F-6 Visa After Divorce in Korea: Can You Stay?

This guide is about F-6 eligibility after a marriage to a Korean national breaks down, and which route can still apply. The short answer: possibly, but not automatically. Korea’s marriage-migrant status (F-6) covers three situations. Divorce removes the first, being the spouse of a Korean national. Two routes remain: raising a child born of the marriage, or being unable to continue the marriage because the Korean spouse died or disappeared, or for another reason that was not your responsibility. The Supreme Court has held that this last route does not require you to be entirely blameless; it applies where the main responsibility for the breakdown lies with the Korean spouse. The Minister of Justice still decides each application on its facts, and it has to be filed before your current permitted stay ends.

When This Becomes a Problem

Your permitted stay has an end date, and a divorce does not pause it. Article 25(1) of the Immigration Control Act requires anyone who wants to stay beyond the permitted period to obtain an extension before that period ends. The next application after the marriage breaks down is usually where the question is decided.

It tends to come up when:

Your residence card expires within the next few months.
You are separated, or the divorce case is still running, when renewal falls due.
You divorced by agreement or through mediation, and nothing in the paperwork says why the marriage ended.
You left the marital home because of violence or abuse.
You are raising your child but custody has not been formally decided.

How Korean Law Handles It: Work Through These Questions in Order

Item 27 of Annex 1-2 to the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Control Act defines marriage-migrant status (F-6) in three categories, often called F-6-1, F-6-2 and F-6-3 in practice:

(a) The spouse of a Korean national.
(b) A father or mother raising a child born of a marital relationship with a Korean national (including a de facto marital relationship), whom the Minister of Justice recognises.
(c) A person who was staying in Korea while married to a Korean spouse and cannot maintain a normal marital relationship because of the spouse’s death or disappearance or another reason for which they are not responsible, whom the Minister of Justice recognises.

Working through the questions below, in this order, shows which of these you can realistically consider.

1. Are you still married?

Until a divorce takes effect you are legally still the spouse of a Korean national, so category (a) still describes your legal status. A separation does not change that by itself, but it is a fact the immigration office can consider, and applications must be accurate: Article 26 prohibits false statements and forged or altered documents in these applications.

If the separation involves domestic violence and a court case, investigation or other legal remedy process is under way, Article 25-2 allows the Minister to extend your stay until that process ends, and to extend it again afterwards where needed for recovery from the harm. Article 46-2 also allows the immigration office, while such a process is under way, to defer executing a deportation order or to release a detained person temporarily on conditions.

2. Has the marriage ended or broken down?

Once the divorce is final, category (a) no longer describes you. The permission you already hold still has its expiry date; no provision says it ends on the day of the divorce. Separately, Article 89(1) allows a stay permission to be cancelled or varied in listed situations, including a serious change of circumstances that means the permission can no longer be maintained. Whether that is used depends on the facts.

The question then becomes whether category (b) or (c) fits, or whether a different status does.

3. Are you raising a child born of the marriage?

Category (b) turns on raising the child, not only on being the parent, and recognition is left to the Minister. A parent with day-to-day care is in a different position from a parent with occasional contact, and the custody arrangement made in the divorce is part of the picture. If custody is still being decided, that decision can affect your immigration position as well as your family one.

Does the child have to be a minor? The decree refers to a parent raising a child born of the marriage and does not itself use the word “minor”. In the Ministry of Justice guidance and the court decisions reviewed for this guide, however, category (b) has been applied to parents of minor children, and that review did not find a decision granting it on the basis of an adult child. If your child is already an adult, do not assume this route is available without advice on your own facts.

Can visitation and child support count as raising the child? Raising a child is not limited to living with the child. In the decisions reviewed, what mattered was the parent’s actual involvement: regular contact or visitation, payments of child support or living expenses, and a continuing relationship with the child. A visitation right that exists only on paper, with no real contact or support, has counted against the parent. The facts are generally assessed as they stood when the decision was made, so arrangements put in place only afterwards may carry little weight.

4. Who was mainly responsible for the breakdown?

Category (c) uses the words “a reason for which they are not responsible”. Read literally, that might suggest the foreign spouse must be completely without fault. The Supreme Court has rejected that reading.

In its judgment of 4 July 2019 (Case No. 2018Du66869), the Court held that the phrase means a person who cannot maintain a normal marriage for a reason for which they are not mainly responsible, in other words where the main responsibility for the breakdown lies with the Korean spouse. It reasoned that breakdowns caused entirely by one side are rare, and that requiring the foreign spouse to be entirely blameless could discourage foreign spouses from ending a marriage through lawful procedures and leave room for a Korean spouse to take advantage of that. The judgment interpreted the earlier version of the rule, whose wording for this category is the same as the current item 27(c).

The same judgment addressed how the question is decided:

In a court challenge to a refusal under category (c), the applicant and the immigration authority must each put forward the facts that favour them, and the court weighs them to decide who was mainly responsible. The burden of proving the ground for refusal rests with the immigration authority.
Where a family court has decided who was mainly responsible in a final divorce judgment, the immigration authority and the administrative court should respect that finding unless there are special circumstances.

This does not mean an application is approved whenever the Korean spouse bore more of the responsibility. The Minister still has to recognise the applicant, and the facts of each case decide it. It does mean that “you were partly at fault too” is not, on its own, the legal test.

