🌏 Life in Korea | Living with My American Husband 🌏 Language: 🇰🇷 KR | 🇺🇸 EN We’re a Korean–American couple who got married in Korea May 2024 . We decided to hold only a Korean ceremony, while celebrating separately with our U.S. family with a nice dinner and photos later. Because of that, the entire process followed Korean wedding customs , which felt quite foreign to my husband. It was my first time, too, but I at least had some idea of what to expect from my friends and family. He, on the other hand, had never been exposed to how that process works in Korea — so everything felt new. For anyone preparing a wedding with an American or otherwise-foreign spouse unfamiliar with Korean wedding culture , I’m sharing our full wedding timeline and practical tips by stage based on our real experience.
How My American Husband Changed from E2 to F6 Marriage Visa in Korea | A Step-by-Step Guide for Korean–American Couples
My American husband has been working in Korea as a native English teacher on an E-2 visa, so he’s had to renew it every year. Even after we registered our marriage last year, we didn’t feel the need to change his status, since his job itself wasn’t changing.
But once we found out we were expecting a baby, it became clear that the F6 marriage visa would offer far more stability and better access to benefits related to childbirth and parenting.
In this post, I’ll walk through how we changed my husband’s status from E2 to an F6 marriage visa while staying in Korea, plus our real timeline and experience.
1. What Is the F6 Marriage Visa?
The F6 visa is a marriage migrant visa that allows a foreign spouse of a Korean national to live and stay in Korea legally as a family member. You cannot apply based only on a de facto relationship; you must be in an officially-registered marriage.
In our case, we had already completed our marriage registration and my husband was listed on my resident registration card in 2024, so we were able to start the process right away. (For details, see: How we registered our Korea–US marriage in Korea.)
If your spouse is already a registered resident in Korea on another visa (like E2), they can change their status to F6 through a “Change of Status of Sojourn (체류자격변경신청)” without leaving the country.
[TIP] Already in Korea? Search for “Change of Status (체류자격변경신청),” not just “F6 visa.”
At first, I only searched for “F6 visa application,” which led me to prepare way more paperwork than ended up being necessary. I followed the instructions from the Consulate General of Korea in Chicago and filled out the “Visa Application Form (Form No. 17).” But this form is actually for people applying for a Korean visa from overseas.
My husband kept telling me, “There’s a short form (the integrated application form, Form No. 34),” but I couldn’t easily find it online, so I thought, “Just in case…” and worked on the more complex form instead. Looking back, if I had simply searched for “Change of Status of Sojourn” instead of just “F6 visa,” I would've found the right form much faster.
As it was, we ended up filling out a whole stack of forms we didn’t even need...😅 I should have listened to my husband from the start.
The integrated application form (Form No. 34) is just 1 page, while the visa application form (Form No. 17) is 5 pages long.
2. Differences Between E2 and F6
The E2 visa is for foreigners who teach English or other foreign languages in Korea. It’s the visa most native-speaking teachers use when working at Korean schools or private academies (hagwons). There are strict job restrictions. Additionally, it must be renewed every year, and access to some benefits (like certain types of social insurance or support) can be limited. In short, it’s closer to an “entry pass for workers” than a long-term settlement status.
The F6 visa, on the other hand, is for foreigners married to Korean nationals. It feels more like a “family unlimited pass.” There are no job restrictions, the visa is typically issued for 1–3 years at a time, and it also provides a pathway to permanent residency (if that's something you're interested in). Living in Korea on an F6 for at least two years meets the basic residency requirement for F-5.
Once you have children, F6 status is practically essential from an administrative point of view. For childbirth, parenting, and many government services, mixed-nationality couples are often asked to submit additional documents. If the foreign spouse is on an F6, the process usually becomes much smoother because they are treated almost the same as a Korean spouse for many procedures.
