Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Jonephant]

Hi,

Im sure this topic has been covered many times but im finding it hard to find up to date information since the change in laws occured. Ill try and be as clear as possible.

I will be marrying my Korean girlfriend very soon. At the moment i am only in Korea on a 90 day tourist visa. I understand the procedure for marrying a Korean and also on registering our marriage with Korean authorities so no help needed there.

I understand that the laws changed this May and that it is no longer possible to change a tourist visa to an F-2 visa whilst in Korea. We contacted the Korean consulate in Fukuoka and were told that i could be issued with an F-2 visa there, as long as i have all the correct documents. They told us that we needed to bring:

Passport
F-2 Visa application form
1 Photo
Korean marriage certificate (original)
UK marriage certificate (original)
Sponser identification form
Finacial ability proof

SO, my question is. Where can i get an original copy of my UK marriage certificate? We have not been married in the UK, is it a document i get after getting married at the British embassy?

Thanks in advance.

[giraffe]

HI Jonephant,

I'm not British But I just got my F2 visa in Canada earlier this year.

We only had to submit the Wedding certificate from the Canadian embassy. Perhaps by UK marriage certificate they mean the wedding certificate you will obtain after registering your wedding at your embassy in Seoul. And by Korean Marriage certificate they mean your wife's korean Family registry with your name on it proving you're married . These are the 2 proof of marriage we had to show...
Odd thing is , My wife and I were living in Canada but got married in korea so there was no way for us to get a family registry/ proof of marriage in korea. We had ask my mother in law to go to the office and send one to us by mail.

As far as getting the F2 in Fukuoka, is it processed immediately? I applied for my F2 visa in Canada and the whole process took exactly 10 days . So make sure you know how long it'll take to process just in case =).

Also, You should know that the F2 you will obtain is actually only a 90 day visa ( The days start counting from the day you get your passport with the visa in there which mean you have 90 days to enter korea or else visa cancels itself)... Once back in korea you will need to go to immigration office in the city you live in and extend the F2 visa and Also get a new ( or first) Alien Registration card. They will most likely give you a 1 year extension on the F2.

good luck =)

[Jonephant]

Thanks for the info and thanks for sharing your experience. The woman at the Korean consulate in Fukuoka said it would only take 2 days to process so thats good news.

Once i get the F-2 ill post the details of how it goes for the next person in my situation.

[Welshguy]

[Welshguy]

As a heads up, I think it might be easier to get married though the British Embassy first. As I said earlier, they do forward the marriage certificate onto the UK. You can then request a copy. Done

[Jonephant]

Thanks for the info, although the Korean consulate in Fukuoka specifically asked for the original copy of the document. Rather than requesting a copy from the UK after its been sent. Would i not be able to obtain the marriage certificate straight from the British embassy in Seoul?

[Welshguy]

[seoulsucker]

Congrats, Blaze.

I did the same thing recently, but in country. Your list of docs seems complete. You can always call up 1345 for assistance as well...they're pretty up to speed on exactly what you need. I called to double check throughout the process several times and they were consistently accurate.

[KateChoi]

Hey I got an f2 visa back in July. Im an american married to a Korean husband and we had to bring korean and american marriage certificates ( american cert had to be originaland they did not return it), proof of financial stability ( my husbands parents put 40000 in our bank account and we got a bank statement), Passports, passport photos, and we had to get it at the korean american embassy ON american land which meant we went to Guam. Aftef u jump thru the loops they get it pretty quickly for u, i had mone in 1 day but Guam isnt a busy place. Its wortg it tho, korean emploers hace no power over u as far as sponsering and if u dont live in their housing then they really hace nothing on u and u can work anywhere u want. Its made my life easier.

[zeppelin]