Can I get married if my spouse is abroad?

  [Seoul Family Court, Seoul]

I have a spouse abroad, can I get married?

 

 

Negotiated Divorce is a divorce that is established by a legal couple declaring their intention to divorce to the Family Court having jurisdiction over the   registration threshold or address.    

In principle, the couple must attend court together and go through a deliberation period.  

By the way, what should you do if your spouse is staying abroad due to studying abroad, dispatch work, immigration, etc.? Even in this case, divorce is not impossible. This is because there is a separate process through the diplomatic missions (Embassy · Consulate).

However, It takes more time than consultative divorce in Korea and it is necessary to be cautious because of .

In addition, in order to use this procedure, both parties to must be Korean nationals .

 

 

If one of the

couples is overseas, there are two ways ① the domestic spouse can apply first to the Family Court and ② the overseas spouse can apply first to the overseas diplomatic missions.  

If one of the

spouses is in a foreign country and the domestic spouse first requests confirmation of the intention to divorce, the domestic spouse must appear in Family Court having jurisdiction over the place of registration or address, submit a confirmation of the intention to divorce, and be informed of the divorce (Article 75 (1) , Regulation on Registration of Family Relations Article 73 (2) ).

If, contrary to

, your spouse abroad wishes to apply first, you can submit an application for confirmation of intent to divorce by consultation to the head of the diplomatic mission having jurisdiction over your place of residence (Article 75 (2) Regarding Registration of Family Relations, etc.).  

 

 

The head of the After responding to the

Application Route Procedure Comparison

classification	Domestic Spouse Apply First	Overseas Spouse Apply First
Application Location	Place of registration or address Competent Family Court	Embassy (Embassy · Consulate)
Attendance Status	Domestic Spouse Only	Overseas spouse attends overseas diplomatic missions and submits application form
Next step	Court Entrusts Opponent's Overseas Diplomatic Office with Confirmation of Divorce	Overseas Mission sends a statement request to the Seoul Family Court after confirming the issuance of the handbook · divorce and send it to the Seoul Family Court
Final Confirmation	overseas diplomatic missions, when the deliberation period has elapsed, the domestic applicant is present at the court and confirmed.	After receiving the documents, the Seoul Family Court attends the other party in Korea to inform and confirm the divorce.

So what if both couples are overseas? A citizen registered as an overseas citizen applies to the head of an overseas mission for confirmation of the intention to divorce, and after obtaining confirmation of the intention to divorce from the Seoul Family Court, the divorce is effective by attaching a copy of the divorce declaration signed by both parties and reporting it to the head of an overseas mission, etc. .

 

If both couples are foreigners, or if either couple is a foreigner, what should you do with ?  

Even in this case, if both   couples live in   South Korea , both of whom are willing to divorce, and both of them recognize the marriage agreement under the law of their home country, the marriage agreement can be obtained through the domestic family court of .

However, since the laws of the home country do not recognize the divorce of the Korean consultation, if it is difficult to confirm, it is recommended to conclude the marriage of the consultation by applying for mediation from the court. 

Things to be aware of

• takes longer: As documents are sent and received through the diplomatic missions, it is common for the overall lead time to be longer than in a domestic couple-only divorce. In addition to the contemplation period, we encourage you to schedule your trip according to the round-trip document processing time.

• Representative Application is not possible: Confirmation of intention to divorce can not be made through a lawyer or agent, but must be made by the parties themselves. Spouses abroad are also required to attend in-person diplomatic missions.

• property division · child support fee is separate: consultation consent confirmation procedure does not confirm property division. Alimony · property division must be arranged by separate agreement (notarized) or claim, and child support for minors is enforceable as a child support note.
• can also be withdrawn: If you change your mind after you have received confirmation of your intention to divorce , you can not file or file a divorce withdrawal until you have filed for divorce.   However, it is important to note that if the other party's divorce declaration is received first, the divorce will take effect even if the withdrawal form is paid.

 

 

The couple may also divorce if they are abroad.

However, the starting point of the process varies depending on whether the domestic spouse applies first or the overseas spouse applies first through the overseas diplomatic missions, and ,  

Court Confirmation of Divorce Will → Consideration Period → Confirmation Date → The flow of divorce declaration is the same, but preparation of documents and time-consuming ,

Since it is a process of checking only the intention to divorce the couple, a separate agreement process is required for alimony and property division.  

In addition, If someone changes their mind and avoids the procedure, cannot be divorced.