By Jacco Zwetsloot





Permanent residence visas for foreigners in Korea have not existed for as long as people might think. As recently as 20 years ago, although a foreign woman who married a Korean man was able to obtain a residence visa, a foreign man who married a local was not entitled to such a benefit. His permit to reside in Korea depended upon his job; if he became unemployed or retired, he had to leave the country. This led to a small but vocal movement of Korean wives of foreign men, who pressed the Korean government to provide residence visas to male spouses, just as they were already being granted to foreign wives.

The law changed in the early 2000s to grant spousal residence visas equally to both genders. However, spouse visas expire unless extended, typically for periods of 1 or 2 years. Also in the early 2000s, the F5 visa became available, granting permanent residence to a select few. For instance, spouses who had been in Korea for more than 5 years without any significant criminal record (and who remained married) were able to upgrade to this new status of stay that did not need to be renewed. However, a separate permit from the Immigration Office was still required if one wished to work in Korea. Only around the mid-2000s did a permanent residence visa attained through marriage enable a person to also engage in income earning activities.

About ten years ago, a further amendment made it possible for people who were not married to a Korean spouse to obtain a permanent residence visa by means of a point system. One's Korean language ability, level of income, participation in a social integration course, age, and so on, are all given points, and if one's tally is above a given level, one can become a permanent resident and also engage in work or business as one sees fit.

In this newspaper on August 8 it was reported that, according to revisions to the Immigration Control Act that had been finalized in a Cheong WaDae meeting earlier this month, it would become "mandatory for foreigners to renew their permanent residence permit every 10 years."

On seeing this news, some people who live in Korea on an F5 visa were perplexed. Did this mean that permanent residence was no longer permanent, but subject to 10-yearly extensions? Under what conditions would visas be renewed (or not)? Is the law retroactive to people having already obtained F5 visas? There are no specific answers to be found in the media.

Therefore, we visited the website of the Ministry of Government Legislation (www.lawmaking.go.kr) to find the full text of the amendment. Here is a summary of what we found:

1) This amendment is not about the extension of a residence permit or visa period per se _ it only concerns renewal of the "certificate of alien registration" (also known as an alien registration card), the foreigner's equivalent of a Korean national identity card;

2) This card must be renewed every 10 years to ensure that one's photograph and address are updated, and that any cards belonging to deceased foreigners cease to be valid;

3) Nowhere does it state in the amendment that failure to renew the card will result in a cancellation of one's visa/status of stay;

4) For people who already have an F5 visa when the new amendment becomes law, if their current card is already 10 years old, they have 2 years to renew it; if their current card is not that old, they have until 2 years after that 10-year period elapses;

5) There are no prerequisite conditions (income, age, marital status, etc.) for renewal of the card. This means it should be simply a matter of filling out a form, proving one's current address and providing a new photo;

6) The permanent residence visa will only be revoked if a foreigner committed a crime stipulated by the Criminal Act, and subsequently served a prison sentence of not less than 2 years.

Therefore, it seems that much unnecessary consternation was caused by imprecise wording in various Korean and English media reporting (not just in this newspaper), and that permanent residence visas are not under threat. Having a card reissued is a minor bureaucratic hassle, compared to renewing a visa permit. Nevertheless, it seems odd that Korean national ID cards are not also subject to a 10-year maximum period of validity. Under the current law, Korean cards don't expire, even if photos no longer resemble the current holder. Perhaps a future amendment to the Resident Registration Act will rectify that situation?





The writers work for HMP Law (jacco@hmplaw.com).