A divorce by agreement, or a mediated divorce, usually records the terms but not who was responsible. The same applies where a mediation record or a settlement includes a payment of compensation: that alone does not establish that the Korean spouse was mainly responsible. The wording of the record, how the marriage actually broke down and the evidence behind it are examined separately, and a final judgment that sets out specific findings on responsibility carries more weight. If your divorce was by agreement or mediation, the material from the time matters more.

5. Which F-6 route can you consider now?

Still married, no divorce yet: category (a) remains your legal basis; Article 25-2 may apply if violence or abuse proceedings are under way.
Divorced and raising a child from the marriage: category (b).
Divorced, not raising a child, and the Korean spouse died, disappeared, or was mainly responsible for the breakdown: category (c).
None of these fits: another residence status may, but Article 24(1) requires permission to change status in advance and each status has its own requirements.
Nothing fits and your stay is ending: the way you leave matters for the future; see departure orders compared with deportation.

Where more than one route could apply, the choice of route and the evidence filed with it shape the decision.

Not sure which route fits?Tell us your expiry date, how the marriage ended and whether you are raising a child in Korea. A Korean attorney reviews it and replies. No need to call first. Tell us about your case.

What You Should Prepare: The Evidence for Your Route

This is the sixth step, after the five questions above. Immigration offices may ask for different documents depending on the route and the facts. Treat this as a starting list, not a checklist that assures approval.

Passport and residence card, with the exact expiry date noted.
Divorce documents: the judgment (including its reasons), the mediation record, or the confirmation of a divorce by agreement.
Family relationship records showing the marriage and any child.
For category (b): records showing the child lives with you and that you are raising them, such as school, childcare, medical and residence records, and the custody arrangement.
For category (c): records showing why the marriage broke down and who was mainly responsible, such as a family court judgment’s findings, police or court records, protection orders, medical records, messages, witness statements, or proof that the spouse left or stopped supporting the household. Material created at the time is generally more useful than an account written later.
If Article 25-2 applies: proof that the related court case, investigation or other remedy process is under way.

What Happens Next

An extension application is filed with the immigration office before the permitted period ends (Enforcement Decree, Article 31(1)), and the office sends it to the Minister of Justice with its opinion (Article 31(2)). Whether your office processes a move between F-6 categories as an extension or as a change requiring prior permission under Article 24 should be confirmed when you file; either way, file before the expiry date.

If the application is refused, you receive written notice. The departure deadline is the date written in that notice. Article 33(2) of the Enforcement Decree says the deadline stated in the notice must not be more than 14 days from the date the notice is issued, but the existing expiry date may be used instead where the Minister considers it necessary, and a notice refusing a change of status may allow you to stay under your existing status without a deadline. Check the notice rather than assuming a fixed number of days.

A refusal can be challenged through an administrative appeal or a court action for revocation, and the 2019 Supreme Court judgment above arose from exactly that kind of court challenge. Time limits and the effect of filing are explained in the guide on a refused extension. Staying beyond the permitted period without an extension is an offence under Article 94, subparagraph 17, and a breach of Article 25 is one of the grounds on which deportation may be ordered under Article 46(1), subparagraph 8.

When Legal Help May Be Useful

Help is most useful before the application is filed, because the route you choose and the evidence you file with it shape the outcome. It tends to matter most when:

Your permitted stay ends within the next few weeks.
Your divorce was by agreement or mediation and does not record who was responsible.
The Korean spouse’s account of the breakdown differs from yours.
Violence or abuse was part of the history and a case has been or could be started.
Custody has not yet been decided, or you have already received a refusal notice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to prove I did nothing wrong in the marriage?

No. Under the Supreme Court’s 2019 judgment (2018Du66869), category (c) applies where the main responsibility for the breakdown lies with the Korean spouse. Some responsibility on your side does not by itself rule it out, although each application is still decided on its facts.

My divorce judgment says my spouse was mainly responsible. Is that binding on Immigration?

The Supreme Court said that, absent special circumstances, the immigration authority and the administrative court should respect the family court’s finding in a final divorce judgment on who was mainly responsible. It is strong evidence, not an automatic approval.

Does my F-6 end on the day the divorce becomes final?

No provision says so. Your permission runs to its expiry date, although Article 89(1) allows a permission to be cancelled or varied in defined situations.

I am not the custodial parent but see my child regularly. Can I use the child route?

Category (b) refers to a parent who is raising the child, and recognition is for the Minister of Justice on the facts. Regular contact, child-support payments and a continuing relationship with the child have been treated as relevant in the decisions reviewed; a visitation right that is not exercised has not. Gather what shows your actual role in the child’s upbringing rather than assuming either way.

Does a mediated divorce prove that my Korean spouse was at fault?

Not by itself. A mediated divorce, or an agreement to pay compensation, shows how the case ended, not necessarily who was mainly responsible for the breakdown. The wording of the mediation record, the history of the marriage and the supporting evidence are assessed separately; a final divorce judgment with specific findings on responsibility is stronger evidence.

I am separated but not divorced. What should I say at renewal?

You remain legally married until the divorce takes effect. Describe your situation accurately; Article 26 prohibits false statements in applications.

F-6 Visa After Divorce in Korea: The Child-Raising Route and the Korean Spouse’s-Fault Route