Please refer to the information below only for those who plan to register their marriage in Korea first.

I(Korean) and my wife(Turkish) completed marriage registration in Korea the end of May this year. That was much earlier than our wedding ceremony scheduled in September. It was possible because my mother and parents in laws said “it’s okay” to our decision. In order to save cost and time, I insisted that it would be much better to report in Korea first before going through the process in Turkey.

The good thing about doing it first in Korea is that reporting of marriage in Korea is so simple. I can also complete the marriage process in Turkey through the Turkish embassy in Korea. (Even without visiting). And my Turkish wife sent me some necessary document through the post. So, her presence in Korea was not a problem.

How to report in Korea

What to prepare?

• Statement of Eligibility for Marriage
• Foreigners’s translated transcript of Statement of Eligibility for Marriage(※ Must be named, signed or stamped by the translator’s) – (for Turkish : Nufus Kayit Ornegi, Birth Certificate)
• Each applicant’s Identification Card (Foreigner spouse’s passport)
• A marriage certificate application form
• Stamp for the seal(If the spouse is not in Korea)

For Turkish, ‘Nufus Kayit Ornegi’ is the statement of Eligibility for Marriage. This document actually is more like a ‘Family Relations Certificate’ but we use this because it has the information about marital status of the spouse.

And also the Turkish needs to prepare a birth Certificate. It is not difficult to get these document from the local government office in Turkey. The important thing is to get an ‘Apostille’ on the document when he or she requests it. Since those are document issued by the government, issuing Apostille is easy and fast.

In the case of the foreign spouse not staying in Korea, the Korean spouse must prepare a stamp for him or her. That stamp works the same as the person signing on the paper. This is a very useful way to fill out ‘a marriage certificate application form’. This is because signatures or seals of both parties are required.

The Korean spouse must translate those document sent from Turkey.

When all required document are ready, it is good to go. Go to local ‘GU CHUNG(구청)’ to process it. You might have difficulties if the government officer has no experience on the process.(marriage to foreigner).

Usually, 10 minutes for the process and 7 days for the final approval.