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Getting Married

If you wish to marry in the United States...   

If you wish to marry in the U.S., you must learn more about:

  • Marriage requirements in the state where you'll get married and
  • How to get the proper visa for your fiancé/fiancée before s/he enters the U.S. for the wedding.

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.

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File the Petition

The first step in applying for a K-1 visa is for the American citizen to file an I-129F petition with one of the four CIS Service Centers in the U.S., located in California, Texas, Nebraska and Vermont. Please contact the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) office serving your place of residence to get started.

An I-129F petition for a K-1 petition for your fiancé/fiancée cannot be filed overseas. The I-129F can only be filed by mail with the BCIS inside the U.S.

The petition form, I-129F, is available on-line. The form contains detailed instructions on what kind of documents must be submitted and the current fee.

You can also get a blank I-129F at the CIS office located on the 3rd floor, window #6, of the U.S. Embassy Seoul. CIS Seoul is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and is closed on both U.S. and Korean holidays. Here is a map to the U.S. Embassy Seoul. You can also request forms by mail from CIS, U.S. Embassy Seoul, 32 Sejong-ro, Jongro-Ku, Seoul 110-710 or Unit 15550 APO AP 96205-5550.

U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) civilian and military personnel may obtain most petition forms from their base personnel or legal offices. U.S. military members stationed in or visiting Korea may have additional requirements before marrying and should consult with appropriate USFK officials.

Prepare Documents

The visa process for fiancé/fiancée in Korea begins when CONS/IV receives the approved I-129F from CIS. At that time, we will send your fiancé/fiancée instructions on how to proceed with the visa process, as well as a detailed list of the supporting documents needed to apply for the visa.

Among the documents needed are a police check, a medical exam, and an affidavit of support with evidence of current, sustained income (I-134) completed by the petitioner. We'll send your fiancé/fiancée full descriptions and instructions once we receive a CIS approved I-129 from the NVC.

Follow this link for more details on preparing for the K-1 interview.

Schedule an Interview

Once we have a CIS-approved petition (I-129F), and after your fiancé/fiancée has all the necessary documents in hand, s/he can request a visa interview by internet.

INTL FAX : 822-397-4501
DOMESTIC FAX : 02-397-4501
DSN FAX : 721-4501

Interview

Most K-1 adjudications and any needed interviews are brief. You may attend the interview with your fiancé/fiancée, but please understand that when our questions are directed to your fiancé/fiancée, s/he must answer on his/her own.

While documents are collected by our local staff, all visas are adjudicated by a U.S. consular officer. The consular officer will either speak English or Korean and conduct the interview alone, or will work with one of our translators to interview in Korean.

Visa interviews are conducted only by appointment at our offices in the morning. If your fiancé/fiancée is found eligible for the visa, it will normally be issued later the same day. However, we can give no prior assurance that any visa will be approved so you should not make any unchangeable travel plans until the visa is actually in hand.

Arrive in the U.S.!

Remember, 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.

After your marriage in the U.S., you must immediately report your marriage to CIS by filing an I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status and other documents with the CIS office having jurisdiction over your place of residence. Please contact the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) office serving your place of residence to get started. You can reach the CIS by phone at 800-375-5283 or on the internet at www.uscis.gov. You can also download here any form beginning with the letter "I", as in I-485.

If your spouse needs to depart the U.S. prior to adjustment of status has been approved by CIS, he or she must first obtain advance parole from the BCIS. Failure to obtain advance parole prior to departing the U.S. will result in the abandonment of the application for adjustment. If your spouse departs the U.S. without approved advance parole, s/he will not be able to return to the U.S. until the U.S. citizen spouse files an immigrant petition, and your spouse must go through the immigration process again.

But I was told that K-1 visas are hard to get, and my fiancé/fiancée should go into the U.S. with only a tourist visa...

Unfortunately there are people who, usually for a tidy sum of money, will offer inaccurate or bad advice.

For example, some travel agents will advise you that a tourist visa is the way for your new spouse to enter the U.S. to begin your new life there. Such advice can, at best, waste time and distract you from the necessary paperwork. At worst, it can lead to fraudulent statements that can see your new spouse found ineligible for any visa to travel to the U.S. It is always the type of travel-- a short visit or a new life living and working in America-- that governs what visa is appropriate.

K-1 and immigrant visas do require more time and preparation than a simple tourist visa, but, in the end, allow you and your family members to begin your new life in the U.S. without the worry and hardships that fraud can place on your relationship. If you begin early, and follow the instructions carefully, your family members can begin life in the U.S. with the proper visa. Let us help you get your new life off to the right start!

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 November 27, 2007