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Korea to tighten visa rules for immigrants marrying citizens

November 6, 2013
Korea will tighten its visa issuance procedures for foreigners coming to live in the country after getting married. (Yonhap)

Korea will tighten its visa issuance procedures for foreigners coming to live in the country after getting married. (Yonhap)

(Yonhap) In an effort to root out illegal international matchmaking agencies, South Korea will tighten its visa issuance procedures for foreigners coming to live in the country after marrying locals, the Ministry of Justice said Wednesday.

The move is a follow-up to the revision in August last year of a marriage broker law requiring the marriage brokers to have more than 100 million won (US$94,000) in paid-in capital.

The revision, which effectively came into force a year later after a one-year grace period, however, prompted concerns that unregistered agencies, which do not meet the requirement, would provide illegal matchmaking services without the government permit, the ministry said.

The ministry said it will cooperate with consular offices and immigration offices to reinforce the screening of F-6 visa applicants and find those who falsify documents of their dating history.

A South Korean national or any marriage broker who fabricates such documents will be jailed for up to three years or receive a fine of up to 20 million won if found guilty.