Your F-6-1 marriage-visa execution system

The plan: landing in Korea by late September – early October

Target: you land end of September / early October 2026. From today, 17 August, that is 44–50 days.

Work-back schedule

Tick your actual actions in §1 below — this section is the schedule they roll up to. Full leg-by-leg durations and the three scenarios are in §14.

§1What you need to do today (Day 0)

Four tracks run in parallel (§14). Nothing on Sarah's side needs your wet signature, and nothing on your side needs hers — so start everything at once. Your items first. Everything you tick or type on this page saves itself in this browser as you go — there is no save button.

You (Adam)

Sarah (send her the Korean page — these are her Day-0 items)

Both of you

§2Everything in this system

Expand all · Collapse all — reference detail is folded by default; printing opens everything.

1. Action required: your address (V-02)
2. The branch gate (V-01)
3. The plan — landing late September / early October
4. Do today (Day 0)
5. §3 Verdict — why F-6-1
6. §4 Jurisdiction decision tree
7. §5 Registered official conflicts
8. §6 Master document database (D01–D36)
9. §7 Per-document instructions
10. §8 Apostille / notarization / translation
11. §9 Financial requirement (2026)
12. §10 Housing requirement
13. §11 Language / communication
14. §12 Relationship-evidence pack (D13)
15. §13 Consulate logistics (Houston + Dallas)
16. §14 Timeline engineering
17. §15 Shipping strategy
18. §16 Application-day checklist + submit gate
19. §17 After you submit
20. §18 Flying to Korea (entry)
21. §19 After you land (24h / week / 30d)
22. §20 Document status model (gap analysis)
23. §21 Risk register
24. §22 Verification call/email list (V-01…V-43)
25. §23 Sync with Sarah's page
26. §24 Sources

§3Verdict — the correct visa is 결혼이민 F-6-1 (Spouse of a Korean National)

Statutory basis: 「출입국관리법 시행령」 별표 1의2 (F-6 결혼이민); issuance requirements 「출입국관리법 시행규칙」 제9조의5.^EASY-F6 Sub-code F-6-1 (spouse, marriage validly registered in Korea, intending marital cohabitation in Korea) fits you exactly. F-6-2 (child-rearing) does not apply — no child on the case facts. F-6-3 (marriage severed) does not apply and is not issuable at overseas missions anyway.

Plans that were considered and rejected

• Enter Korea visa-free and change status there → REJECTED. Mission pages state short-term entrants cannot change to F-6 in-country except narrow humanitarian exceptions (pregnancy/childbirth/child-rearing) — you have no exception facts. The current 2026 MOJ manual text on those exceptions is unconfirmed (V-19) — but do not build a plan on it.
• C-3 / visa-free visit: lawful for a visit, not a residence path. Stay in the US during the application window — your passport will be with the consulate for ~a month anyway.
• F-1 or other family statuses: not for spouses of Korean nationals.

What the consul actually examines

Under 시행규칙 제9조의5: genuineness of the relationship and marital intent; a validly formed marriage; Sarah's 5-year prior-invitation history; income; communication; housing; mutual health/criminal disclosure. Issuance is discretionary ("공관장 재량 발급"). Sponsor-side statutory bars (presumed clear — verify at intake): inviting a different foreign spouse within 5 years; unspent domestic-violence/sexual/violent/homicide records (10-year clock) or a false 혼인신고 (5-year clock). Applicant-side: no published bar list, but a live Korean entry ban (출입국관리법 제11조) blocks issuance — if you ever overstayed in Korea, check your 입국규제 status first (V-33).^EASY-F6

§4Jurisdiction decision tree (Texas, August 2026)

All of Texas → Houston Consulate General, EXCEPT the DFW metro counties → Dallas Consular Office (a branch of Houston). No part of Texas belongs to any other Korean mission.^DAL-JUR

Whether a DFW resident may choose Houston mail-in instead: unknown → V-17. Full addresses, hours, fees and holiday calendars: §13.

§5Registered official-vs-official conflicts (planning posture: the stricter reading)

These are places where two official sources disagree. Until answered, this system plans to the stricter reading and marks the item with its verification lock.

