South Korea Dependent Visa - Definitive Guide

The F-3 (Dependent Family) visa lets the immediate family of a qualifying foreign resident live together in South Korea. It is issued to two groups only:

• The spouse of the principal visa holder (legally married, any nationality)
• Unmarried children under 19 — biological, adopted or step-children where the legal relationship is documented

The F-3 visa is tied to the principal's visa. Your family's stay duration, renewal and validity all follow the principal's status — the dependent visa does not have an independent life of its own.

The F-3 is not a work visa. Dependents may reside in Korea and go about daily life, but employment and business activity require a separate permission from immigration (see the work section below).

The principal visa holder's category decides whether their family can apply. The current eligibility range, per the Ministry of Justice visa manual:

D-2 and D-4 student principals: a student staying more than 6 months at a Korean university pursuing a bachelor's degree or higher can invite their spouse and underage children as F-3. However, some D-2 and D-4 holders who have stayed for less than 2 years are restricted from inviting their spouse and children unless there are humanitarian reasons. Exchange students (D-2-6), associate-degree students (D-2-1) and visiting students (D-2-8) generally cannot sponsor F-3 dependents at all. If you are a first-year student planning to bring your family immediately, confirm your eligibility with the Korea Immigration Service (1345) before your family applies.

Who does NOT qualify for F-3:

• Parents — parents of students and foreign talent receive an F-1 (Visit/Cohabitation) visa instead, and only in specific cases: parents of master's or doctoral students staying more than 6 months, or parents of workers earning more than twice the previous year's GNI
• Siblings, grandparents and other relatives — not eligible under any category
• Children 19 or older — the cutoff tracks Korea's age of majority; a child who is 18 at the time of application qualifies, but a 19-year-old does not
• Spouses of E-9, E-10 or D-3 holders — these categories cannot sponsor F-3 dependents

The F-3 rules changed substantially in 2025. If the information you are reading is from before 2025, most of it is outdated:

1. No more in-country status changes (since April 2025). A family member already in Korea on a tourist or short-stay visa can no longer file a change-of-status application to F-3 at a local immigration office. They must leave Korea and apply at a Korean consulate in their home country. The only exceptions are narrow humanitarian cases — pregnancy, recent childbirth or serious illness — reviewed individually with supporting medical documentation.
2. Apostille is mandatory (since April 2025). Marriage certificates (for a spouse) and birth certificates (for a child) must carry an apostille from the issuing country, or consular legalization for non-Hague countries. Unstamped originals are no longer accepted. India is a Hague Apostille Convention member, so the MEA apostille process applies.
3. Income thresholds (since July 2025). For stays of 12 months or longer, the principal must prove a minimum annual income scaled by household size. The thresholds are updated periodically.
4. Renewals are tied to the principal. F-3 extensions must be filed at the same time as the principal's renewal — dependents cannot renew independently.
5. Letter of Guarantee and proof of residence are mandatory for all new F-3 applications, regardless of the application route.

For stays of 12 months or longer, the principal visa holder must prove income above the threshold for their household size. The 2026 figures:

A shortfall of less than 10% can be covered by bank deposits held in the principal's name. The thresholds are updated periodically — confirm the current figures at hikorea.go.kr or with the Korean consulate before applying. For reference, the July 2025 baseline (per KPMG's tracking of the Ministry of Justice change) was ₩23,595,948 for a 2-person household, ₩30,152,118 for 3 people and ₩36,586,638 for 4 people, with ₩5,541,738 added per additional person — the 2026 figures above are the updated indexation.

Income is proven with any of the following:

• Certificate of Income for the preceding year, issued by the Korean National Tax Service (for principals employed in Korea)
• Standard employment contract with the salary stated (for principals about to start work in Korea)
• Certificate of employment and pay slips (for income earned abroad)
• Bank deposit certificate held for 6 months or more, where income cannot be verified directly

The India-specific checklist, per BLS International (Mumbai, Hyderabad):

• Passport — original, valid 6+ months beyond the intended stay, with 2+ blank pages, plus a copy of the first and last pages
• One photograph — 3.5 x 4.5 cm, white background, taken within the last 6 months
• Electronic visa application form — completed, printed and signed from the Korea Visa Portal (korea-visa.go.kr)
• Covering letter — explaining the purpose of the application
• Invitation letter — issued by the Korean company (for work principals) or by the principal visa holder
• Business registration certificate — of the Korean company (for work principals)
• Principal's passport copy, visa copy and Alien Registration Card (ARC) copy
• Family relations certificate — marriage certificate (for a spouse) or birth certificate (for a child), apostilled and translated into English or Korean by a certified translator
• Employment certificate / bonafide certificate — of the principal
• Financial documents — 2 years of income tax returns and the last 6 months of bank statements for the principal
• TB certificate — mandatory because India is on Korea's tuberculosis high-risk country list; pregnant women and children under 5 are exempt
• Aadhaar card copy

The apostille is the step most applicants underestimate. In India, a marriage or birth certificate cannot go straight to the MEA — it must first be authenticated at your state's Regional Authentication Centre, then deposited with an authorised agency. The MEA charges ₹50 per apostille sticker and does not publish a turnaround time — start this process at least 3-4 weeks before your visa appointment.

