Hello. I'm Attorney Kim Yae Jin. I would like to introduce a case in which I won a lawsuit to cancel the immigration office’s decision to reject a change of status of VISA for a foreigner A who applied for permission to change the status of VISA to a marriage migrant visa (F-6) despite having a valid reason.

Overview of the case

Ms. B, a North Korean defector, had been in a de facto marriage with her spouse Mr. A for over 10 years in the spouse's country of citizenship. After entering South Korea and completing the education at the Hanawon, she registered as a Korean citizen. She then married Mr. A in South Korea and invited Mr. A to South Korea on a marriage migrant visa(F-6).

Mr. A entered Korea on a marriage migrant visa (F-6), but his mother in his home country was in critical condition and needed nursing care, so he returned to his home country less than a month after entering Korea. Ms. B and Mr. A stayed apart for several years and continued to communicate only by phone or chat. Mr. A applied for a marriage migrant (F-6) visa at the embassy again, but the visa was rejected for reasons such as Ms. B not meeting the income requirement and the authenticity of the marriage not being recognized.

In the end, Mr. A entered Korea with a short-term visit (C-3) visa issued by the embassy and applied for a change of status of VISA to a marriage migrant visa(F-6) at the immigration office in Korea.

However, the immigration office issued a decision to reject the change of status of VISA for the following reasons.

1. When he entered Korea with a marriage migrant visa before, he did not live with Ms. B and left the country.

2. The income requirement was not met.

3. The sincerity of the marriage was difficult to be recognized.

Attorney Kim Yae Jin represented Mr. A in this case. The following arguments were used to guide the direction of the lawsuit.

1. Mr. A and Ms. B had been in a de facto marriage for more than 10 years, and Mr. A entered Korea on a marriage migrant visa(F-6) and maintained the marriage by continuously contacting each other even after leaving the country.

2. The Korean sponsor, Ms. B, is a disabled person who has been suffering from a long-term illness and is unable to work, so he cannot meet the income requirement.

The above arguments supported the basis for the lawsuit to cancel the decision to reject the change of status of VISA.

The court accepted Mr. A's arguments and, in addition, ruled to cancel the previous disposition of the Immigration Office, as there were humanitarian reasons.

With the help of attorney Kim Yae Kin, Mr. A was able to obtain permission from the immigration office to change his status of VISA to a marriage migrant visa(F-6), allowing him to stay in Korea for a long period of time and continue his marriage with Ms. B

When a foreigner has to deal with legal issues in another country, they may face a difficult situation that is difficult to handle alone. If you are currently facing difficulties due to legal issues such as visas/permanent residency, naturalization, overseas Koreans, or foreign litigation/legal affairs, please find a solution with attorney Kim Yae Jin, a visa specialist, and resolve your problems quickly.

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Contact Us

Yae-jin Kim, esq.

Phone: 031-217-8579 (Kakao Talk: k.visa)

Email: questions@kvisa.co.kr

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