Korean Job Discussion Forums

[soomin]

I am planning on getting married in July and then getting an f-2/f-6 visa, and after looking over the US embassy site and some other sites, it looks like this should be how it goes... Am I right about this?

1. "Affidavit of Eligibility of Marriage" form notarized (need appointment, passport, id, form, $50) (just me) <Seoul>
2. Gu-cheong with documents below (me and fiance) <residing city>
me
*Proof of US citizenship:
*A completed Affidavit of Eligibility for Marriage and translation
*Proof of identity:
*Proof of termination of any prior marriage
fiance:
*Family Relationship Certificate (가족관계 증명서):
*Marriage/Single Status Certificate (혼인관계 증명서):
*Valid Korean identification card (주민등록증)
*Name stamp (도장) and parents' name stamps

3. Get married
4. Get "Verification of registration of marriage" notarized <residing city>
5. Get "Verification of registration of marriage" authenticated (need appointment, passport, id, $50) <Seoul>
6. Take f-2/f-6 documents to immigration office <residing city>

Am I missing anything? Thanks for your help!!

[rendragmc]

I went through this process two months ago. Your affidavit for marriage eligibility that you get at the embassy needs to be translated into Korean. The translator doesn't have to be anyone special, but at the bottom of the page it needs to have their name, signature, and phone number. When we were at the 구청, we weren't required to have anyone's 도장. We just needed the name, registration number, and signature of two witnesses, who must be Korean citizens. We had the form pre-filled out before we got there.

Everything you listed is correct but here are some additions: There's a sponsorship form on the immigration website that you need for the F6. It's available to download in English and Korean. Have your wife fill this out and take it to the immigration office when you apply for your visa. You will also need to get your job certificate from your employer.

Before you can get your Korean marriage registration authenticated, you'll need to have it translated into English. Again, the translator doesn't have to be anyone special, but at the bottom of the page it needs to have their name, signature, and phone number.

Of course, this information is based purely on my experience. As with many things in Korea, your requirements will all depend on who you're talking to that day. While at the immigration office, we were actually told that my visa process would go easier if we included wedding photos with the paperwork. In the end, we turned in the "required" paperwork of the day, with no photos, and I had a new visa in a month.

Congrats on the marriage!

[soomin]

Wow! Thank you so much!!!!!

Also, how long did it take to get the marriage license? I read that it could take up to a week, but wanted to get everything done in advance so it would be ready and there wouldn't be any problems... How early should I do this, in your opinion? My future husband and I have a lot of paperwork to prepare @.@

Thank you again, and congrats to you, too!

[alongway]

After you have everything ready on the korean side and filed, they generally have to wait a week to print the korean license. Once you have that you can move forward on the visa paperwork.

[soomin]

[laynamarya]

Congratulations, soomin! Welcome to the small but awesome club of western ladies married to Korean guys.

When we got married, it was about a month before they changed the F2 to an F6, but I assume most of the requirements are the same. The only difference in experience I had from rendragmc was with the notarized translations. We actually found the Korean version of the affadavit for marriage eligibilty online, so we translated it ourselves, and just had a lawyer notarize it. We translated our marriage registration ourselves too, but the US embassy told us we had to have it notarized by one of the lawyers from the list on the website. They had a hard time finding the lawyer we used in their system, so they almost didn't accept it.

A couple caveats: don't sign your affadavit before you get to the embassy, and don't put down "0" for number of children. Write out "none" or else the gucheong office will think it is like the o in an o/x game, and you have children somewhere.

You don't need your fiance to go to the embassy. Your fiance, weirdly enough, does not need you at the gucheong office to register your marriage. However, after the gucheong trip, you two are officially married, so you might want to be there. Immigration will not interview you for your F6 visa unless your husband is there.

You may or may not need the fabled thirty million won in the bank. We used our housing contract. Also, immigration interviewed me in Korean, just as a heads-up.

Finally, you are on facebook, right? There is a group called "Western girls married to Korean guys" that you may want to join. There is some ranting of course, but there is also lots of valuable advice and lots of cool/interesting members.

Congratulations again!!

[alongway]

[fezmond]

did anyone have to submit a letter stating your history with your spouse?

my wife was reading (in korean) and she said that we need to bring pictures of our wedding and a letter from each of us - where we met, etc etc

[soomin]

Thanks laynamarya and alongtheway~ I went to the gucheong today and got all that out of the way... now I just have to wait for the wedding and it's off to Seoul again x.x

Also, does anyone have the link to the sponsorship form? What website is everyone using for this information?

Finally, does my fiance need to be there to get my marriage certificate stamped at the US embassy?

[laynamarya]

I don't really know anything about a sponsorship form...I don't think we had to do that. We relied mostly on the immigration website, and multiple phone calls directly to immigration to ask about visa stuff.

Your husband does not need to come with you to the embassy; you can do all the embassy stuff alone.

Fezmond, I think proof of the validity of your relationship applies if you met and married outside of Korea. If/when we move to the US, we will have to prove our relationship the same way in order for my husband to get his green card.