada or the US- provided she has relatived who would sponsor her visit. A Canadian guy I knew did that and they let her in because she was travelling from North America and had an onward ticket back to China.
It's expensive, but that could be another alternative.

There should be others on the board who could help you out more on this.

[Hightop]

The Korean embassy in Beijing is clueless about so many things, a truly horrible place. Try the consulate in Qingdao or in HK.

[flicknut]

[Korean LaoWei]

The Korean embassies in China are generally terrible and uniformed on everything but the most basic subjects. I brought my Chinese wife with me on an F3. You do not need a tourist visa. Just the F3.
The english website for Korean Immigration Service website www.hikorea.go.kr has information on the F3. It is not organized well so you will have to poke around a bit to find the requirements. also the information can be vague and incomplete.
I will tell you what i can remember about it. It has been a year since i did it but if i remember right you need to apply for a clearance or something like that with the local korean immigration office. I did mine in the suwon immigration center. You need your ARC for this. You can try calling them for the required documents. my co teacher helped me though because thier english isnt very good. If i remember right you need document from your school proving your employment, Your ARC, Passport, Application and maybe some tax thing. can't remember for sure. anyway call them to check.
once that is done your wife needs to gather some documents in china and submit an application to the korean embassy in China. if i remember right most of it is pretty easy except the proof of marriage. for that she first has to get a local certification saying that your marriage book is real that needs to be used as proof so beijing will recognize your marriage and issue thier own certification which needs to be turned into the koreans. She can do this through the local mingzhengju but it takes about two weeks. other than the marriage certificate she will need her Hukou, passport, the clearance you applied for, and an application. Oh and of course money.
Anyway I hope that helps. some of my info was kind of vague and i may have forgotten something so check with immigration office. Your korean co-teachers help cant hurt either. the entire process took me about 2 months from the moment i arrived in korea to the moment my wife arrived.

[flicknut]

Thanks for your help everyone. I will update this post later after I get my ARC.

@Korean LaoWei - About the marriage certificate... First we got the marriage certificate in my wife's hometown. Then we got a document saying that the marriage certificate was real (a kind of notarization). Then we turned over the notarization to the Korean embassy in Beijing so they could give their stamp of approval to the document. If it has the Korean embassy's stamp, do you think I need anything more than this? Thanks!

[Korean LaoWei]

I checked with my wife and from my understanding of your description that would be fine. Turns out my wife did more than was necessary and got it notarized by both the central government and the Korean embassy. However my wife informs me you only need the local notarization.

Also I was talking to my wife about the documents the first stage in Korea is more complicated than i remember on the Korean end. We also had to submit my wife's Chinese ID, Hukou, and i think her passport too. She will have to mail you the originals to you. copies are not acceptable. Also This is in addition to the documents listed on the previous post. after you apply for this you will have to mail them back to her in China. She will need them to get into the Korean embassy in China. They will issue you a confirmation number. She needs to take that number and her Chinese ID to the Korean Embassy in China and they will issue the F3 visa. Sorry for the error.

I was also digging through my old documents and came across a sheet the immigration department gave me with a list of required docs.
1. Application for confirmation visa issuance
2. Photocopy of passport (Yours and hers)
3. Copy of ARC (Be sure to copy both the front and back)
4. A certificate of incumbency (Issued by your school to prove your employment)
5. A certificate of tax payment (Also issued by your school)
6. Documents to prove family relations (Original hukou, chinese ID, and her passport)
7. 3.5 cm x 4.5 cm photo
Once again it has been a year since we got ours so check with the Immigration Department. You never know when they will decide to make major administrative decisions to change things during a night of heavy drinking and my memories not that good.

[naturegirl321]

If my husband were to enter on a tourist visa, what docs would he need to change his tourist visa to an F3 visa?