Find out which Korean permanent residency route you qualify for, and what you're missing.
Answer a few questions about your situation and get a clear verdict in about two minutes. If you don't qualify yet, you'll see exactly which requirement you're short on and what closes the gap.
Check your eligibility, freeFree on Google Play. No account, no email.
There are three main routes to F-5. Most people only ever hear about one of them.
Married to a Korean (F-6 to F-5-2)
Two years of residence, income at one times GNI. The shortest route, and the one most F-6 holders don't realise they're already close to.
Work or long-term resident (D-7 to E-7, F-2, to F-5-1)
Five years of residence, income at two times GNI. The default route if you're here on a work visa.
Points-based resident (F-2-7 to F-5-16)
Three years of residence on an F-2-7, scored against an 80-point pass mark.
The spouse track needs less than half the residence time and half the income of the general track. If you're on F-6 and have been assuming you need five years, you may be closer than you think.
Why I built this
I'm on an F-6. My right to live in this country, in the same house as my kids, runs entirely through my marriage.
I'm not planning on going anywhere. But I've watched a few guys here go through family trouble and find out that untangling themselves from a spousal visa is not something you want to be doing in the worst week of your life. I didn't want that to be me. I wanted a status that was mine.
So I spent months going through the immigration manuals, working out which route I actually qualified for and what I was missing. Most of what's online is scattered blog posts and forum threads from 2019, half of it wrong.
I built the thing I wanted when I started. It's the same check I ran on myself.
Free versus paid
Free
- Eligibility check for your visa track
- A clear yes or no, with gap analysis showing every requirement you're missing
- Document checklist that saves your progress
Pro
14,000 KRW, one time, no subscription
- Document guides: where to get each paper, what it costs, how long it stays valid, and the mistakes that get applications rejected
- F-2-7 points calculator, your exact score against the 80-point pass mark
- Application timeline planner with reminders
- Immigration-day preparation guide
- Side-by-side comparison of all three routes
- Lifetime access
The free version tells you whether you qualify. Pro is the part that helps you actually file it.
Questions
Is this legal advice?
No. It's general information based on the published immigration manuals. Requirements change and individual cases vary. Confirm your own situation with HiKorea or the 1345 immigration call centre before you apply.
Are you affiliated with the Korean government?
No. This is an independent app, not connected to the Ministry of Justice or any government agency. Every figure in it comes from published government sources, which are listed in the app.
What happens to my visa if my marriage ends?
An F-6-1 is tied to the marriage. If the marriage ends and you're still on F-6-1, that status can't be renewed in the normal course.
There are two other F-6 sub-statuses that exist for exactly this situation. F-6-2 is for a parent raising a minor child of a Korean national in Korea after the marriage has ended, and it has its own path forward. F-6-3 is for cases where the marriage ended through no fault of yours, including the spouse's death or disappearance. F-6-3 turns on documented proof rather than your account of events, so police reports, medical records, and the wording of the divorce judgment matter.
Worth knowing that time already spent here isn't lost. Residence on F-6-1, F-6-2 and F-6-3 counts together toward the five years that opens up a change to F-2.
The thing worth understanding before any of that becomes relevant: F-5 is not tied to your marriage. Once it's granted, it's yours. That's the whole reason I looked into this in the first place.
If you're facing this now, talk to an immigration lawyer, not an app. This is general information about how the categories work, nothing more.
Do I need KIIP?
You need one of four things, and TOPIK isn't one of them. Either completion of KIIP's 영주적격과정 or 귀화적격과정, or 60 or above on the 영주용 종합평가 (KIPRAT) or 귀화용 종합평가 (KINAT).
This trips a lot of people up because TOPIK does count elsewhere. It scores points on the F-2-7 points visa, and there's a separate, much lower Korean requirement on the F-6 marriage visa that a lot of people cleared years ago and assume carries over. Neither counts towards F-5.
If you haven't started KIIP, look at the 사전평가 placement test first. Score 85 or above and you can sit the 영주용 종합평가 directly with no course hours at all. If you've been here a few years with a Korean spouse, that's worth trying before committing to 470 hours of classes.
The app checks which of the four you have, and if you have none of them it tells you which route is shortest from where you are.
How long does the whole process take?
Depends on your route and where you're starting from. The app works backwards from the requirements you're missing and gives you a realistic timeline rather than a best case.
Do I need to create an account?
No. Everything runs on your phone. There's no signup and no email required.
Run the check on your own situation and see where you stand.
Check your eligibility, free