Getting Married
Fifty (or more) Ways to Wed
Civil actions, including marriage, are governed by state and local, not federal, law. Each of the 50 states, and sometimes individual counties within each state, have different requirements for marriage. Some require you and your fiancé/fiancée to reside in the state, others have a waiting period between the issuance of a marriage license and when you can actually marry. Age requirements also vary.
You may need official copies of your birth and any records terminating a prior marriage in order to obtain a marriage license. Here's how to obtain vital records in the U.S.
We do not have information concerning state and local laws pertaining to civil actions in the U.S. There are several commercial sites that list the marriage requirements for most venues in the U.S.
You can also contact directly your local authorities (start with the Yellow Pages' entry for the place you'll marry).
Your foreign fiancé/fiancée may have Korean or home government requirements that must be met before s/he can depart Korea and marry overseas. Please check with the Korean or home government authorities. The Korean Embassy and Consulates in the U.S. should be able to help. Start on-line with the Korean Embassy, or use the Yellow Pages to locate a Korean Consulate in a major city near your home.
What Visa Should My Fiancée Use?
Visas enable foreigners to enter the U.S. for different purposes. So, visitor visas go only to would-be tourists, student visas go to hopeful students and fiancé/fiancée visas are necessary for persons intending to marry and reside in the U.S.
All U.S. visas are identified by letters and numbers, fiancé/fiancée visas are designated K-1 and the visa for the fiancé/fiancée's foreign minor child is K-2. A K-1 visa allows your fiancé or fiancée to travel to the United States, marry you, and then adjust status in the U.S. to become a legal permanent resident (LPR).
A K-1 visa must be used within six months of its issue date and is good for only one entry into the U.S. Once your intended spouse enters the United States, the wedding must take place within three months. If you decide not to marry, then your fiancé/fiancée must depart the United States within that three-month period.
If you decide not to marry prior to the K-1 visa being issued, please notify us in writing that you wish to withdraw the petition. Our mailing address is U.S. Embassy Seoul/CONS/IV, 32 Sejong-ro, Jongro-ku, Seoul 110-710 or Unit 15550 APO AP 96205-5550.
If you and your fiancé/fiancée are already lawfully in the U.S., and you have already married, please contact the nearest Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) office in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to seek an adjustment of status. Processing eligibility depends on the foreigner's status in the U.S.
For immigrant visa (IV) inquiries, please click here: IV_Inquiry.
For American Citizen Services (ACS) inquiries, please e-mail us at: seoul_acs@state.gov.
ACS may also be contacted by telephone at 02-397-4114 or by fax at 02-397-4101.
This is an official U.S. Government source for information on the internet. Inclusion of non-U.S. Government links or information does not imply endorsement of contents.
The U.S. Embassy is closed on both U.S. and Korean holidays.
Updated May 2, 2008
General Information
Getting Married