§6Master document database (D01–D36)

Every document in the case, in one table: who gets it, how, what it costs, how fresh it must be, what formality it needs, and whether it physically ships. "3 mo" / "6 mo" = must be issued/written within 3/6 months of the visa application date. Set each row's status as you work — it saves locally and can be synced with Sarah's page. Rows with a red lock cannot honestly be READY until the named verification item is answered.

Status legend: Not started In progress Ready Verify Problem — the nine READY tests are in §20.

What you personally must produce: D01–D12, D14, D15 (visa e-form, photo, passport, fee, the two Houston forms, US marriage certificate, FBI check + apostille, health certificate, residence proof, return envelope, g4k reservation). Sarah sends you D16–D34; D13, D35, D36 are joint. The full table below carries the fees, freshness windows and per-row status pickers.

§2-EX — the health + criminal-record exemption (covers D09, D10, D31, D32 together)

You are exempt from all four if ANY ONE of these is true (Houston attachment 1):^HOU-F6

1. Sarah stayed ≥6 months continuously in the US while you dated (I-94, entry/exit records, long-term visa/green card, utility bills, bank statements);
2. you both continuously stayed in a third country on long-term visas while dating;
3. you lawfully stayed ≥91 days in Korea on a long-term visa while dating (출입국사실증명, ARC copy).

The national rule adds a humanitarian prong (pregnancy/childbirth). Intake gate → V-03. The income exemption (§9.5) and communication exemption (§11) have their own separate lists.

§7Per-document step-by-step instructions

D13 (relationship pack): full design in §12. D33 (communication evidence): decision tree in §11.

§8Apostille / notarization / translation matrix

§9Financial requirement (2026 figures + worked examples)

The number to hit: ₩25,195,752 — the 2026 annual-income threshold for a 2-person household. Sarah proves it with D22 소득금액증명 + D23 신용정보조회서 (always), plus D24–D26 on the wage track.

Controlling instrument: 법무부고시 제2025-534호 「결혼동거 목적의 사증 발급에 필요한 요건 및 심사면제 기준 고시」 (issued 2025-12-31, effective 2026-01-01) — the 2026 amendment changed only the income table. Legal chain: 시행규칙 제9조의5제1항제4호 → an annual MOJ notice keyed to 기준중위소득 (threshold = 6 × monthly median-income standard = 50% of annualized median income). Houston's checklist cites a phantom "제2025-135호" and a stale 8+-person increment — its 2–7-person figures are nevertheless correct.^{GOSI-534MOHW-26}

§9.1 2026 income table (applications filed through 2026-12-31)

Sarah's gross (세전) annual income for the 1 year preceding the application date:

§9.2 Household counting

Baseline 2 (Sarah + you). Add every direct family member registered in Sarah's 주민등록 household (grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren — NOT siblings) as of the application; each added member raises the threshold but may also contribute income/assets. The consulate reads the composition straight from D19. Intake gate → V-04: who is on Sarah's 등본 today? Snapshot-timing questions (pre-filing 세대분리) → V-25.

§9.3 What income counts

Sarah's trailing-1-year gross wage + business (incl. agriculture/fisheries) + real-estate rental + interest + dividend + pension income; non-regular income excluded. Your US income is nowhere recognized in the 고시 — a plan relying on your Texas salary is unsupported by the controlling text. Houston's item 2-12 (the D12 statement) is the only ambiguity → V-24, decision-critical if Sarah is short. Tax-year vs trailing-12-month friction (2025 certificate low, 2026 payroll high) → V-25.

§9.4 Assets & combination

• Shortfall bridging: 5% of net assets counts as income. Assets (deposits/insurance/securities/bonds/real estate) must be held ≥6 months and are counted net of debts (that is what D23 screens). Houston granularity: items ≥₩1,000,000 held 6 months only. Real estate valued by 공시가격 (D27 + D34).
• Combination: income + 5%-of-net-assets may be summed; same-household direct family's income/assets may be added (their proof documents = per-member D22/D23/D24-type sets). Exact combination arithmetic / 6-month documentation format → V-24 group.
• Presumed-income route (건강보험 지역가입자 only; premium ÷ 0.03545 × 12; cannot combine) — likely irrelevant; the 2026 divisor is unverified.

