Changing the B-1 Tourist Visa to the F-6 Marriage Visa (South Korea) in a Third Country (for Brazilians)

 안녕하세요 여러분!!!!

Hey guys! I decided to write this post talking about my visa change process, in order to help some people. I had a lot of difficulty in my process, because they didn't have so much information to help me. But, I hope this post helps you clear up a lot of questions.

As I explained in the previous post you first need to register your marriage.

To apply for the F6 you need to have your marriage registered in Korea, that is, you need to get married in Korea. It is not necessary to have the marriage registered in Brazil, just the contrary situation.

 After getting married here in Korea I started the process to apply for my visa. I confess that one of my biggest concerns was having to go back to Brazil and stay away from my husband, so I decided to try to find information on people who applied for a visa in a third country. I couldn't find experiences similar to mine, so I prayed a lot and sent emails to some consulates in neighboring countries of Korea, and among them are: Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, etc.

I didn't get a positive response from all countries, but Singapore and Hong Kong confirmed to me that yes, I could apply for the visa there even though I'm not a resident citizen of the country. This was my first winning, as I already had confirmation that it was possible to apply for a visa in a neighboring country without having to return to Brazil. We decided to go to Singapore, as the visa period was shorter than in Hong Kong (3–4 working days) and they speak English.

My next step was to verify all the necessary documents for the visa application, and fill in the forms. As I decided to apply in Singapore, I entered the following website: Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Republic of Singapore On this website you will find all the forms that need to be filled.

Observation:

As of April 13, 2023, applicants for Immigration by Marriage (F-6) and spouse (“guest”) visas must present a Health Certificate and Criminal Background Check, regardless of their nationality.

As you can see in the note above, this rule was updated this year, so there aren't many cases, or places to look. I thought about it a bit, but I sent an email to the Korean embassy in Brazil asking how this criminal record certificate should be, because there are two ways to obtain it: civil and federal police, and they told me federal.

As I am currently in Korea, and it was at the time of application, I requested the certificate online on the federal police website: Issue Criminal Background Certificate and Validate Criminal Background Certificate, I sent the PDF to my mother, I contacted a registry office that apostille in HAIA (mandatory) and she took it to the registry office, after 1 day it was ready and I asked my sister to send it by mail (I paid the most expensive fee to arrive faster) with less than 1 month the document arrived.

As soon as the document arrived, we looked for an office to translate and authenticate.

What about the health certificate?

This step was quite simple. If you search on (google), you will find hospitals specialized in this (exams for international marriage), but I will leave here the name of the hospital where I visited: 사랑의병원 address: Gyeonggi-do, Ansan-si, Sangnok-gu , Yesulgwangjang-ro, 69KR.

Another constant question is: What about language proof?

Unfortunately I still don't speak Korean. I'm learning, and I need to write another post about how hard studying Korean is 😔... Back to the visa issue, I was worried about the language issue until I read this document:

A part of this document reads as follows: "If there is a language other than Korean in which the couple communicates, and this requirement is met, an additional examination may be performed during the visa application", if you and your husband communicate in English, you can present documents that prove it, such as: Proficiency tests (TOEFL, IELTS, etc.) English course certificates (the rule applies to both).

In my case My English is quite good hahaha and I never took a proficiency test, I almost got to do it when I was applying for a master's scholarship in Europe, but I didn't. So I used an English certificate from when I studied CAMBLY and my husband has a TOEFL proficiency test.

I imagined then that I would have to do an interview in English with several questions about our relationship, but, amazingly... They didn't ask any questions, nor an interview (but it happens from case to case) I believe that my documents were so impeccable and well organized, that there were no grounds for questioning.

Photos and conversations?

You need to provide evidence of your relationship.

And yes, you will have to print conversations and photos of the couple and tell a brief story of how you met. That part is up to your husband. In fact, most of the forms are for your Korean spouse to fill out. Your forms are in English and your spouse's in Korean. I'm not going to list all the documents you need one by one because the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Republic of Singapore website has all the forms and even the Checklist to check if you have all the documents in hand.

A suggestion? Send an email beforehand to the consulate with all your questions. These rules and laws change all the time. Traveling to a third country worked for me, but it might not work for you.

I really hope this post helps you! And I'm available to answer any questions you may have.

See you!