How to Register Your Marriage in Korea (혼인신고): A Step-by-Step Guide

The wedding ceremony is optional in Korea and has no legal weight. The marriage report (혼인신고) filed with the family-registration office is the step that creates the legal marriage. This guide walks through how to complete that filing without relying on ceremony assumptions.

For the full overview of Korea's three marriage paths, visa implications, and costs, see the getting married in Korea guide.

This guide covers the mechanics of filing the marriage report. It does not cover broker-arranged marriages or the procedure for marrying at a Korean consulate while you are abroad. Those are separate topics.

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Which office to use: district office (구청), city office (시청), or eup/myeon office

EasyLaw describes the filing place as the city, gu, eup, or myeon office tied to the registered base, address, or current location. In practice, start with the family-registration desk at the office that handles your address.

• In a large city: usually the district office (구청) family-registration desk
• In a smaller city: the city office (시청) or relevant local civil-affairs desk
• In an eup or myeon area: the eup/myeon office (읍·면사무소)

Do not assume every neighborhood community service center (주민센터) takes marriage reports. Some local civil-affairs tables list family-registration filings by eup/myeon or dong availability, and availability can differ by municipality. Call before relying on a 주민센터.

This guide is written for a marriage involving a Korean national, or for a foreign marriage that needs to be entered on a Korean family register. If neither spouse is Korean, confirm your route with your embassies and the Korean family-registration office before assuming this 혼인신고 process applies.

The family registration section inside the office handles these filings. When you arrive, look for the 가족관계등록 or 민원 (civil affairs) section.

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What to bring: the full document checklist

Documents split between the two sides of the marriage. Have originals plus photocopies of identity documents, and ask the office in advance if it wants any extra copy or authentication for your country.

Foreign spouse side

• Passport (original): brings proof of identity and nationality. Take a photocopy of the photo page.
• Alien Registration Card (외국인등록증): bring your current ARC if you have one.
• Certificate of No Impediment or equivalent proof (혼인성립요건구비증명서): the document from your home country or embassy showing that you meet your home-country marriage requirements. The exact document name depends on nationality.
• Korean translation of all foreign-language documents: required for every attachment not in Korean. The translator should provide their name and address and sign or seal the translation.

Freshness rules for the home-country document are office-sensitive. Some offices apply strict issue-date windows, and some countries issue documents with their own validity period. Confirm with the family-registration office before ordering the document or reusing an older one.

For the country-by-country process of getting your home-country document, embassy contact details, and apostille requirements, see the marriage documents from your home country guide.

Korean spouse side

• National ID card (주민등록증) or passport: for identity verification.
• Family relationship certificate (가족관계증명서): EasyLaw notes that family-registration certificates can be omitted when the office can verify them directly, but bring copies if the office asks.
• Basic certificate (기본증명서): same practical rule, ask the office whether it can retrieve it.
• Marriage relations certificate (혼인관계증명서): same practical rule, ask the office whether it can retrieve it.

Both parties

• Completed marriage report form (혼인신고서): signed by both parties before submission. See the next section.
• Two witnesses' information and signatures: their names and registration numbers go on the form, and they sign the witness section.

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The marriage report form (혼인신고서): field by field

The form is Form 양식 제10호 (혼인신고서). Pick it up at the office counter or use the form source your office points you to before visiting.

Here is what each section asks for.

Section 1: Names and registration numbers of both parties

Write the full legal name as it appears on each party's identification document. For the foreign spouse, use the romanized name exactly as it appears on the passport and Alien Registration Card (외국인등록증). If your passport and ARC do not match, ask immigration and the family-registration office how to handle the mismatch before filing.

The Korean spouse records their resident registration number (주민등록번호). The foreign spouse records their alien registration number from the ARC.

Section 2: Nationality and address

Record each party's nationality and current registered address. For the foreign spouse, use the address printed on the ARC.

Section 3: Date and location of the marriage

If you are reporting a marriage in Korea, the office will guide you on the date and location fields. The legal effect comes from acceptance of the report under Civil Act Article 812, not from a ceremony.

Section 4: Witness information

Two witnesses, each recorded with their full name and registration number. Korean witnesses use their resident registration number (주민등록번호). Foreign witnesses normally use their alien registration number if they have one. The witnesses sign this section of the form.

Section 5: Signatures of both parties

Both spouses must sign. If one spouse will not appear in person, ask the office in advance what identity proof, notarization, or seal-certificate documents it will require for the absent spouse.

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Two witnesses: who qualifies

Two witnesses are required under Korean law. Here is what the official rule supports.

Age requirement: Each witness must be an adult, defined in Korean law as 19 years or older (만 19세 이상). Note that this is the witness age, not the marriage age: under Civil Act Article 808 (민법 제808조), an 18-year-old can marry with parental consent, but witnesses on the form must still be 19 or older.