§9.5 Income-requirement exemptions

고시 list: (1) a child born to you two; (2) ≥1 year of post-marriage cohabitation abroad making recent Korean income impossible; (3) the Minister's catch-all. Houston's operational list adds "prior F-6 stay in Korea by the applicant". Pregnancy (20+ weeks) appears on some missions' income lists but NOT Houston's → V-24 group. On current facts no exemption applies — ₩25,195,752 must be met. Intake could flip this → V-03.

§10Housing requirement

Required — plan as unconditional (Houston prints no housing exemption; the national-layer waiver scope is unverified → V-29 group).

Standard: a normal dwelling where you two will continuously live together — judged on area, room count, non-spouse cohabitants. Fails: 고시원/고시텔, motels, vinyl-greenhouse-type spaces. Name rule: owned/leased by Sarah or her 직계가족·형제·자매 (employer housing is a recognized exception; its proof package unverified → V-29). Address rule (mechanical): the dwelling address MUST equal Sarah's 주민등록등본 address — if she is moving, 전입신고 first, then issue D19 + D27 together.^HOU-F6CHI-F6

Recommended: keep 3–5 dwelling photos ready for a supplementary request (the Swiss mission requests photos; Houston reserves general supplement rights); issue D27 within days of submission.

§11Language / communication requirement

Required, but satisfiable by your shared language — you need NO Korean. Pick ONE track (Houston items 3-1…3-10):^HOU-F6

• Track ① — your Korean: TOPIK level 1+ (score valid 2 years, printed from topik.go.kr within validity), 한국교육원 stage-2 / 세종학당 beginner 120 h+, KIIP stage 2+, a Korean-related degree, or your prior 1-year continuous Korea stay (출입국사실증명 or personal statement). Do NOT start TOPIK/KIIP just for the visa — the lead time exceeds the marginal value.
• Track ② — Sarah commands English (your likely track): Sarah's ≥1-year continuous stay in an English-official country — evidence: that country's entry/exit records / 출입국에 관한 사실증명 or a personal statement (Houston 3-7); strengthen with I-94/visa/transcripts. Whether the personal statement ALONE suffices → V-30.
• Track ③ — shared third language: both of you ≥1 year in that country — n/a.
• Track ④ — other: "상대 언어 능력시험 점수 등" at "일정 수준 이상" (which tests/scores count at Houston: unknown → V-28) — with the printed caveat "(검토후 인터뷰 혹은 추가자료 요청 가능)". Chicago states that passing a consulate interview in the shared language itself satisfies the requirement — an interview is a cure, not only a risk.^CHI-F6

Exemptions (Houston printed list): a child born to you two; your prior F-6 stay (void if the spouse changed / the marriage was interrupted). The Swiss page adds pregnancy >20 weeks — unconfirmed at Houston → V-28 group. None applies on current facts — a track must be satisfied.

Recommended regardless of track: Sarah's English test score as backup; English message samples inside D13 (double duty); your D06 written naturally in English (already mandatory).

§12Relationship-evidence pack (D13) — max 5 A4 pages

Legally required: D06 (you, in English), D20 (Sarah, in Korean), D21, and the evidence pack — "교제사진, 가족사진, SNS 대화 내역 등을 A4용지에 자유롭게 편집, 5쪽 이내" (HARD CAP: 5 A4 pages). Conditional: D35 introducer's ID (acquaintance introduction); marriage-broker items n/a.^HOU-F6

Design principle: the consul reads D06, D20 and the 5-page pack side by side — verifiable chronology and consistency beat volume. Every date/place/fact must match across all three AND your passport stamps AND the 혼인관계증명서 marriage date (if the register shows a report-receipt date rather than the ceremony date, explain the mechanism in one line in both statements — see V-13). Genuineness doubt is the #1 practitioner-reported refusal driver; your long-distance profile makes over-investment here rational.

