Expert Info
on 7 Sep 2016
Hello, I plan to go to Korea next year and I need details on the visa/citizenship/marriage process for a US citizen with a Korean citizen. My plan is to visit first to get myself pre-situated and return to US once before making the final move for Korea. What kind of visa do I need, or do I need one to just visit for a few months? (What is the number of days allowed without a visa?) If I decided to just stay in Korea without returning to the US the first visit, would I be able to apply for visa while in Korea? Or would I have to return to the US and apply? I am already aware that I can get a dual citizenship through marriage. And I do want him to have a dual citizenship as well, so we could have an option to live in Korea or the US in the future- have any input? Thanks so much in advance.
As a US citizen you can travel to Korea without a visa for a stay of up to 90 days and can get married during this time. The Seoul embassy in the US has published some useful guidelines on this here. However, to change to a spouse visa, you will need to leave the country.
As far as I can tell, Korea doesn't allow its citizens dual citizenship (in other words your husband-to-be would have to renounce Korean citizenship to become a US citizen). In recent years the law has also changed so that makes finding accurate information online difficult. Ultimately the laws regarding this are quite complex, and there are exceptions, so I would advise consulting your local embassy on this issue.
Best of luck.
Meagan