What the Family and Education Service Covers
The family file runs on a different calendar from the assignee's. School admission cycles do not bend to a start date, and the documents that prove a family relationship are issued abroad and have to be legalised, so both are started early.
F-3 dependent status for the spouse and children
Prepared with the principal application, because F-3 derives from the assignee's status. It covers the spouse and minor children without a spouse of a person holding a status from D-1 through E-7, F-2, F-4 or H-2, excluding D-3.
The family document set
The original public document from the home country — a marriage certificate for a spouse, a birth certificate for a minor child — with a translator's certification attached, an apostille for a convention country and consular confirmation from the Korean mission otherwise. A tuberculosis certificate is required under the immigration guidance.
School shortlisting and application support
Curriculum, language of instruction, admission timing and the realistic commute from where the family can actually live. We shortlist against the household's constraints and support the applications; admission decisions rest with the schools.
Healthcare access for the household
The family's position under national health insurance, and finding clinics and hospitals where consultations can be held in English, Japanese or Chinese.
Spouse activity and career questions
What a dependent status permits, and what has to be applied for before a spouse takes up any paid activity.
How the Family File Runs
Because F-3 is derivative, the family sequence tracks the assignee's — with one addition: the school, which usually has to be settled first and moves slowest.
Family composition and school requirement confirmed at intake
Ages, current curriculum, the language the children are studying in, and whether continuity of curriculum matters more than location. This decides the district as much as the office does.
Home-country documents ordered and legalised
Marriage and birth certificates in the original, apostilled or consularised and translated. This is started at the same time as the assignee's employment documents, because it is the same bottleneck.
F-3 prepared with the principal application
Filed together with the assignee's rather than left for after arrival, so the household travels on one timeline.
School shortlist, visits and applications
Run in parallel with the housing search, since the two constrain each other. Admission timing is the fixed point that the rest of the move is planned around.
Arrival, alien registration for each family member
Each family member staying more than 90 days completes alien registration in their own right, within 90 days of entry.
Health insurance position and the household set-up
The family's position is assessed separately from the assignee's rather than assumed to follow it, and the everyday healthcare, banking and school logistics are put in place.
What a Spouse May Do on a Dependent Status
This is the question most often asked late, and the answer is narrower than families expect. A foreign national who wishes to be employed in Korea must hold a status of stay that permits employment activity. A dependent status is granted for accompanying the principal, not for employment.
Where a spouse wishes to take up paid activity, the route is an application: permission for activities outside the status of stay, where the activity falls under a different status alongside the current one, or a change of status of stay, obtained in advance. Both are assessed on the facts — the employer, the role and the spouse's own qualifications — so this is checked before an offer is accepted rather than after.
| Question | Position |
|---|---|
| Who is covered by F-3 | The spouse, and minor children without a spouse, of a person holding a status from D-1 through E-7, F-2, F-4 or H-2; D-3 is excluded |
| When it is applied for | With the principal's application — it derives from the principal's status |
| Evidence of the relationship | Original home-country public document, translator's certification attached, apostille or consular confirmation |
| Health check | A tuberculosis certificate is required under the immigration guidance on visa issuance and stay management |
| Livelihood and residence evidence | Certificate of employment and tax payment certificate of the inviting principal, and evidence of the place of residence — not required from the categories the manual exempts, which include a D-8 investor whose investment reaches USD 500,000 or more |
| Employment on F-3 | Not permitted as such; employment requires a status permitting employment, so prior permission for activities outside the status of stay, or a change of status, is needed |
Sources: visa issuance guidance manual of the Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice; Immigration Act arts. 18, 20 and 24 as published on the National Law Information Centre (law.go.kr).
Choosing a School for an Assignee's Children
There is no single right answer, and the trade-offs are usually between curriculum continuity, language of instruction, admission timing and commute. A family returning to the home system in three years weighs continuity heavily; a family expecting a longer stay may weigh integration and language differently.
What we do not do is publish a ranking. Admission requirements, capacity and timing change year to year and by grade, so we work from the current position for the specific grades your household needs, and we say plainly where a preferred option is unlikely to have a place. Admission decisions rest with the schools; our role is shortlisting, scheduling and application support.
What to Watch Out For
Three things reliably cause trouble, and all three are timing.
Leaving the family documents until after the assignee's visa
Marriage and birth certificates are issued abroad and need legalisation and translation, exactly like the employment documents. Starting them late pushes the family's arrival behind the assignee's, which is the most common cause of a split household in the first months.
Choosing the home before the school
The school is the least flexible constraint. Signing a lease and then discovering the commute is unworkable is expensive and hard to undo mid-term.
Assuming a spouse can work on arrival
A dependent status does not itself permit employment. Where a spouse intends to work, the permission is applied for in advance and assessed on the facts.
Family & Education Service — Frequently Asked Questions
Can the family travel at the same time as the assignee?
Usually yes, provided the family file is started at the same time. F-3 derives from the assignee's status and is prepared with the principal application, so the constraint is not the rule but the documents — marriage and birth certificates are issued abroad and need an apostille or consular confirmation and a Korean translation.
Can my spouse work in Korea on a dependent status?
Not on the dependent status by itself. Employment in Korea requires a status of stay that permits employment activity, so a spouse who wishes to work applies in advance either for permission for activities outside the status of stay or for a change of status of stay. Both are assessed on the facts of the employer, the role and the spouse's qualifications, so it is worth checking before an offer is accepted.
Do you guarantee a school place?
No, and nobody honestly can — admission decisions rest with the schools and capacity varies by grade and by year. What we do is shortlist against your household's actual constraints, tell you where a place is unlikely, schedule the visits and support the applications so nothing is missed on timing.
Related
Requirements on this page follow the visa issuance guidance manual of the Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice, and the Immigration Act as published on the National Law Information Centre (law.go.kr); the current standard is re-confirmed for every case at intake. We do not publish school rankings, fees or admission odds. Pricing is not published on this site — scope and fees are quoted individually after a consultation.
Moving a family, not just an employee?
Tell us the ages, the current curriculum and the intended start date — we will map the school timeline against the visa timeline.
Discuss Family Support →