The 5-page layout (recommended build)

• Page 1 — Relationship timeline (8–12 dated bullets: first contact → first meeting → visits → engagement → legal marriage date/place/county → Korean 혼인신고 date) + a facts box (languages used; total in-person meetings; contact cadence).
• Pages 2–3 — 10–16 photos, 6–8 per page, captioned (date + place + who), spanning the whole relationship; ≥1 with each side's family if it exists; wedding photos if any. Not 20 near-identical shots from one trip.
• Page 4 — Objective co-presence proof: passport stamps, itineraries, Sarah's I-94 travel history (doubles as §2-EX-① and Track-② evidence), your Korea entry stamps / 출입국사실증명 if any.
• Page 5 — Curated communication samples: 4–8 short screenshots across different months/years, names/dates visible; optional 1–2 remittance / joint-booking receipts.

Consistency pre-check (run BEFORE issuing the 3-month certificates)

1. N-1 passport vs marriage-certificate spelling
2. N-2 passport vs FBI-result name
3. N-3 passport MRZ vs e-form
4. N-4 passport vs your entry in D16 (Hangul transliteration reasonable; DOB/nationality exact)
5. N-5 ONE canonical marriage-date story across D08 ↔ register ↔ D06 ↔ D20 ↔ timeline
6. N-6 Sarah's names across her records

Register-error fix tracks (정정신청 vs 가정법원) → V-34.

§13Consulate logistics (Texas)

§13.1 Houston Consulate General — controlling unless you are DFW

• Address: 1990 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 1250, Houston, TX 77056. Phone +1-713-961-0186; fax +1-713-961-3340; visa e-mail con-hu04@mofa.go.kr. Web: overseas.mofa.go.kr/us-houston-en.^HOU-LOC
• Hours: Mon–Fri 09:00–12:00, 13:00–16:30 (window). Parking: surface free; garage $7/day.
• Submission: in person by g4k.go.kr reservation (one per service per person; no phone/email booking) OR mail-in: "Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, ATTN: VISA, 1990 POST OAK BLVD STE 1250, HOUSTON, TX 77056" with a prepaid self-addressed trackable USPS Express return envelope (the consulate is not liable for loss). Picking up a finished visa needs NO reservation.^{HOU-F6HOU-RSV}
• Fee: US$45 (US citizens, any visa type), cash or money order only ("Korean Consulate General").^HOU-EN
• Passport: the original is retained during review (~1 month) and returned with the Visa Grant Notice — a letter-size paper that IS the visa (sticker visas abolished).
• Status: online only at visa.go.kr ("We do not provide application status updates by phone").
• Interview: not standing; reserved ("검토후 인터뷰 혹은 추가자료 요청 가능"). Whether mail applicants can be summoned / whether Sarah or an agent may hand-deliver → V-18.
• Processing statements: F-6 "about a month" (checklist post) vs "2 weeks" (EN general page). The current actual number → V-05.
• Holidays: observes BOTH US federal + Korean holidays (2026: 1/1, 1/19, 2/16, 5/25, 6/19, 7/3, 9/7, 10/12, 11/11, 11/26, 12/25 + 3/1, 7/17, 8/15, 10/3, 10/9). Check the 영사민원 공지 board the week of any visit.^HOU-LOC

§13.2 Dallas Consular Office — only if you are DFW-resident

• 14001 N. Dallas Pkwy, Suite 450, Dallas, TX 75240; +1-972-701-0180~2; koreadallas@mofa.go.kr (e-mail preferred over phone). Jurisdiction: 13 counties (C-1 conflict on Hood/Somervell/Delta → V-16).^{DAL-F6DAL-JUR}
• F-6: applicant in person ONLY, no proxy, no mail, g4k reservation, DFW-residence proof (driver's license/lease) checked; non-DFW refused. "비자 발급은 2~3주가 소요됩니다" (general statement). The criminal/health rule is restated there with 6-month + federal-apostille wording (C-2).^DAL-OPS

§13.3 Practical consequences for you

1. Outside DFW → Houston mail-in means you may never have to travel — but all originals (passport included) ride USPS Express both ways.
2. Your passport is out of your hands ~1 month — no travel during review.
3. All of Sarah's certificates carry the 3-month clock — synchronize issuance with the submission date.
4. The visa issued is a single-entry, ≤90-day-stay F-6 → registration + extension inside Korea (§19).

