When a foreign professional accepts a position in Korea, the first question at home is rarely about the salary. It is whether the spouse and children can come too, whether the children can go to school, and whether the spouse can keep working. Korea's answer to those three questions is: usually yes, yes, and no — and the third one is where families get into difficulty.
→Who Can Actually Bring Dependents
The dependent family visa (동반비자, dongbanbija), designated F-3, is available to the spouse and unmarried minor children of a foreign national holding certain long-term statuses. Broadly, it tracks the professional, study, and business categories — but it is deliberately not available across the board.
| Principal's Status | Dependents Eligible for F-3? |
|---|---|
| D-2 (student), D-8 (corporate investment), D-9 (trade management) | Yes |
| E-1 to E-7 (professor, language instruction, research, specific activity, etc.) | Yes |
| E-9 (non-professional employment, 비전문취업 bijeonmunchwieop), E-10 (crew), H-2 (working visit, 방문취업 bangmunchwieop) | No — dependents are not permitted under these statuses |
| F-2, F-5, F-6 holders | Family members generally apply under their own F-category status rather than F-3 |
The exclusion of E-9 (비전문취업, bijeonmunchwieop) and H-2 (방문취업, bangmunchwieop) is not an oversight or a paperwork problem to be argued around — it is a deliberate policy line. Workers in those categories asking how to get their spouse an F-3 are, unfortunately, asking a question with no route behind it.
→Who Counts as a "Dependent"
- A legally married spouse — a relationship recognized as marriage in the country where it was formed, documented by an authenticated marriage certificate. Unmarried partners, however long-standing, do not qualify
- Unmarried minor children — including, in appropriate cases, a stepchild or adopted child where the legal relationship is properly documented
- Not parents, not siblings, not adult children — the F-3 category simply does not reach them, and a separate basis has to be found if they are to come at all
Documents issued abroad generally need an apostille (아포스티유, apostiyu) or consular legalization, plus a certified Korean translation. Families routinely underestimate how long it takes to get a marriage certificate authenticated in the home country, and that step is often what actually sets the arrival date.
→The Work Restriction — And How Families Get Caught
An F-3 holder's permitted activity is accompanying the principal. Employment is not included. A spouse who takes even part-time work — tutoring, a café shift, freelance design, online work paid into a Korean account — is engaging in activity outside their status unless they have first obtained permission to engage in activities outside status (체류자격 외 활동허가, cheryujagyeok oe hwaldonghega).
"It was only a few hours a week" is not a defense to working outside your status — it is a description of the offense.
- Working without that permission exposes the spouse to a fine, a departure order (출국명령, chulgungmyeong), or in serious cases a deportation order (강제퇴거명령, gangjetoegeomyeongnyeong)
- It can also damage the principal's position, since the family's compliance history is visible at renewal and at any later application for permanent residency (영주권, yeongjugwon) or naturalization (귀화, gwihwa)
- The correct route is to apply for permission in advance, or to change status to a category that permits the work — not to start working and regularize it later
→Status, School, and Health Coverage
- The F-3 is tied to the principal. Its permitted period of stay follows the principal's status, and if the principal loses or changes status, the dependents' status is affected with it
- Children can attend school. Enrollment in Korean public schools is generally available to foreign children residing in Korea, and international schools have their own admission requirements
- Register within 90 days. Dependents staying long-term must complete alien registration (외국인등록, oegugindeungnok) and report address changes — a step families forget in the chaos of moving
- Health insurance follows the principal. Dependents can generally be covered as dependents under the National Health Insurance (국민건강보험, gungminGeonganboheom) enrollment of the principal, subject to the applicable requirements
Planned properly, an F-3 (동반비자, dongbanbija) is one of the smoother parts of moving a family to Korea. The problems almost always come from the same two places: assuming the category is available when the principal's status excludes it, and assuming a spouse who is legally resident is therefore legally employable.