Korean Job Discussion Forums

KumaraKitty · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Location: Bucheon

Quick question for you guys..
My boyfriend and I are talking about getting married. He is a Korean, I'm a Canadian. In order to get the F-2 Visa after marriage, is it better to be married in Korea or Canada? Or does it matter at all? Also, I had read/heard before that people had to provide photo proof of their marriage, ceremony, etc. If we had only a civil marriage ceremony at city hall, would that be a problem? Or do we need to have the big ceremony? If you have any info on this, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thanks!

Juregen · Joined: 30 May 2006

I can only speak from my own experience.

It doesn't, matter Immi has no connection to other administrations, i still needed to prove to them i married my wife, for my F-2 and then again for my sons F-2, eventhough i got married in Korea.

The thing is though, getting marrried in Korea has far less paperwork then in my homecountry, ...., it took as 5 minutes for the paperwork.

nah, in korea the paperwork is more then enough.

Captain Corea · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Location: Seoul

I will second the above poster.

It doesn't matter.

KumaraKitty · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Location: Bucheon

Thanks for your replies. For those of you who did marry here, how did you go about it? Did you do it traditional style or wedding hall? Is there a thread on this somewhere I'm missing? Cheers!

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

You don't need any ceremony at all, just documents. It would be very easy for you because you're a woman so you'd be joining his family. It's slightly harder the other way around.

If you go through with it, the best of luck.

I-am-me · Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Location: Hermit Kingdom

before you marry a korean guy....look around and observe how they behave. I have noticed how puppyish they are when they are dating. But after they are married....I seldom see couples touch each other or show any respect for each other. Maybe I am living in a bad area of suwon...but I really would never let my daughter marry a korean man. A few other people I know share the same sentiments. If you do marry a korean guy....best of luck to you. Always two sides to a coin.

casey's moon · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Location: Daejeon

joyfulgirl · Joined: 05 Jan 2006

dangsangirl · Joined: 27 May 2006

From experience attending weddings here I would recommend anything that is right for the two of you, except a wedding hall. Over in 19 minutes flat, guests downstairs hoovering their lunch before the ceremony is over and many on their phones at the back of the hall. I also saw a particularly delightful one where the bride glided up the aisle on a motorised swan!!!! Hee hee!!! I went for an outdoor traditional ceremony and loved every minute of it. I also avoided the day long photo shoot and just got family and friends to take nice natural ones on the day. If you need any advice feel free to pm me. I'm home on hols so may be a bit slow to respond but I will eventually. Good luck and congratulations.

Pak Yu Man · Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Location: The Ida galaxy

Getting an F-2 vias is easy. It doesn't matter if you get married here or back in Canada. The only thing the officials will want to see is proof you are not previously married in Canada. Once you get your marriage certificate....it's easy sailing.

KumaraKitty · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Location: Bucheon

Great information so far guys, thank you so much! Now to start getting into the nitty gritties of this thing:
How much should we expect a Traditional Ceremony to cost?
If you bought Hanbok, how much did it run you?
Do Traditional ceremonies come with a reception/dinner option after the fact?
Any place I can find this info in English?
His parents are in the USA, mine are in Canada, and we are probably going to do this thing entirely on our own. Both sets work too much(his own a store, mine is a single Mother with 2 teenage boys at home AND she's a Teacher!) to really help us out with the planning, and we want to pay for it all ourselves. We haven't informed them yet, we want to have it planned out and then tell everyone. That way we don't un-necessarily stress anyone.

As for I-am-me, that was a pretty ignorant thing to say. It so happens that I'm divorced from a Canadian guy, who never touched me, respected me or anything else good. Instead I'm marrying a Korean man who is the best man I have ever known,my best friend, who encourages me to improve myself, enjoy life and treats me like a Queen! He grew up in Texas until he was 23 years old, who speaks/reads/writes English better than he can speak Korean(that's why we need all this info in English! He can't read Korean!). We've been together over a year and we've lived together 6 months.
Next time please refrain from imposing your own opinions on people who have not asked for them.

riley · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Location: where creditors can find me

I'll give some advice (though, you're already a veteran Wink

) look at how his parents treat each other and act towards each other. It's a good clue on how he will act and expect you to act in the marriage. This is true for anyone, including myself.
Now for something useful, my wife and I tried to do the ceremony as cheap as we could and it ended up being around 9 million won. (9,000 $US) It sounds like from our research, a western style could end up being 20 million. Good luck and happy marriage!

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Don't you know? It's always important to consider the stereotypes when you're getting married. It's so much easier than getting to know someone.

Homer · Guest

Our wedding cost around 30 million Won (my wifes family and my family split the cost).

It was a mixed ceremony (traditional Korean and Western Style).

We had a reception after at a good hotel in Haeundae.

We received hanboks from the family.

Your options could include a Wedding Hall.

Some of them are well run and offer the gamut as far as services are concerned. A friend of mine just got married in a Wedding hall in Busan and the wedding cost 10 million Won. It included:

Wedding dress and tux (rented for the ceremony).
Photo Album (one big book, leather bound and 3 albums (smaller) for family).
A video of the day and the ceremony.
The ceremony itself.
The reception (buffet style but it was very good food).

Nambucaveman · Joined: 03 Aug 2006

KK,

I recently got married and we had a traditional wedding. We did the Paeback (sp?) part where we bowed to parents and other family members. We only did a brief ceremony during the reception. I wish I could tell you how much the hanbok costs, but we didn't pay for them because my in-laws did.