§14Timeline engineering

§14.1 Four parallel tracks (each starts Day 0)

• Track K (Sarah / Korea docs): branch gate (V-01) → [Branch A: receive D08 → translation → 혼인신고 → register reflects] → issue D16–D19, D22–D29, D31–D34 in one week → write/sign D20/D21 → ship.
• Track U (you / US docs): confirm county (V-02) + passport validity gate → order D08 ×2 (Branch A) → fire the V-09/V-08 queries → FBI eDO → federal apostille → D10 health exam (~2–4 weeks pre-submission) → forms D01/D06/D07.
• Track R (relationship evidence): compile D13 digitally; lock the narrative across D06/D20; run the §12 consistency pre-check.
• Track F (forms/logistics): e-form, photo, money order, envelopes, g4k booking if in person.

The tracks are fully parallel; nothing Sarah-side needs your wet signature and vice-versa — the only physical merge is Sarah's single KR→US courier shipment (plus D08 US→KR in Branch A).

§14.2 Per-leg durations (optimistic / typical / conservative)

Parallelism: A ∥ B→C ∥ D; E–F wait on max(A…D); G–H sequential.

§14.3 Three scenarios

• Fastest plausible (~45–55 days): marriage already registered (Branch B); FBI+apostille started Day 0 with the DC drop-off; no supplement request → prep ~2–3 weeks, review ~30 days. ≤60 days: YES, barely.
• Expected (~65–90 days / 9–13 weeks): mail-in apostille 3–4 weeks; 1-month review; no supplement round. ≤60 days: NO.
• Delay case (100–150+ days): apostille backlog 8–12 weeks, or one supplement round, or the marriage not yet registered, or (worst) a refusal → practitioner-reported 6-month re-application bar (official at the South-Africa-embassy level; Houston's application of it → V-35).^SA-F6

The Day-0 action list is at the top of the page: §1.

§15Shipping strategy

• US→KR (Branch A only): one certified US marriage-certificate copy to Sarah for the 혼인신고 — FedEx/UPS International Priority, 1–3 business days (prefer courier over postal for this gating document).
• KR→US (the single merge shipment): everything the checklist demands as originals — D16, D17, D18, D19, D22, D23, D24, D25, D26 (copy), D27, D28 (copy), D29, D31, D32, D33, D34 + wet-signed D20/D21 + D30 — in ONE consolidated trackable courier envelope (FedEx/UPS/DHL International Priority, 1–3 days; EMS documents 4 days as the cheaper fallback — EMS US-lane document acceptance must be re-verified the week of shipping because of 2025–2026 US tariff disruptions → V-36). Ship only after every 3-month-window item is issued in the same week. Keep full scans of every page.^EMS
• What never ships internationally (digital/US-side): D13 (compiled digitally, you print it), D01 e-form, D06/D07, D08 copy 2, D09, D10, D30 (scan-print OK), drafts for mutual review.
• Within the US: your package → Houston by USPS Express (1–2 days) with the prepaid Express return envelope inside (the consulate's stated instruction); the $45 money order inside. DoS apostille round-trip: USPS Express both ways, or DC drop-off via a trusted person.
• Redundancy: if any of D16–D18 lapses past 3 months, you re-issue at the Houston consulate ($1, 2–5 days) instead of a new trans-Pacific mailing (V-22 confirms the 상세/RRN capability).

§16Application-day checklist (your final gate before submitting)

Work through this on the day you assemble the package. Every 3-month item must have been issued/written within 3 months of TODAY.

Identity

Application forms

Sarah's documents (all originals unless noted; ALL issued/written within 3 months of TODAY)

Marriage

Financial

Housing

Health & criminal (skip all four ONLY if §2-EX evidence D36 is enclosed instead)

Communication & relationship

Return delivery / submission channel

§17After you submit

While you wait: check visa.go.kr every 1–2 business days, and keep your e-mail (D01) and Sarah's phone (D20) monitored daily — that is how a 보완요청 arrives.

