| Significance of marriage |
| Marriage signifies a legal union between a mature male and female to constitute a permanent life team. |
| Marriage is constituted by the agreement and free will of the parties and becomes effective when declared as |
| provided under the Family Registration Act. Marriage is divided into legal and civil marriages. The majority of the |
| world's states, including Korea, have enacted a legal marriage law. |
| |
| Declarant |
The marriage partners should declare their marriage
|
| Place |
| Marriage is declared to the office of the city or township where the husband or wife maintains a permanent |
| or current domicile. Marriage between Korean nationals living overseas may be declared to the nearby Korean |
diplomatic mission.
|
| Period |
| Marriage becomes legally effective upon its declaration. No specific deadline is provided for marriage |
declaration.
|
| Method |
Marriage is declared by a written statement signed by the two contracting parties and two mature witnesses.
|
| Supporting documents |
| If either marriage party is a minor or otherwise requires the consent of his/her parents or a legal guardian, the |
| guardian should sign on the marriage declaration form after indicating their consent, address and name in full |
| in the spaces provided on the form or should attach a written and signed consent to the marriage declaration |
form.
|
| Family register duplicates should be attached to the marriage declaration form as documents required to |
support the marriage declaration.
|
| Declaration of international marriage |
| When declared in Korea |
| When a Korean national marries a foreigner, the marriage should be declared with the Korean government as |
| provided under the Family Registration Act, although the statutory requirements for the marriage are regulated |
| by the law of the foreigner's home country. Therefore, the foreigner should attach to the marriage declaration |
| form documentary evidence of his nationality (family census duplicate copy, birth certificate, passport copy of |
| certified duplicate of identity register) and documents (issued by the home country's government or overseas |
| mission) evidencing the parties' capacity to marry or legal requirements, as provided under Article 76 of the |
Family Registration Act.
|
| When marriage is declared overseas |
| When a Korean national marries a foreigner in the foreign country under a marriage certificate prepared |
| according to its law, a duplicate copy of such a certificate should be submitted to the Korean diplomatic |
| mission in the region within one month or may be submitted to the head of the family registration office in |
Korea by mail or in person.
|
| When a Korean man marries a foreign woman |
| When a Korean man marries a foreign woman, the foreign woman does not obtain Korean nationality by |
| declaring their marriage. The marriage details should be indicated in the identity space of the husband's |
| family register becomes separate after deletion from the parent's family when the husband wants to have |
| his own separate family register) and should be later indicated in his family register when the wife declares |
her naturalization.
|
| When a Korean woman marries a foreign man |
| When a Korean woman marries a foreigner, a new family register is constituted with her indicated as the family |
| head rather than entering the foreigner into her parents' family register. The marriage declaration is indicated in |
| the permanent domicile space. When it is difficult to correct the new permanent domicile, however, the existing |
permanent domicile may be treated as the new permanent domicile.
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