Korea's F-3 Dependent Visa: How to Bring Your Family

The F-3 (동반) is Korea's dependent visa for the spouse and unmarried minor children (18 or younger) of qualifying foreign residents. Since April 2025, the Ministry of Justice no longer accepts change-of-status applications for F-3 from inside Korea. Family members must now apply at a Korean diplomatic mission abroad (재외공관), except in narrow humanitarian circumstances. A second wave of changes on July 1, 2025 added financial thresholds and stricter document requirements. If your family is currently in Korea on a tourist entry and you were planning to switch their status, read this guide before making any further plans.

Who F-3 covers and who can sponsor it

F-3 is issued to the spouse and unmarried minor children (미성년 자녀) of a qualifying principal visa holder. "Minor child" here means 18 or younger: the cutoff tracks Korea's civil-law age of majority of 19 (민법 제4조), so a child who is 18 at the time of application qualifies, but a 19-year-old, who is legally an adult, does not. The principal's visa category determines eligibility. The table below lists which categories can sponsor F-3 dependents (as of 2025, verify at HiKorea).

D-3 (industrial trainee) is not on the HiKorea F-3 sponsor list. For D-2 students, immigration can scrutinize financial capability more heavily than it does for work-visa principals, so the spouse or child of a student should expect closer review of income and accommodation.

Bare D-10 status does not automatically allow F-3 sponsorship. Only D-10 (job-seeker) holders who have reached 80 or more points on the job-seeker score system can sponsor an F-3 dependent. If you are on D-10 and below that threshold, confirm your eligibility at 1345 before your family makes travel plans.

E-9 and E-10 ineligibility is a pre-existing rule. The 2025 changes did not alter it. Whether F-2 (resident) and H-2 (working visit) holders can sponsor F-3 is not clearly set out on the official HiKorea F-3 category page; verify your specific case at 1345 before relying on it.

If the principal holds F-4, they can sponsor an F-3 for family members who are not themselves overseas Koreans. See the F-4 visa guide for more on F-4 holder rights.

For the spouse of a Korean citizen, the relevant visa is F-6, not F-3. F-3 covers the spouse of a foreign resident. See the F-6 visa guide for the distinction.

The April 2025 change explained

The Ministry of Justice notice published April 15, 2025 states:

"Change of stay status to Dependent (F-3) visa from within Korea is, in principle, not permitted."

In plain terms: if your family member is already inside Korea when you decide to bring them onto F-3, they cannot simply file a status change (체류자격 변경) at the local immigration office. That route is closed. They must leave Korea and apply at a Korean consulate in their home country (or another Korean diplomatic mission abroad).

According to Fragomen, the precursor to this change came in 2024, when KOTRA Seoul stopped accepting separate F-3 applications. The April 2025 rule extended that closure to all in-country status-change routes, according to Fragomen's April 2025 alert.

Humanitarian exceptions apply. If your family member in Korea is pregnant, recently gave birth, or is seriously ill, they may be able to file from inside Korea with supporting documentation. These exceptions are narrow. Do not rely on them without confirming your specific situation at 1345 or your local immigration office.

The July 2025 financial thresholds

From July 1, 2025, new F-3 applications for longer intended stays require proof that the principal holder earns above a minimum annual income. These thresholds are set by household size (as of July 2025, per KPMG 2025-141; verify with the Korea Immigration Service before applying).

The exact figures above are the amounts reported by immigration firms (KPMG and Fragomen) tracking the July 2025 Ministry of Justice change; the MOJ does not publish them in an English notice. Treat them as a planning estimate, and confirm the current official threshold for your household size at immigration.go.kr or by calling 1345 before you rely on a specific number.

Accepted proof of income

Immigration will accept one or more of the following as financial proof:

• NTS (National Tax Service) income certificate
• Employment contract
• Certificate of Dispatch with recent payslips
• Bank deposit certificates covering at least 6 months

Who is exempt from the financial thresholds

Immigration firms report that certain professional and academic categories are exempt from the income requirement: E-1 (professor), E-3 (researcher), E-4 (technology transfer), and E-5 (professional). High-investment D-8 holders may also be exempt, but the exact investment threshold that triggers the exemption is not confirmed in the official notices reviewed for this guide. If you are on D-8 and want to rely on an investment-based exemption, verify the threshold and your eligibility at 1345 before applying. These exemptions apply only to the financial threshold. All other requirements, including the overseas application rule and apostille documents, still apply.

Two pathways: VICN route vs. direct consular route

Since in-country status change is no longer available, all F-3 applications must go through one of two consular pathways.

Pathway 1: VICN route (사증발급인정번호)

Use this route when the principal holder and the dependent are applying at the same time, for example, when an employer is filing a new work visa for the principal.

1. The principal's employer or sponsor files for the principal's work visa with the Korea Immigration Service.
2. At the same time, they submit a separate F-3 application for each dependent, requesting a Visa Issuance Confirmation Number (사증발급인정번호).
3. Immigration processes both simultaneously and issues a VICN for each dependent.
4. The dependent takes the VICN to a Korean diplomatic mission abroad (재외공관) and collects the F-3 visa there.

The VICN route avoids a separate full review at the consulate. It is faster when everything is filed together.

