Family & Spouse Visas in South Korea
Sponsoring a partner, children, or parents
The F-6 status covers the foreign spouse of a Korean national and is the most privileged family route, carrying open work rights and the shortest path to residence and citizenship. Dependants of foreign workers hold the F-3 status, which permits residence but not employment without a separate change of status.
| Spouse of a Korean national | F-6, open work rights source |
| Dependants of foreign residents | F-3, no work rights by default |
| Sponsor income condition | Applies to F-6, benchmarked to published household income figures |
| Language condition | Basic Korean or a demonstrable common language, with exemptions |
The marriage route
F-6 is granted to the spouse of a Korean citizen, and unusually for Korea it carries unrestricted permission to work. It is also the fastest route onward: naturalisation by marriage is available on a shorter residence clock than general naturalisation, and permanent residence can be reached sooner than on employment tracks.
Because it is privileged, it is scrutinised. Applications commonly require evidence of how the couple met, of communication, of the Korean spouse's income against a published threshold, and of adequate housing. There is also a language condition: the foreign spouse is generally expected to demonstrate basic Korean or a common language shared with the spouse, with exemptions for those who have lived in Korea or studied the language.
Bringing family on a work status
- A holder of most E and D statuses may bring a spouse and minor children on the F-3 dependent status, valid for the same period as the principal's status.
- F-3 does not include the right to work. A dependent who wants a job must apply to change status in their own right, on the same terms as any other applicant.
- E-9 holders are generally not able to bring dependants, which is one of the clearest distinctions between the manual labour track and the professional ones.
- Parents cannot normally be sponsored for residence by a foreign worker; visits are handled through short-stay visas.
Children and nationality
Korean nationality passes primarily by descent rather than by place of birth, so a child born in Korea to two foreign parents does not acquire Korean nationality. A child with one Korean parent generally does, regardless of where the birth occurred.
Children who acquire another nationality at birth alongside Korean nationality are treated differently from adults who naturalise: they may hold both for a period and are required to make an election at a defined age, with male dual nationals facing an interaction with military service obligations.
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Official sources
Checked against these pages in September 2026. Fees and processing times change without notice — confirm before you act.