If you are living in Korea on an F-6 marriage visa and your marriage ends in divorce, you may be concerned about whether you can continue to stay in Korea.
Divorce does not always mean that you must leave Korea immediately.
Depending on why the marriage ended and your individual circumstances, you may be eligible to continue your stay under the F-6 category for persons whose marriage has been discontinued.
One of the most important issues is whether the marriage ended for reasons that were not attributable to you.
What Is the F-6-3 Status?
F-6 is Korea’s status of stay for marriage migrants.
It includes not only foreign spouses who are currently married to Korean nationals, but also certain foreign nationals who are raising children or whose marriage has been discontinued.
F-6-3 generally refers to cases where a foreign spouse was unable to maintain a normal marriage due to reasons not attributable to the foreign spouse, such as circumstances involving the Korean spouse.
Therefore, the fact of divorce alone is not enough. How and why the marriage ended matters.
Why Did the Marriage End?
When applying to stay in Korea after divorce, immigration authorities may review the circumstances that led to the breakdown of the marriage.
Relevant circumstances may include:
- Domestic violence or abuse
- Repeated verbal or psychological abuse
- Abandonment by the Korean spouse
- Adultery or other serious marital misconduct
- Failure of the Korean spouse to fulfill marital responsibilities
- Other circumstances that made it difficult to continue the marriage
Each case is different, so the circumstances need to be supported by appropriate documents and evidence.
What Evidence Can Be Used?
Evidence will depend on what happened during the marriage.
Documents that may help establish the circumstances include:
- Divorce judgment or court documents
- Police reports
- Medical records or medical certificates
- Photographs of injuries
- KakaoTalk, LINE, text messages or other communications
- Audio recordings
- Counseling records
- Records from domestic violence shelters or support organizations
- Statements or other documents showing the circumstances of the marriage
A divorce judgment can be particularly important when it clearly describes the circumstances of the marriage breakdown and the responsibility of the parties.
Evidence should be considered as a whole rather than relying on only one document.
What If the Divorce Case Is Still in Progress?
Immigration status can become more complicated when the divorce proceedings have not yet been completed.
If your current F-6 status is approaching expiration while a divorce case is pending, you should consider your immigration status before the current period of stay expires.
The appropriate status and procedure can differ depending on the stage of the divorce proceedings, the reason for the breakdown of the marriage, whether you have children, and other circumstances.
For this reason, it is better to address the immigration issue while the divorce proceedings are still in progress, rather than waiting until your current period of stay is about to expire.
What If You Are Raising a Child in Korea?
Having a child with a Korean national can affect your immigration situation.
F-6 also includes certain foreign parents who are raising a child born from a marriage with a Korean national.
Therefore, if you have a child, issues such as the child’s nationality, custody, parental rights, and your actual involvement in raising the child may need to be considered separately from the reason for divorce.
Special Immigration Access for Victims of Violence
Korea recently expanded access to immigration services for foreign victims of violence.
Foreign nationals who are victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, child abuse or human trafficking and are staying at a shelter or other designated protection facility may now apply for certain immigration permissions at the immigration office that has jurisdiction over the location of the protection facility.
This means that a victim who has moved away from the previous residence for safety reasons does not necessarily have to return to the immigration office responsible for that former place of residence.
This measure is particularly relevant to marriage migrants who have left their home because of domestic violence.
Prepare Your Immigration Status Before Your F-6 Stay Expires
Divorce and immigration are separate procedures, but they can affect each other.
If you are considering divorce or are already involved in divorce proceedings, keep records that explain what happened during the marriage and how the marriage ended.
You should also consider your immigration status before your current F-6 period of stay expires.
The appropriate documents and procedure will depend on the reason for divorce, court proceedings, available evidence, children, and your individual circumstances.
Contact Hyunsol
Hyunsol Visa & Immigration assists foreign nationals with F-6 status of stay and immigration procedures after divorce.
We can help organize the documents related to your marriage and divorce, prepare the immigration application, and respond to requests for additional documents during the review process.
Tel. +82-10-8898-2411
KakaoTalk ID. hyunsol-office
Email. hyun_solutions@naver.com
Office. #507, Hyoryeong Building, 32 Mugyo-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, Korea
