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Bryan
Joined: 29 Oct 2007
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:28 pm Post subject: If your child is born in Korea, is she Korean? |
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If two people without Korean citizenship live and work in Korea, say, for 5 years, then have a child, and begin to raise that child in Korea, is that child a Korean citizen? |
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tob55
Joined: 29 Apr 2007
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:40 pm Post subject: Naturalization |
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The child is naturalized to the nation of the parents, but you must get all the paperwork done through your embassy to make sure there are no issues. If this is the case, they should have been looking into this earlier than this if they are having a child in a foreign country. If it is a hypothetical, then that is the word. |
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laogaiguk

Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:42 pm Post subject: |
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I doubt it, though I don't know. They would never be treated as a Korean though. I had tons of mixed children (Filipino, Japanese, Chinese) kids in some of my classes, and whenever I asked who was Korean (though they had been there all their lives), they would never put up their hand. A couple times someone did and the other kids yelled at her. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map
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Bryan
Joined: 29 Oct 2007
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:55 pm Post subject: |
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And if she gets married to a foreigner in Korea, and they have a kid?
How ridiculous. I guess all the current Koreans living in Korean shouldn't really be Korean citizens. They should be Mongolian immigrants. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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Bryan wrote: |
And if she gets married to a foreigner in Korea, and they have a kid?
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Who is "she"? A foreign national? |
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Bryan
Joined: 29 Oct 2007
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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caniff wrote: |
Bryan wrote: |
And if she gets married to a foreigner in Korea, and they have a kid?
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Who is "she"? A foreign national? |
I was referring to our hypothetical girl who was born and raised in Korea. I don't know what she would be classified as by the government. That's why I'm asking. |
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caniff
Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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Bryan wrote: |
caniff wrote: |
Bryan wrote: |
And if she gets married to a foreigner in Korea, and they have a kid?
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Who is "she"? A foreign national? |
I was referring to our hypothetical girl who was born and raised in Korea. I don't know what she would be classified as by the government. That's why I'm asking. |
I'm guessing she would have the parents' citizenship, and according to today's law, if she married a foreigner and had a child in Korea that child would still have the nationality of one or both of the parents.
Again, jus soli doesn't apply in Korea (but maybe there is another poster here who has more information). |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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laogaiguk wrote: |
I doubt it, though I don't know. They would never be treated as a Korean though. I had tons of mixed children (Filipino, Japanese, Chinese) kids in some of my classes, and whenever I asked who was Korean (though they had been there all their lives), they would never put up their hand. A couple times someone did and the other kids yelled at her. |
The biggest problem for us is that some of our kid's kindergarten teachers, both Korean and non-Korean, just don't understand (or are unwilling to accept) that he is essentially Korean. Since Korean is the language he uses to interact with his friends (and there are few opportunities to use English outside of the house), it is naturally the one he is most comfortable using. I know for a fact that he's had some teachers who thought less of him for it (I won't go into the details, but some expats really say nasty things in public because they think nobody understands them). |
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Col.Brandon

Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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I have a 6 month old boy, and I'm in the process of applying for NZ citizenship for him. He will hold dual-citizenship until 24 (I think) then he will have to choose which one he wants, as Korea doesn't allow dual citizenship after that age.
I believe there are moves afoot within the Korean government to allow dual-citizenship in due course. I guess they're worried about the flight of Koreans to other countries. This will also bring them into line with other changes that are underway with the introduction of the FTA. |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 3:50 pm Post subject: |
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Col.Brandon wrote: |
I have a 6 month old boy, and I'm in the process of applying for NZ citizenship for him. He will hold dual-citizenship until 24 (I think) then he will have to choose which one he wants, as Korea doesn't allow dual citizenship after that age.
I believe there are moves afoot within the Korean government to allow dual-citizenship in due course. I guess they're worried about the flight of Koreans to other countries. This will also bring them into line with other changes that are underway with the introduction of the FTA. |
Could you blame them? Would you want to go through 26 months of military service and receive less than what you'd spend on a good meal as your monthly salary? When I was in the armed forces, I received as much in 'field pay' for every day we went camping (a few dollars as compensation for sleeping in a tent and help you pay your expenses (tooth paste, soap, etc)) than what some of my students told me they got in one month. |
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smurfetta
Joined: 03 Oct 2007
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Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2008 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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No, your child will not be Korean if both parents are foreign nationals. At least one parent must be a Korean citizen for the child to get Korean citizenship.
I get that question asked a lot by Koreans as I am currently pregnant. Both my husband and I are foreigners so I have checked into this already. You have to get your baby's passport and citizenship certificate from your embassy within 30 days of the birth so you can register the baby with Korean immigration. Check out your embassy's website and see what they say about births in Korea. |
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sadsac
Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: Gwangwang
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:33 am Post subject: |
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If one parent is Korean, then the child can hold dual citizenship until they are 19 for a male. If both parents are foreigners, then the child is their nationality and should be registered wth their embassy.  |
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prairieboy
Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Location: The batcave.
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:39 am Post subject: |
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sadsac wrote: |
If one parent is Korean, then the child can hold dual citizenship until they are 19 for a male. If both parents are foreigners, then the child is their nationality and should be registered wth their embassy.  |
Are you sure this is true? Wasn't it about a year or two ago that the laws were changed. There was a mad rush at immigration by parents to renounce the Korean citizenship of their children (particularly male children) because this giving up the Korean citizenship just before their military service eligility was causing problems.
It was changed to birth or never at that time. Has this changed?
I am truly interested in this because my wife is pregnant and we have found out it's a boy. I'd like to know if I have to rush to get this done or if I can take my time.
Cheers |
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Typhoon
Joined: 29 May 2007 Location: Daejeon
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Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 3:47 am Post subject: |
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I never read about the law being changed back. I think the problem comes only if your child tries to live/enter Korea when he is the age to do military service. If he was registered as a Korean then he has to do the service. There is no choice to "dump" Korean citizenship before doing military service if you are a male. Women on the other hand have to make a choice when they come of age (I believe 19 years old). They can choose to keep their Korean citizenship or lose it. I have also read that dual citizenship may become legal in the future (men would still have to do military duty).
There was a big problem with with men changing their citizenship 3 years ago (when I had my daughter) and I haven't read any law changes since then. There was a thread about this a while ago (maybe 6 months ago) and I posted up the laws as they stood at that time. At that time it stated Korean citizenship could not be dropped by males until they did their military service once they had recieved Korean citizenship. Regardless, it would be worthwhile for anyone with a son to call the correct gov't office for information on this issue before registering a boy as a Korean. |
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