Marriage for Immigration in the Republic of Korea: Decoupling Controls in Immigration Law, Family Law, and Criminal Law

The incidence of cross-border marriage has been significantly increasing for the last 20 years in Korea. A considerable part of it is marriage for immigration. Korea has coped with this challenge by combining several doctrines independently developed in immigration law, family law, and criminal law. This article analyzes this combination. It argues that the current approach is strange and decoupling regulations in each field–immigration law, family law, and criminal law– and formalizing the conditions for immigration are suggested. Though this alternative would not fully harmonize all the conflicting interests, it would facilitate privacy protection, family autonomy, and the transparency and fairness of procedure without surrendering immigration control.