By I’ve been reading official sites and documents like the Guidebook for Foreign Spouses, but I can’t find info on my specific situation.
Have any of you gotten an F-2 visa while living outside of Korea before you went to Korea?
Have any of you gotten the F-2 to go to Korea but your Korean spouse was going to remain living and working in your home country?
If this is like the US, the main thing they’ll be worried about is whether or not I’ll be able to support myself and not taking money from the state. I could prove that through her parents – like we had to do with my sister when my wife came over after we were married because I did not have a job in the US since I’d been living in Korea for 4 years. Or, I could get an E-2 visa or possibly just a notorized and signed contract to work in Korea and then apply for the F-2 here in the US before I left…
…but I don’t know…
I would definitely love to have the flexibility and freedom the F-2 gives that the E-2 is woefully lacking….but since my Korean wife is going to remain in the US, I don’t know if it will be possible…
It is the sad reality. No mistake...
12:16 pm on June 14th, 2009 1
Can your wife re-enter Korea long enough to go through the hoops at immigration with you? If she isn't with you to go through the hoopla, I think you're going to have one bugger of a time proving that you're legit.
Sorry. I've got no personal experience with this, but I have seen several friends go through it over the years.
The only other source of support I can think of is your wife's family, if they are still here, however I'm not sure how much help they will be with immigration.
2:06 pm on June 14th, 2009 2
From what I've been reading now, I think her parents could do the "invitation" paperwork which seems to be clearly intended for not the Korean spouse but other relatives. It is one of the two ways mentioned about getting the F-2 – and the info on it specifically mentions doing the application process while outside of Korea (on the spouses part).
My wife and I can go to the Consulate with the marriage certificate and family registry stuff.
But, I've also noticed that a number of the embassy and consulate websites I've looked at for different cities and English-speaking countries — don't even mention the F-2 at all…. They jump from F-1 to F-3 or F-4….
4:31 pm on August 20th, 2009 3
The Korean spouse must reside in Korea with you. Application materials include her household registration and tax payment records, which she would not have if not actually resident in Korea.