[E2 vs. F6 Visa Comparison]
E2 vs. F6 visa comparison chart
3. Who Can Apply for the F6 Visa?
Foreign spouses who are legally married to a Korean national
Your marriage must be officially registered before applying for F6 status
4. Our E2 → F6 Visa Change Timeline
April 22, 2025: Made a reservation for Change of Status (체류자격변경신청)
Original passport of the foreign spouse (with at least 6 months’ validity)
Photocopy of the passport bio page
Visa application fee
[TIP] Bring plenty of cash! (As of May 2025)
F6 visa change fee: 100,000 KRW
ARC re-issuance fee: 35,000 KRW
We didn’t have cash for the ARC re-issuance fee, so we had to use the ATM inside the immigration office. For some reason, that ATM stopped operating around 5:30–5:45 p.m., and you have to insert your passport into the machine, which made the process a bit slow and stressful. Since we went after work, we were really pressed for time. If you’re visiting the Seoul Immigration Office Sejongno Branch in Jongno, I strongly recommend preparing cash in advance.
2) Basic Documents 2: Forms You Need to Write
These are some of the most important documents. Make sure you use the correct format and fill out everything completely.
Letter of Invitation from the Korean spouse (written in Korean)
Letter of Guarantee (written in Korean by the Korean spouse)
Statement of Relationship / Marriage Background (written in English by the foreign spouse)
F6 marriage visa – basic documents 1) and 2)
3) Basic Documents 3: Documents the Korean Spouse Must Prepare
All of these must be original Korean documents, one copy each, issued within the last three months.
Copy of the Korean spouse’s passport (bio page)
Basic Certificate (기본증명서, detailed)
Marriage Relation Certificate (혼인관계증명서, detailed)
Family Relation Certificate (가족관계증명서, detailed)
Resident Registration Certificate (주민등록등본)
Certificate of completion of the International Marriage Guidance Program (if not exempt)
Health Certificate (if not exempt)
4) Basic Documents 4: Documents the Foreign Spouse Must Prepare
Marriage certificate (optional – in our case, my husband was not asked to submit this - whether because he's American, or because we were already submitting the Korean Marriage Relation Certificate, I'm not entirely sure)
Original criminal background check (issued within the last three months)
Health certificate
Any country-specific documents required by the immigration office
F6 marriage visa – basic documents 3) and 4)
5) Documents Related to the Korean Spouse’s Income
You don’t need to submit everything on this list. However, the documents marked as “Common required” are mandatory.
[Common required]
Original income certificate from the National Tax Service (소득금액증명)
Credit report (신용정보조회서)
[If using employment income]
Year-end tax settlement or withholding statement
Employment certificate
Copy of business registration (if applicable)
Additional income proof (optional – only if the above is not enough to meet the income requirement)
[If using business income]
Copy of business registration
Additional income proof (if your official income on the tax certificate doesn’t meet the threshold)
[If using other types of income]
Documents proving other income (pensions, rental income, etc.)
[If using assets]
Proof of savings, insurance, securities, bonds
Property-related documents
[If using family income or assets]
Statement of family income and assets (for the inviter’s family)
Supporting documents (salary, tax, or asset proofs of the family members)
Income-related documents required for the Korean spouse
[Reference] 2025 Income Requirements for Korean Spouses
The Korean spouse’s annual pre-tax income over the past year must meet the threshold for your household size.
2-person household: 23,595,948 KRW
3-person household: 30,152,118 KRW
4-person household: 36,586,638 KRW
5-person household: 42,649,152 KRW
6-person household: 48,388,830 KRW
7-person household: 53,930,568 KRW
2025 Korean spouse's minimum income thresholds for F6 (by household size)
6) Documents Related to Housing
The address you submit must match the address on the Korean spouse’s resident registration.
[If you own your home]
Certified copy of the real estate register (등기부등본)
[If you are renting]
Certified copy of the real estate register
Copy of the lease contract
Housing requirement documents for the Korean spouse
7) Evidence of Your Relationship
If it’s difficult to submit enough evidence, you can attach a written explanation. However, if you and your spouse already have a child together, or if you previously stayed in Korea on F6 with the same spouse without any break in the marriage, this requirement may be waived.
