Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lynn05]

Hello, I have read past F6 posts, but I have heard that the immigration laws have changed this year. My fiancé and I are going to get married in December 2014. He is a Korean citizen and I am an American citizen living in Seoul. I currently have an E2 visa.

I have read that we must have 30,000,000 won in the bank in order to get an F6 visa. Is that true? My fiancé makes Korean minimum wage and I make around 2.6 million per month. I've sent most of my wages home to pay off student loans, so we don't have that much saved up. Is it necessary that we have 30,000,000won saved, or can only the Income Requirement Standard apply? I know that we meet that criteria, but I'm worried about not having much saved due to our student loan priorities.

Thank you all for your help in advance~.

[wooden nickels]

[greatunknown]

[Lucas]

[basic69isokay]

Yeah finish those student loans before marriage. Your husband makes 5 bucks an hour? Dang. Well, you better earn 4mil a month then because paying back student loans and then living on five bucks an hour for two people? Wow.
Luckily a female f6 is like what everyone looks for. Are you under 30 and good looking? Move to seoul youll make 4+mil easily

[nicwr2002]

I think it's strange that they are looking at your information on finances. Usually the Korean citizen has to be able to provide the financial stability in order to receive the F6. My wife had to provide her bank statement and proof of residence which required her mother to temporarily wire us the required funds.

I'm sure your husband speaks English well enough right? If not, you will have to pass a basic Korean speaking test.

It depends on the official, but they were very strict about the proof of marriage certificate. If you are from America, you may have a hard time with this.

[pat258]

I also recently changed to an F6 visa, and I can tell you that the "30 million won" requirement is not true. Immigration handles each applicant on a case-by-case basis, but the one solid thing is that your husband has to make a certain amount of money to support you and any dependents you may have, regardless of YOUR income, since he is technically sponsoring your visa. If you have your own housing, that will also help when they do the financial assessment. They may also want to look at his bank statements if they think he doesn't meet the wage requirements.

As far as Korean speaking requirements, if you've been here for a year or more, the requirement is waived. Didn't have to do any tests. And they are very strict about the marriage certificate. If you got married in Korea, shouldn't be a problem, but if you're registered overseas...well, you have a lot of paperwork ahead of you.

If you haven't already, call up immigration and have them e-mail you the documents and forms for the F6 visa. And then do it again a day later, because chances are they'll forget to send you something (all the docs are in Korean).

While your application is being processed, YOU CANNOT LEAVE THE COUNTRY. If you do, they will void your application and you have to start all over again. I had some problems with this, and it was a headache to say the least.

Again, the onus is on him to prove that he can support you. Your income, while it will help, will ultimately not decide your visa application outcome.

[Fox]

When I got mine, they didn't seem to care about our finances at all. Certainly no evidence was asked for that she could support me. Maybe it's changed, or maybe it's always been that way and some immigration branches are just far, far more liberal about policies than others, which may be true given I often hear about people waiting days or weeks for their visa approval, but mine was granted the very same day.

[KimchiNinja]

Yeah the wife says this exists, but we were never asked. Probably there to discourage fake-marriages or marriages between people who can't support themselves. Chinese/Philippines women marrying poor Korean farmers? Dunno.

[greatunknown]

[tob55]

For the F6 family visa the spouse is the sponsor, so the 'family' must provide proof of support and not an individual. If you are applying you have to provide proof of marriage, i.e. legal documents from Korea that you are married, so the 30 million KRW requirement has nothing to do with whether someone is legally married or not. The spouse also has to get a voucher from the equivalent of an attorney that the spouse accepts full responsibility for the person carrying the F6, because if the person does something illegal, both are in hot water. Whether the immigration office formally asks for this proof or not, it is still a requirement and has been for the past 10 years at least, and it is not a case by case situation. An employment contract, or an apartment title or lease also will suffice in the event the family doesn't have 30 million KRW sitting in a bank. The language requirements are really dependent on the particular immigration office you go through. Obviously both spouses are required to be there and the immigration officer is going to speak in Korean. They may speak with the foreign spouse to check them out, but the rules have changed significantly since I received the F2-1 marriage visa way back in the day before it changed to the current F6. The rules are in place to ensure that people gaining the F6 visa are capable of living and supporting their self if they are receiving the visa.

Once you receive the visa life becomes a little better, but you are still a "foreigner" in the eyes of most employers, businesses, and individuals you connect with in the country. A few more employment freedoms that didn't exist on other visas, but it is a good start towards moving into the regular culture, at least in my opinion it is.

[FriendlyDaegu]

[greatunknown]