Good news! Revised immigration bill, including Special Renunciation of Korean Nationality, passed the Korean National Assembly on September 1, 2022
The major requirements and procedures were sustained, but they were some developments on some requirements as follows.
1. Formal requirements
You should meet either 1) or 2) to apply for the Special Renunciation of Korean Nationality:
1) Born abroad and have had a habitual residence abroad until the present; or
2) Born in Korea, but moved abroad before age 6 and have had a habitual residence abroad until the present.
2. Substantive requirements
You should meet all 1), 2), and 3) to apply for the Special Renunciation of Korean Nationality.
1) Where the person shall not have renounced his Korean nationality within three months from the time he is registered to the preliminary military service pursuant to the proviso of Article 14 (1) on justifiable grounds, which makes it unable to hold the person accountable according to current social circumstances.
2) Where the failure to renounce his Korean nationality shall significantly restrict his choice of occupation abroad or cause any equivalent serious disadvantage to him.
3) If the acceptance of the application can be harmonized with the fairness of the execution of the military duty (병역의무 이행의 공평성과 조화되는지 여부)
Article 3) is one of the new substantive requirements, but in our view, this is a too ambiguous requirement, and it will enable the immigration office to exercise a huge discretion and end up refusing any application they want.
3. Factors of Consideration
Once the application is filed, the Korean Minister of Justice shall review the application with the consideration as follow.
1) The birthplace of the applicant and background of the dual citizenship.
2) The address of the applicant and if the habitual residence is abroad.
3) Numbers of the visitation to Korea, length of the stay, and purpose
4) if the applicant has enjoyed the rights that only citizens of the Republic of Korea can only enjoy for a considerable period.
4. Procedures of the application and review
Please check one of our previous blogs on our website.
https://dev.pureumlawoffice.com/news/special-renunciation-of-korean-citizenship/
5. Legal Assistance from Pureum Law Office
Pureum Law Office is thrilled to have this new way of renouncing Korean citizenship from October 1, 2022. If you would like to check if you are entitled to apply for this special renunciation permission, please take a look at the article below and send us a message.
https://dev.pureumlawoffice.com/news/special-renunciation-of-korean-nationality/
