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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on December 25, 2009 at 8:08am

That's a good question and I'd like to know the answer too. When we stopped in to immigration in Incheon a month or so ago to extend my visa, the lady at the desk asked why I don't get a marriage visa since I'm married to a Korean. We had never heard that such existed in Korea and she seemed to think it would be a simple matter to get. But then she suggested I should just get permanent residency and the whole visa issue would go away. That was also news to us.

When I got home I went onto the Internet and did some looking around. It turns out that Korea did pass a new law a couple years ago permitting permanent residency in Korea, but it is clearly targeted toward ethnic Koreans.

So, the upshot is that I don't know what's going on with permanent residency in Korea and would really like to know. If anyone else has better information on it than I do, please share.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Cresswell (ASK Now Inc.) on December 27, 2009 at 11:19am

Hello,

Steven, being married to a Korean, you should definitely be on an F2 visa. It is really easy to obtain with minimum documentation and minimum hassle. I've been on an F2 for a few years now and will upgrade to the F5 visa soon.

The F5 is likely what Dom is interested in if not married to a Korean. There are several different ways to qualify for the F5 based on either how long you've been here or also based on financial capability. Instead of repeating what someone has already said better, I will refer you to this article for a thorough explanation:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13413455/Korea-Herald-20090318

Just click the "Full Screen" mode to be able to read with ease.

Hope that helps.

Jason

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Permalink Reply by Dom LaVigne on December 27, 2009 at 11:28am

Hi Jason,

Thank you -- this was really informative, especially as an insight into other visa-related issues for being an expat in Korea (e.g., getting mobile phone service). It's interesting, because despite some restrictions I have seen in other Asian markets about tying certain services or contracts into your visa, I've never run across a situation where things like mobile phone contracts are tied into work visas.

---Dom

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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on December 27, 2009 at 1:36pm

Thanks, Jason. That is very helpful information.

Steven

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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on January 10, 2010 at 6:15am

For the record, here is a PDF file of the article mentioned by Jason above.

Attachments:

• Information about Korean Permanent Residency.pdf, 1.2 MB

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Permalink Reply by Dom LaVigne on January 10, 2010 at 6:19am

Thanks Steven! Appreciate your help.

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Permalink Reply by Lara Tosh on April 29, 2010 at 1:08pm

Marriage to a Korean national DEFINITELY reduces the cost: I'm unsure about the amount of money that one needs to "invest" in the Korean business sector to be elligible for PR, but the Seoul Global Center will know.

If you're married to a Korean national, you must hold an F2-1 (spouse of a Korean national) visa for at least 2 years to be elligible to apply. There is an interview required (with both spouses present) and the whole proces takes roughly between 3 weeks to 2 months depending upon how busy Immigration is at the time you apply ^.~.

All of the above is based upon my personal experience since getting married (to a Korean national) in 2006 ...I "upgraded" to F5-9 status (F5 = PR status -the "9" simply designates that I obtained the status via marriage) in 2008, so that means this info is about 2 years old.

I hope it helps a bit, anyways^.^ ..oh yeah and note that F5 (regardless of how you obtained it), is only lost via commiting a felony.

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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on April 29, 2010 at 1:10pm

That's very good to know. Thanks.a lot!

But you can also lose the F5 by being outside Korea too long though, no?

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Permalink Reply by Dom LaVigne on April 29, 2010 at 1:13pm

Hi Lara,

Thank you, this does help. In fact, I saw your other posting on KBC this morning and it peaked my curiosity to see your F5 status, as I don't know any expats in Korea who are PRs.

On a not directly-related note, I can't locate the article, but just read an interesting piece in one of the Korean media this morning that the govt is looking to create legislation that would forbid foreigners (presumably women from developing countries) who marry Korean men from being allowed to work in the "entertainment" industry. Quite an interesting story, both from the govt's desire to tighten up on sham marriages, and also encourage more of a wholistic, family-oriented process for KR-foreign marriages (i.e., not just marriages of convenience).

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Permalink Reply by Lara Tosh on April 29, 2010 at 1:22pm

VERY interesting indeed ^.^ ...am wondering what the Korean advertising & media industry (ie: movies, promos for corporations, consumer adverts, radio programs, voice-recordings, etc.) is going to say about that.

Currently, only certain visa types are allowed to do that sort of stuff (ie: F2s, F5s & whatever the "entertainment only" visa type is) -and there is a HUGE amount of work out there.

...and yes, I forgot about the "must not be out of the country for more than 365 consecutive days" rule for F5s ^.^ -thanks, Steven!

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Permalink Reply by Dom LaVigne on April 29, 2010 at 1:31pm

Sorry, I was trying to be euphamistic, but by "entertainment," I was referring to the vice industries that were mentioned in the article (e.g., prostitution, masseuses, karaoke, room salons, etc.)

I'm pretty sure legitimate entertainers won't be covered under this legislation... :-)

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Permalink Reply by Dom LaVigne on April 29, 2010 at 2:05pm

Here's the article, which a friend on KBC just sent me:

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2919824

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