§18Before the flight & landing in Korea (August 2026 rules)

Must carry (cabin bag)

Recommended backup

Inspection: age-17+ biometrics (fingerprints + face) at the counter; purpose answer: "joining my wife — F-6." The officer grants a 90-day stay; the entry date starts the Day-90 clock — photograph the stamp/records page (some airports stamp nothing; a 출입국사실증명 via 정부24 can evidence the date later).

§19After you land — registration, extension, deadlines

Master deadlines

Fees: registration card ₩35,000; F-6 stay extension ₩30,000 (special rate; general ₩60,000); 체류지 변경신고 free; 재입국허가 single ₩30,000 / multiple ₩50,000.^MOJ-FEE

First 24 hours

First week

First 30 days

Standing rules until settled

§20Document status model (gap analysis)

Where the intake answers live: the case-intake questionnaire (marriage-registration status, household composition, income, housing, relationship history — the answers that drive every status below) is a Korean-language form on Sarah's page: index-ko.html §24 사전 질문지. Ask her to complete it on Day 0; her entries export through the same Sync data.

Every D-item carries one status: NOT STARTED IN PROGRESS READY NEEDS VERIFICATION PROBLEM (expired / incorrect / wrong version)

For any EXISTING document (including anything a prior 대행업체/agency produced), verify all nine before marking it READY:

1. Correct document? (e.g., 혼인관계증명서 not 가족관계증명서; 등본 not 초본)
2. Correct version? (상세 not 일반; 발급 not 열람; full RRN not masked)
3. Correct issuing authority? (FBI not TX DPS; 국세청 not a bank; county-clerk certified copy not a photocopy)
4. Sufficiently recent? (3-month clock for D16–D29/D32/D33; 6-month for D09*/D10/D31 — *D09 planned to 3 months per C-2)
5. Apostille correct? (federal apostille on D09 from the US DoS — a state apostille or a notarized copy is a PROBLEM)
6. Translation correct? (only the 혼인신고 translation needs one — with the translator's name/contact/signature)
7. Original available? (원본 items cannot be satisfied by scans pending V-21)
8. Correct names/dates? (§12 consistency checks N-1…N-6)
9. Acceptable to Houston/Dallas specifically? (mission-local rules control; when in doubt → NEEDS VERIFICATION + the matching V-item)

§21Risk register

HIGH — could prevent or seriously delay the visa

§22Call / email verification list (V-01 … V-43)

Every item marked "unknown → V-xx" anywhere above resolves here. Check an item off when answered, and record the answer + date — the checkmark is what releases the red locks in the document table. Group-B items should go to Houston in ONE consolidated e-mail (Korean preferred — Sarah sends it) to con-hu04@mofa.go.kr on Day 0.

Group A — Intake actions (you two, Day 0; no agency needed)

Group B — Houston Consulate General (con-hu04@mofa.go.kr; one consolidated e-mail)

Group C — Dallas Consular Office (koreadallas@mofa.go.kr; only if you are DFW-resident or in a gray county)

Group D — Korean domestic agencies (Sarah)

Group E — US federal agencies (you)

Group F — Korea arrival phase (☎1345 unless noted; ask during the review month)

§23Sync your checklist with Sarah's page

Your checkmarks, statuses and V-item answers are saved in this browser only (localStorage key f6-checklist-v1). Both language versions use the same item keys, so you and Sarah can exchange progress: click Export, copy the text, send it (KakaoTalk/e-mail), and the other person pastes it into their page and clicks Import. Import merges: items in the pasted data overwrite the same items locally; everything else is kept.

With JavaScript disabled, every word of this page is still readable and printable — checkboxes simply do not persist.

§24Sources (primary register)

All sources accessed 2026-08-17. Publisher dates as shown. Mission checklists control submission mechanics; statutes/notices control eligibility. Full per-claim citations live in the underlying research files R1–R10.