There are two application routes. Choose based on your situation:

Route 1 — VICN (Visa Issuance Confirmation Number), for families applying together or shortly after the principal's visa is approved:

1. The principal applies for a VICN at their local Korea Immigration Service office in Korea (book an appointment at hikorea.go.kr), submitting proof of income, the Letter of Guarantee and proof of residence.
2. Immigration reviews and approves the VICN — allow several weeks.
3. The family member completes the electronic visa application form on korea-visa.go.kr and books an appointment at VFS Global or BLS International in India.
4. The family member submits the documents, biometrics and fee at the application centre, presenting the VICN approval.
5. Once approved, the family member downloads and prints the Visa Grant Notice from the Korea Visa Portal — Korea no longer issues physical visa stickers in passports.

Route 2 — Direct consular application, when the principal is already in Korea on a valid visa:

1. The family member completes the electronic visa application form and books an appointment at VFS Global or BLS International.
2. The family member submits the full document set (including the principal's ARC copy, income proof, Letter of Guarantee and accommodation proof).
3. Biometrics are collected and the fee is paid at the centre.
4. The application is forwarded to the Korean mission for decision.
5. On approval, download and print the Visa Grant Notice from the Korea Visa Portal and carry it with your passport when you fly.

Important: do not book flights until the visa is approved. The Visa Grant Notice is not a guarantee of entry — border officers make the final decision on arrival.

The fee schedule effective 1 August 2026, per the Korea Visa Application Center notice of 30 July 2026:

The F-3 is a long-stay visa, so it falls under the ₹5,400 single-entry category in most cases. The total with the BLS service charge is approximately ₹6,500. Express processing is available only to applicants who have previously visited Korea or hold a visa issuance approval number — confirm your eligibility at the application centre. The old ₹3,775-₹10,075 figures still visible on some pages are pre-August 2026 rates and should be ignored.

Standard processing at the consulate takes 2-4 weeks after submission. The VICN route adds time on the front end — the immigration office in Korea typically takes several weeks to approve the VICN before the family member can even apply in India. Immigration firms report that the overall timeline for a family joining a principal in Korea now runs 3-4 months from start to finish, so plan well ahead.

Photo Specification

• Size: 3.5 x 4.5 cm (35 x 45 mm)
• White background
• Taken within the last 6 months
• Neutral expression, mouth closed
• Head centred and covering 70-80% of the frame
• No glasses
• No headgear except for religious reasons
• Clothing must not match the background

Validity and Renewal

The F-3 visa is valid for the same period as the principal's visa. Renewal is not independent — the dependent's extension must be filed at the same time as the principal's renewal at the Korea Immigration Service, and the income threshold and apostilled documents apply again at renewal. If the principal's visa is cancelled or expires, the dependent's status ends with it.

• Alien Registration Card (ARC): register at the local Korea Immigration Service office within 90 days of arrival. The ARC costs roughly ₩30,000-35,000 and is required for banking, phone contracts and health insurance.
• NHIS health insurance: dependents of a sponsor already enrolled in the National Health Insurance Service are exempt from the usual 6-month residency wait — the spouse and children under 19 can be added to the sponsor's insurance immediately upon arrival. The sponsor's employer's HR department or NHIS directly (nhis.or.kr) handles the enrolment.
• School for children: children on an F-3 visa can enrol in Korean public elementary and middle schools regardless of the parents' visa type. Contact the local district office of education for the enrolment procedure — schools generally require the child's ARC, proof of address and family relationship documents.
• Report changes: address, passport or status changes must be reported to immigration within 15 days.

Not automatically. The F-3 visa carries no default work rights. A dependent who wants to work must first obtain the Permission for Activities Outside Permitted Status from the Korea Immigration Service, under Article 20 of the Immigration Control Act. The permitted scope is limited, depends on the principal's visa category, and generally excludes unskilled labour.

In practice, spouses of E-1 to E-7 professional work visa holders can apply for a professional work pathway — immigration advisory sources report this requires an employment contract and TOPIK Level 2 certification, and is valid for up to one year at a time. Working without permission is a violation that can lead to visa cancellation. Confirm the current rules at the 1345 Immigration Contact Center before your spouse accepts any work.

• Missing apostille on the marriage or birth certificate — the most common reason F-3 files are returned since April 2025
• Income below the household threshold — or financial documents that do not cover the required period
• Principal's visa category does not qualify — for example, E-9, E-10 or D-3 principals
• D-2/D-4 principal with less than 2 years of stay — restricted from sponsoring unless humanitarian reasons apply
• Child 19 or older — outside the F-3 definition
• Incomplete financial documents — missing ITR or bank statements
• TB certificate missing — unless the applicant is exempt (pregnant women, children under 5)

For the full picture on living and working in Korea, see our South Korea visa guide, the student visa guide and the business visa guide. For the latest policy changes affecting Korea visas, check our visa news section.

Need help with your dependent visa? Talk to an expert and get your South Korea Dependent Visa approved faster.

Apply for Visa → | Call Us: 020-49027000 | Email: inquiry@btwvisas.com