Pathway 2: Direct consular route

Use this route when the principal is already in Korea on a valid visa and the family now needs to apply for F-3.

1. The family member is currently outside Korea (or must first depart if inside Korea).
2. The principal prepares all required documents in Korea and sends them to the family member.
3. The family member submits the full application package at a Korean embassy or consulate in their home country.
4. The consulate reviews and issues the F-3 visa.

Whether the application must be filed at the consulate of the applicant's home country specifically, or any Korean consulate, has not been explicitly confirmed in published guidance. Confirm the correct consulate with the Korea Immigration Service or 1345 before submitting.

Required documents

All F-3 applications now require:

• Marriage certificate or birth certificate with an apostille (아포스티유) or consular legalization. Unstamped originals are no longer accepted. Apostille is the correct authentication for countries in the Hague Apostille Convention. For countries outside the Convention, consular legalization is required.
• Letter of Guarantee (신원보증서) from the principal holder or their sponsoring employer.
• Proof of accommodation in Korea (lease contract, accommodation letter from employer, or similar).
• Financial proof per the July 2025 thresholds listed above.
• Standard application form, valid passport, and passport-sized photo.

Check the specific document list for your situation with your local Korean consulate or at HiKorea (하이코리아) before submitting, as requirements can vary by applicant nationality and consulate location.

Working on an F-3: you need permission first

F-3 is a dependent visa, not a work visa, so holders cannot take up employment freely. They need permission first.

Before working, an F-3 holder must obtain activity-outside-status permission (체류자격외활동 허가) from immigration. This requirement comes from Article 20 of the Immigration Control Act (출입국관리법 제20조): to do work that falls outside your current status, you must get the Minister of Justice's permission in advance.

The permitted scope is limited. It generally does not cover unskilled labor, and what is allowed depends on the principal's visa category. Because both the procedure and the allowed scope change over time, confirm what your spouse is actually permitted to do, and how to apply, at 1345 or your local immigration office before they accept any work.

For existing F-3 holders: the simultaneous-renewal rule

If your family is already in Korea on a valid F-3, the new rules affect your next renewal.

Immigration firms report that from 2025, the F-3 extension must be filed at the same time as the principal holder's renewal, and that you cannot extend F-3 independently. Missing this timing means the dependent's extension falls out of sync with the principal's application.

The July 2025 financial thresholds and the apostille requirement on family documents both apply at renewal, even for existing holders.

Whether existing F-3 holders must physically depart Korea to renew has not been explicitly stated in any published MOJ guidance reviewed for this guide. Verify your specific renewal situation, including the simultaneous-filing timing, at 1345 or your local immigration office well before the expiry date.

Scenarios: which rule applies to your situation

Humanitarian exceptions

The InvestKorea/MOJ notice and Fragomen's April 2025 alert confirm three humanitarian exceptions for short-term and visa-waiver entrants inside Korea who would otherwise have to depart:

• Pregnancy: with medical documentation confirming the pregnancy.
• Recent childbirth: with a birth record and medical documentation.
• Serious illness: with a medical certificate from a Korean hospital.

These exceptions apply specifically to short-term or visa-waiver entrants. Whether they extend to long-term visa holders in different circumstances has not been publicly confirmed. Do not rely on an exception without presenting documentation to your local immigration office and getting explicit confirmation.

Processing time and fees

Fragomen's July 2025 update notes that the additional requirements have pushed the average F-3 processing time from roughly 3 months to roughly 4 months.

Visa fees are set by the Korean government and vary by nationality. Check the current fee schedule at visa.go.kr before paying. Do not rely on third-party fee quotes, as fees can change.

Plan your application timeline early. A 4-month processing window, combined with the time needed to gather apostilled documents, means starting the process at least 5 to 6 months before the intended arrival date is safer.

Who to contact

• 1345 (Korea Immigration Contact Center): Available in Korean, English, and many other languages. For questions about your specific situation, document requirements, and consulate location.
• Your local Korean consulate: The correct consulate for your home country. Most Korean embassies list F-3 requirements on their websites. Confirm before submitting documents.
• Korea Immigration Service: the Visa Navigator guide for official forms, fees, and guidance.
• HiKorea (하이코리아): hikorea.go.kr for status queries and online services.

Related guides

• F-2 resident visa guide: If the principal holder is building toward long-term residency, this covers the F-2 pathway and what F-3 dependents inherit at renewal.
• F-4 overseas Korean visa guide: F-4 holders can sponsor F-3 for non-Korean-heritage family members. This guide covers F-4 rights and scope.
• F-6 marriage migrant visa guide: If you are married to a Korean citizen, F-6, not F-3, is the right category. The distinction matters for work rights and the path to permanent residency.
• E-9 visa guide: E-9 holders cannot sponsor F-3. This guide covers what options do exist.

@misc{seoulstart-f-3-visa-guide,
  author = {{Seoulstart Editorial Team}},
  title = {{Korea's F-3 Dependent Visa: How to Bring Your Family (2026)}},
  year = {2026},
  publisher = {Seoulstart},
  url = {https://seoulstart.com/guides/f-3-visa-guide},
  note = {Last updated June 5, 2026}
}