[Common required]
Documents explaining how you met and proving the authenticity of your marriage
Photos of you as a couple and with family, screenshots of chat logs or social media messages, etc. Organized freely on up to 5 pages of A4 paper
[If you met through a marriage agency]
Copy of the agency’s registration certificate
Copy of the insurance guarantee
Copy of the contract
[If you were introduced by a mutual acquaintance]
Copy of the introducer’s ID
This part was honestly the most stressful for me. Everything else could be obtained through government websites like Gov.kr or Hometax, or by simply filling out fixed forms. But this relationship evidence packet had to be created from scratch in free format, which felt overwhelming.
When I searched online, very few people shared concrete examples of how they filled “5 pages of relationship evidence.” So in the end, I used a mix of online research and ChatGPT to design my own template.
I wrote about one A4 page by dividing our story into the sections below, with one paragraph for each:
How we first met
How we stayed in touch
How often we met
What led us to decide on marriage
Why our marriage is genuine
One-page written statement summarizing how we met and our relationship
As supporting evidence, we attached:
Travel photos of the two of us
Photos with both of our families (Korean and American)
Wedding photos
Early ultrasound images from the pregnancy
All of our photos were already stored in Google Photos, and the date and location were automatically recorded, so we simply added screenshots of that metadata as well.
Finally, we also took photos of handwritten letters we had exchanged and included those as additional proof.
Relationship evidence 1: photos of us together
Relationship evidence 2: wedding and family photos
Relationship evidence 3: ultrasound photos from pregnancy
Relationship evidence 4: handwritten letters we exchanged
8) Other Helpful Documents
This isn’t always listed as a required document, but if you’re pregnant, I highly recommend including a pregnancy certificate. It can significantly strengthen your case.
During our visit, the immigration officer specifically asked us to email a copy of my pregnancy certificate as an additional document. Thanks to that, my husband was granted the maximum F6 validity of three years. From what we’ve heard, it’s not very common to get a full three years on the very first F6 issuance.
So if you’re applying for a change of status while pregnant, I strongly recommend submitting a pregnancy certificate along with your other documents.
Pregnancy certificate we submitted as an additional supporting document
9) HiKorea Integrated Manual by Visa Type
On the HiKorea website, you can download the “Comprehensive Guide to Immigration Services by Status of Sojourn” and check the F6 Marriage Migrant section starting on page 468 for the most accurate and up-to-date information.
This post is based on our experience in May-June of 2025. Requirements and formats may change, so please make sure to review the latest official information directly from the link above before you apply.
Official immigration manual published by the Korean Ministry of Justice (as of November 2025)
F6 visa information starting from page 468 of the official immigration manual.
6. Our Experience & Final Thoughts
At first, the sheer number of documents felt overwhelming. Just looking at the full checklist was intimidating, and because I was in my first trimester at the time, I felt even more pressured and tired.
But once we started tackling everything step by step, we realized that as long as the documents were properly prepared, the rest of the process shouldn't be difficult. Since our marriage had already been registered and I was pregnant, most of the screening and processing felt relatively straightforward.
I still remember my husband’s happy face when he walked out holding his new ARC with the F6 status (he also got to show off his three-year visa status to a few envious coworkers). He’s already lived in Korea for over ten years, but getting the marriage visa right as we were about to welcome our baby made it feel much more meaningful.
After the visa change, there were many moments when we thought, “It's a good thing we switched to F6 when we did.” A few months later, we suddenly needed to look into home loans to buy an apartment, and as our baby's due date approached, we had to apply for multiple types of government support related to childbirth and childcare. In all of those processes, the question “Is your husband on an F6 visa?” came up again and again.
If you’re a Korean–foreign couple planning to have a baby in Korea (or even just to live here long-term - especially if you're planning to own a home), I truly recommend switching to the F6 marriage visa earlier rather than later, even if it doesn’t feel urgent yet. Future-you will be very grateful.
This article is the English version on Today 1 Step.
🌏 Life in Korea | Living with My American Husband
Daily life in Korea as a mixed-nationality family.
The real problems we run into, how we solve them, and what it actually takes to build a life here long-term.
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