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Is it illegal to send your passport out of Korea?

 
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Kurtz



Joined: 05 Jan 2007
Location: ples bilong me

PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 10:17 pm    Post subject: Is it illegal to send your passport out of Korea? Reply with quote

I need a certified copy of my passport (plus the original for verification) for the application process of a Masters I want to do back home; can anyone verify if this is legal or illegal. Please, no I think it should be OK's, just a 100 % yes or no and why?

If yes, is there a protocol to follow?
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CentralCali



Joined: 17 May 2007

PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 11:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, since you're required to have the thing with you, what do you really think the answer is? If you're hurting for a certified copy, there's a notary public, fluent in English, next to Samgakji Subway Station in Seoul. Or you could go up to your country's embassy and get a certified copy of the identity pages there.
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:20 am    Post subject: Re: Is it illegal to send your passport out of Korea? Reply with quote

Kurtz wrote:
I need a certified copy of my passport (plus the original for verification) for the application process of a Masters I want to do back home; can anyone verify if this is legal or illegal. Please, no I think it should be OK's, just a 100 % yes or no and why?

If yes, is there a protocol to follow?


Your embassy should be able to take care of the certified copy / notarization for you. It is strange that they would ask for the original (they are not a government agency).

It is not illegal sending it out of Korea BUT you may encounter problems if you do send it and anything happens to it.

You are required to have it with you/available for inspection (or an embassy receipt for same if some embassy has it during a visa application process) when you are in the country (Korean immigration act).

.
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pangaea



Joined: 20 Dec 2007

PostPosted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 7:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

1. If they are asking for a certified copy, why do they want/need an original?

2. Why on earth would you even consider sending your passport out of the country?

Surely a notarized copy would be sufficient. I can't imagine that the school expects that everyone who applies there will send in an original passport. That's ridiculous. Your passport is your identity and a required document for you to travel freely within and out of the country. I was nervous when my director needed it overnight. There is no way in Hades that I would mail it off to another country. There is too much of a chance of it not being returned.
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Kurtz



Joined: 05 Jan 2007
Location: ples bilong me

PostPosted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 1:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pangaea wrote:
1. If they are asking for a certified copy, why do they want/need an original?

2. Why on earth would you even consider sending your passport out of the country?

Surely a notarized copy would be sufficient. I can't imagine that the school expects that everyone who applies there will send in an original passport. That's ridiculous. Your passport is your identity and a required document for you to travel freely within and out of the country. I was nervous when my director needed it overnight. There is no way in Hades that I would mail it off to another country. There is too much of a chance of it not being returned.


1. The person who certifies the copy of my passport must have the original present to verify the copy to be sent in to the uni.

I guess I should have asked who can certify a copy of my passport in Korea but I wanted to get the thing done ASAP without having to go to the post office twice to send the passport to whoever in Korea, and then send the copy to the uni as there are 3 scholarship places left and I was advised to send my application off ASAP so I could grab the scholarship money.

2. Because stuff I have sent home in a cardboard box on a rickety boat has amazingly found it's way home so I wouldn't be that worried sending a passport by registered mail or a courier service with a tracking number.

Low and behold, my home uni says it's ok for my Korean principal at my school to certify the copy by signing her name and whipping out her rubber stamp so it's all good.


Last edited by Kurtz on Fri Jun 25, 2010 3:23 pm; edited 1 time in total
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DHC



Joined: 15 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 2:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You didn't mention your nationality. If you are a US citizen, the embassy will notarize a copy of your passport. I assume other embassies will do so as well. If you use a local Korean notary then you must obtain an apostille from the Korean Ministry of Foreign affairs if your country has signed the Hague Treaty. If not, you must obtain notary certification from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A university does not need the original passport if they have a copy certified by your embassy of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Kurtz



Joined: 05 Jan 2007
Location: ples bilong me

PostPosted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DHC wrote:
You didn't mention your nationality. If you are a US citizen, the embassy will notarize a copy of your passport. I assume other embassies will do so as well. If you use a local Korean notary then you must obtain an apostille from the Korean Ministry of Foreign affairs if your country has signed the Hague Treaty. If not, you must obtain notary certification from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A university does not need the original passport if they have a copy certified by your embassy of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


My mistake. In all cases, I meant certified, not notarized.
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