Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cy82]

Hi all--

There seem to be a couple (or more) Korean immigration veterans here. I have a question for you.

I am married to a Korean (met & married in the US). She is currently a US permanent resident and we have registered the marriage in Korea (well.. it took 6 months, mind you).

She has since renewed her passport, which, if anyone has Korean spouses overseas that are permanent residents of that particular country, means that she got the new "Resident Passport" 거주여권. The visual differences are minute: basically it's classification is "PR" instead of the usual "PM".

Among other things, the customs import and export limits are different as well as the remittance limits (higher).

On the downside, one of the issues is that her "Resident Registration" 주민등록 in Korea gets suspended. That is, while she is fully a Korean citizen, her resident registration number (주민등록번호) is suspended and she is off of her household register. Her census, family, and marriage registration stay fully intact, but she can no longer be issued a Korean national ID (주민등록증) or otherwise use the number. There is a different type of ID (재외국민국내거소신고증) with a totally different number that she can get, but that's another story.

The issue is that we intend to stay in Korea for an extended period of time. The US allows her to stay abroad for up to two years without giving up her US permanent resident status, while Korea will not allow her to register as a resident unless she gives up that status in the US. The immigrant visa process to the US (almost all over again) would take a good 6-8 months and cost a lot of money.

The question: I intend to get an F-6 visa to Korea for our extended (but not permanent) stay. Will her lack of resident registration prevent me from going through foreigner registration? One of the documents required is her household register (주민등록표등본), of which she is no longer on.

Immigration doesn't seem to take involved questions over the phone (i.e. does not give an answer), and I would hate to leave to Korea just to find out that I'm screwed.

The law seems specific to "spouses of Korean citizens", of which I am. I don't think any other variable should matter other than she is a Korean citizen. I want to find out if I am correct in this sentiment.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you!

[Landros]

hey man, not sure if i'm quite up to date but I knew a guy who was ex US military and his wife was Korean by blood but american citizen. He could get a family visa but was not allowed to work in Korea on the visa. If you want to work here you should just get the workplace to sponsor you.

anyway laws change and each immigration office interprets it differently but IMO I'd say without here residency they will treat her as a non-citizen for your purposes.

If you were a woman you might have better luck.

[T-J]

Technically for your spouse to sponser your F-6 they have to show proof that they surrendered their green card. Mine did. That being said I have heard of people getting lucky and slipping through the cracks on that. I would be prepared to give it up though as that is the most likely outcome.

[Captain Corea]

I'm curious as to what proof they had to show and how they slipped through the cracks. Perhaps TJ can give you some details about how it might be done in the Kor/US.

My wife is one of those who "slipped through the cracks"... but that was through the Kor/Canadian system. I'm sure though that there will come a day when XYZ paper will have to be filed... and we'll have to make a choice.

[ttompatz]

If she keeps her green card you get an F1.

.

[john110375]

When I originally came here in 2007 my wife didn't need to give up her green card for me to get the F-2-1. But she did when I applied for the F-5 in 2009. Not sure if the laws have changed since I did it.

[cy82]

Thanks for the responses.

Just an update:

I was given an F-6-1 visa with the consulate knowing full well my wife's status in the US. We'll see how the registration goes in Korea.

[giraffe]

I asked about this in an other thread and no one answered. Sorry for going slightly off topic.

Anyone knows of any official korean government websites talking about the F6 visa? ( I'm not interested in newspaper articles.. I've already seen those).
I cant seem to find any official websites. How come Hikorea doesn't list the F6 visa on their website?

I'm asking because I just renewed my Arc card/visa ( F2-1) at immigration the other day and I'm still on an F2-1. They just changed the expiry date on the back and no mention about changing to an F6....