F-3-1R (Regional-Specialized Talent's Family) Korea Visa Guide | 2026

1. What F-3-1R Is

F-3-1R is the accompanying-family status for the spouse and minor children of an F-2-R (지역특화형 우수인재) holder, under the same 지역특화형 비자 program. Family members must actually live at the same address as the F-2-R principal inside the recommended region; the family unit needs a self-contained residence (not a dormitory), with an income floor that scales by household size using the Ministry of Land's annual 주거급여 (housing benefit) eligibility table (e.g. KRW 3,627,225/month for a 5-person household, rising to KRW 5,027,687/month for 8).

2. Eligibility Checklist

• Spouse-specific conditions: a valid, ongoing marriage to the F-2-R principal, meeting the base program's 품행단정 (good-conduct) requirement, and completing 사회통합프로그램 2단계 이상 within 2 years of the status change.
• Minor-child-specific conditions: must be unmarried and, if of school age, either enrolled or admission-pending at a qualifying domestic elementary/middle/high school (or a recognized foreign/alternative school) — with a documented exception for long-term illness or severe disability.
• Status-change is barred for anyone already under a departure-preparation extension, anyone who held a 지역특화형 우수인재 or family status within the last 5 years, or anyone with unlawful-stay history.
• The manual's own text has an apparent internal inconsistency: in the 체류자격외 활동허가 (activity-outside-status/work-permission) subsection for the F-2-R principal's spouse, the family code cited is written as 'F-3-2R' — but F-3-2R is defined elsewhere in the same manual as the family code for F-4-R (재외동포), not F-2-R. Given the program's own summary table clearly assigns F-3-1R to F-2-R's family, this looks like a manual typo; do not treat that isolated mention as authoritative.
• Stay period is set to match the F-2-R principal's own expiry date, not a fixed independent term.

3. Criteria Summary

• F-3-1R is not a points-based category.
• The definition above is taken from the manual's own wording for this code.
• Numeric thresholds, stay periods and fees are set in the manual's tables and annexes and are deliberately not reproduced here — confirm the current figures before filing.
• Where a rule depends on another status, check that status's own criteria too; several of these codes take their conditions from a principal holder.

4. Salary and Contract Rules

• The manual does not attach a salary or contract framework to this code specifically.
• Where income or financial capacity is assessed, it is evidenced with the documents named under that requirement rather than against a published floor.
• If your circumstances involve employment, verify separately whether this status authorises it — several of these categories do not.
• Do not assume the salary rules of a neighbouring code apply; they are set per status.

5. Employer and Workplace Change Rules

• Employer sponsorship is not the organising basis of this code.
• Any economic activity must fall within what the status authorises; where it does not, activity-outside-status permission is the mechanism.
• Report changes of circumstance that bear on the ground for the status.
• Keep the evidence that established eligibility available for extension reviews.

6. Required Documents

• Application form, passport, standard photograph and the fee.
• Evidence establishing the ground on which this status is claimed, as described above.
• Residence and identity documents as required at the counter.
• Any further documents the reviewing office considers necessary.

7. Fees and Processing

• Fees follow the published schedule for the application type rather than the subtype.
• Processing time varies by office workload and by how clearly the qualifying ground is evidenced.
• Where a principal holder's status governs the period granted, the principal's expiry date is the practical constraint.
• Apply with margin before any existing permission expires.

8. Common Rejection Reasons

• The qualifying ground for this specific code is not established by the evidence.
• The circumstances fit a neighbouring code better, making this a category mismatch.
• Supporting documents are incomplete, inconsistent, or out of date.
• An underlying condition the status depends on has ceased to apply.
• Unresolved immigration compliance history.

9. FAQ