If you are marrying a Korean citizen and moving to Korea, two things run on separate tracks: the marriage itself, and the visa that lets you live here. Registering the marriage does not get you into the country. The F-6 marriage migrant visa is a separate application with its own screening.
There is also a second thing worth knowing, and most English-language guides skip it. If a brokerage arranged the introduction, Korean law gives you the right to receive written, notarized information about your prospective spouse — in a language you can read. Not as a favor. As the broker's legal obligation, with a criminal penalty attached.
I read the two statutes so this page could quote them: the Act on the Regulation of Marriage Brokerage Agencies and the Enforcement Rule of the Immigration Act.
What a broker must hand you, in writing
Article 10-2 of the brokerage act. The provision is long, so here is the core of it:
① An international marriage broker shall receive the following personal information from the user who concluded a contract (…) and from the counterpart of the marriage brokerage (…), have it authenticated by a notary public of the relevant country, and then provide it in writing to the counterpart and to the user:
1. Marital history
2. Health status (including whether the person has acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, a sexually transmitted infection, or a mental illness)
3. Occupation
4. Criminal history related to sexual violence, domestic violence, child abuse, and the arrangement or coercion of prostitution, and any criminal history of imprisonment or heavier punishment within the last 10 years
5. Other matters prescribed by the laws of the counterpart country
Three details matter here. It must be in writing, not explained verbally. It must be notarized in the country it comes from. And supporting documents travel with it.
The health document has a specific standard
② The document concerning health status under paragraph (1) 2 shall mean a health examination certificate issued by a hospital-level medical institution designated as an examination institution under Article 14 of the Framework Act on Health Examinations (…)
A note from a small neighborhood clinic does not satisfy this. If the hospital has no psychiatric department, the provision requires the mental-health portion to be done with the cooperation of a psychiatrist.
"In a language they can understand"
This is the sentence that matters most if you are the foreign party:
③ The personal information under paragraph (1) shall be written in a language that the user and the counterpart receiving the information can understand.
Handing you Korean-language documents you cannot read does not satisfy the statute. You are entitled to a version you can actually read. Article 10-3 adds that the broker shall provide interpretation and translation services — again, an obligation, not an optional extra.
The five categories, at a glance
| Category | What the provision requires |
|---|---|
| Marital history | In writing, notarized |
| Health status | AIDS, sexually transmitted infection and mental illness included; certificate from a designated hospital-level institution |
| Occupation | In writing, with supporting documents |
| Criminal history | Sexual violence, domestic violence, child abuse, arrangement or coercion of prostitution + imprisonment or heavier within 10 years |
| Counterpart country's requirements | Varies by country |
| Language | One the recipient can understand |
Note what is not on this list: nothing here is about nationality. The categories are the same whoever the two people are.
And it goes both directions
Read the provision again: the broker receives the information from the user and the counterpart, and provides it to the counterpart and the user.
So the Korean party's marital history, health status, occupation and criminal record — including any record of sexual violence, domestic violence or child abuse — is supposed to reach you too, in writing, in a language you can read. This is not a one-way vetting system. If you were never given anything about the person you are marrying, something was skipped.
What happens if the broker does not do this
Article 26(2)4 makes it an offence:
A person who, in violation of Article 10-2(1), fails to provide personal information, omits an important matter, or intentionally provides false personal information
The penalty under that paragraph is imprisonment for up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million won. Article 27 adds joint liability: if an employee commits the violation, the company or proprietor also faces the fine.
Limits on how introductions may be conducted
Article 12-2 prohibits brokers from:
1. Introducing a person under 18 years of age
2. Introducing two or more counterparts to a user at the same time
3. Introducing two or more counterparts to two or more users simultaneously or sequentially on the same day at the same place
4. Lodging two or more foreigners at the same place for the purpose of marriage brokerage
These read like a list of practices someone had to legislate against, because they were happening.
Advertising has limits too
Also punishable under Article 26(2):
A person who displays or advertises content that is false or exaggerated, or that discriminates on grounds of nationality, race, sex, age, occupation, etc. or is likely to encourage prejudice, or content that risks human trafficking or human rights infringement
If you have seen advertising of that kind, it is not an industry quirk. It is conduct the statute attaches a penalty to.
Now the visa side
Enforcement Rule of the Immigration Act, Article 9-4:
① For a foreigner to be issued a visa for the purpose of marriage cohabitation falling under (…) Marriage Migrant (F-6) (…), an invitation by the spouse is required. In such cases, the inviter becomes the guarantor of the invitee.
Your Korean spouse must invite you, and by doing so becomes your guarantor. Paragraph 2 adds that where the applicant falls within categories announced by the Minister of Justice, the inviter must complete the international marriage guidance programme and attach the certificate, or write the completion number on the invitation.
The categories, the programme's operation and the income figures are all set by ministerial notice rather than by the rule itself, so I am not quoting numbers here. Check them for your situation before applying.
What the consulate examines
Article 9-5(1) lists the screening items. The notable ones:
| Item | What it means |
|---|---|
| How you met, and intent to marry | Genuineness of the marriage |
| Whether the inviter invited another spouse within the last 5 years | Invitation history is checked |
| Income requirement | Announced annually by the Minister of Justice, based on median income |
| Mutual provision of health and criminal record information | The brokerage documents, checked again here |
| Basic Korean language ability | Standard set by ministerial notice |
| Housing | A place where a couple can actually live together |
Look at the fourth row. The documents the brokerage act already requires are verified a second time at the visa stage. Two statutes covering the same ground.
Goshiwon, motels and greenhouses are not housing
The housing item carries an unusually specific caveat:
In such cases, places that are difficult to regard as somewhere a couple can generally live together on a continuing basis, such as goshiwon (tiny single rooms), motels and vinyl greenhouses, shall not be regarded as securing normal residential space.
Statutes rarely name specific building types. That they do here tells you what was being submitted.
Your Korean spouse is screened as well
This is the part worth knowing if you are the foreign spouse. The same article looks at the inviter's record.
Where the inviter has a history of domestic violence offences, or of sexual violence, specified violent crimes or homicide, the consulate checks whether 10 years have passed since the sentence was completed or the judgment became final. For a prior conviction for filing a false marriage report, the period is 5 years.
These provisions exist to protect the incoming spouse. They are not a formality.
If the visa is refused, it is six months
③ Where a visa is not issued following the examination (…), the applicant may reapply after six months have passed from the date of refusal, having reconsidered the genuineness of the marriage with the spouse. However, where there are urgent circumstances requiring entry into Korea, such as childbirth, the application may be made before six months have passed.
So submitting a thin application to "see what happens" is expensive. It costs half a year.
What to take from this
If a broker was involved, you should have received written, notarized documents covering five categories about your prospective spouse, in a language you can read — and your own documents should have gone the other way. If that did not happen, the omission is on the broker, and the statute treats it as an offence.
For the visa, your spouse invites you and becomes your guarantor, the consulate examines income, housing, Korean ability, the mutual exchange of records, and your spouse's own criminal history. A refusal means six months.
Sources
Quoted provisions are from the Act on the Regulation of Marriage Brokerage Agencies (Act No. 21271, in force 1 July 2026) and the Enforcement Rule of the Immigration Act, as published by the Korea Ministry of Government Legislation at the National Law Information Center (law.go.kr), read on 6 September 2026. Translations of provision text here are my own rendering for readability; the Korean original governs.
Income thresholds, the Korean language standard and the guidance programme categories are set by notice of the Minister of Justice and are not quoted here. Confirm them with the Korean embassy or consulate handling your application, and with the immigration office for your spouse's address.
