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

1. What F-3-3R Is

F-3-3R is the accompanying-family status for the spouse and minor children of an E-7-4R (지역특화형 숙련기능인력) holder — the skilled-worker-track counterpart to F-3-1R. Unlike F-2-R's family rule, the manual states the E-7-4R principal's own qualifying status is NOT independently re-reviewed when a family member applies (only their income is re-checked once the household reaches a stated size), but the same same-address, self-contained-housing, and sliding income-by-household-size rules (from the Ministry of Land's 주거급여 table) apply.

2. Eligibility Checklist

• Spouse-specific conditions mirror F-3-1R: valid ongoing marriage to the principal, and completion of 사회통합프로그램 2단계 이상 within a stated number of years of the status change.
• Minor-child-specific conditions mirror F-3-1R: unmarried, and if school-age, enrolled/admission-pending at a qualifying school with the same long-term-illness/severe-disability exception.
• Status-change is barred under the same conditions as F-3-1R: departure-preparation extension holders, anyone with an F-3-3R or E-7-4R-family history within the last 5 years, and unlawful stayers.
• A domestically-born child of an E-7-4R holder can be granted F-3-3R (체류자격 부여, not 변경) directly, if application is filed within a set number of days of birth.
• Spouse of an E-7-4R principal can separately obtain 체류자격외 활동 (activity-outside-status work permission), capped at renewals within the principal's own remaining stay period, restricted to businesses located in the recommended region and excluding vice/public-morals-restricted work.

3. Criteria Summary

• F-3-3R 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