Nationality and relationship: Civil Act Article 812 states that two adult witnesses sign the written report. It does not add a citizenship or unrelated-person requirement in that rule, but offices can still ask for practical ID details.

Presence: The legal requirement is the signed written report. If a witness will not be present, ask whether the office wants an ID copy or other supporting detail.

What they sign: The witness section of the 혼인신고서.

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Counter review: what to expect

Bring complete documents, but do not build plans around an absolute same-day promise.

One official city civil-affairs table lists 혼인신고 as a no-fee filing with immediate processing, but the actual visit still depends on document review. International filings can take longer when the office needs to check foreign documents or translations.

What causes it to take longer:

• A document is missing or untranslated
• The name spelling on the foreign spouse's documents is inconsistent
• Staff need to verify an unfamiliar country's CNI document type
• The office is understaffed that day or the family registration section is busy

You will normally learn at the counter whether the office can accept the submission or what needs to be fixed. The legal effect comes from the accepted report, not the ceremony.

If the office cannot accept the documents as presented, it should tell you what is missing so you can come back with the corrected set.

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Getting your marriage certificate (혼인관계증명서) afterward

Once the registration is accepted, you can get the marriage relationship certificate (혼인관계증명서). This is the document you will need for:

• F-6 spousal visa applications
• National Health Insurance (건강보험) dependent enrollment
• Home country marriage registration
• Any other process that requires proof of marriage in Korea

Common routes:

At the family-registration counter: Ask whether the registry update is already reflected and what fee applies for a certificate copy. One official civil-affairs table lists basic, marriage, and adoption certificates at 1,000 KRW.

Via the Supreme Court e-family registry (efamily.scourt.go.kr): Use the online family-registry system when the record is available there.

If you need the Korean marriage certificate apostilled for use abroad, use the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) apostille or consular-confirmation service and confirm the destination country's authentication rule.

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The 3-month deadline for couples who married abroad (Path C)

If you married outside Korea and are now registering that marriage in Korea, the Family Relations Registration Act (가족관계의 등록 등에 관한 법률) Article 35 sets the deadline.

The rule: 3 months from the date the foreign marriage document is created under the foreign country's procedure.

Where to file:

• At the Korean embassy or consulate in the country where the marriage took place (Article 35, paragraph 1)
• If there is no Korean mission covering that region, at the Korean national spouse's home district office in Korea by mail or in person (Article 35, paragraph 2)

If you prefer filing in Korea rather than through a Korean mission abroad, ask the Korean spouse's registered-base office whether it can receive the report within the same 3-month window.

What you need for a Path C filing:

• Copy of the foreign marriage certificate or equivalent proof issued by the foreign authority
• Korean translation of any foreign-language document
• Identity and nationality proof requested by the Korean office
• Any family-registry certificates the Korean office cannot retrieve directly

The penalty for missing the deadline: A fine of up to 50,000 KRW under Article 122 of the Family Relations Registration Act. Registration after the deadline may still be possible, but ask the office how it handles the late report.

File within the 3-month window if this marriage needs to appear in the Korean family registry.

The F-6 spousal visa is a separate immigration process after marriage registration. See the F-6 visa guide before planning that step.

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Checklist before the office visit

Use this as a preflight check, not as an official rejection ranking.

Missing or stale home-country proof. Confirm the acceptable document type and issue-date window with the office before ordering or reusing a Certificate of No Impediment.

Foreign-language documents not translated. Every attachment not in Korean needs a Korean translation.

Translation not signed by the translator. The translator must sign the translation and provide their name and address. An unsigned translation, or one without the translator's details, is treated as incomplete.

Wrong office. Confirm the correct city, gu, eup, or myeon office before going, especially if you plan to use a neighborhood center.

Witness age. One or both listed witnesses are under 19 years old (만 19세). Replace with an adult witness.

Witness section incomplete. The ID number of one or both witnesses is missing or illegible on the form. Every field in the witness section must be filled in.

Name spelling mismatch. If the foreign spouse's name is spelled differently across their passport, ARC, and home-country document, ask immigration and the family-registration office how to handle the mismatch before filing.

Apostille or legalization missing (Path C only). For marriages registered abroad, ask whether the foreign marriage certificate needs apostille or consular legalization for use in Korea.

Authentication route unclear. For Hague Apostille Convention countries, an apostille can replace consular legalization between convention members. For non-convention routes, confirm the consular-legalization chain before you bring the document to Korea.

@misc{seoulstart-marriage-registration-korea-guide,
  author = {{Seoulstart Editorial Team}},
  title = {{How to Register Your Marriage in Korea (혼인신고): A Step-by-Step Guide}},
  year = {2026},
  publisher = {Seoulstart},
  url = {https://seoulstart.com/guides/marriage-registration-korea-guide},
  note = {Last updated June 6, 2026}
}