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The Korean Ministry for Justice (“MOJ”) announced it is relaxing passport restrictions for foreign residents in South Korea. Under the new guidelines from the MOJ, long-term foreign residents shall be allowed to stay in the country after their passport expires.
The MOJ announced it was giving foreign nationals in Korea an amnesty period until June 2022. Foreign nationals shall be allowed to stay in Korea for up to 12 months, even if their passport has expired. Once the amnesty period has expired, the MOJ may grant one-off permission to stay for six months for those who have a valid reason for failing to renew their passports.
The new policy will not affect diplomatic visa holders or refugees residing in Korea under humanitarian visas.
The MOJ stressed in a press release, that it was attempting to alleviate the difficulties that some foreign residents had in entering and exiting the country due to expired passports.
However, some foreigners have met with difficulties involving the immigration clearance process or been imposed with administrative fines for failing to renew or report his/her passport renewal in time. Foreign residents with expiring passports are recommended to either renew their passports prior to the expiration of validity or have it re-issued before applying for permission to stay.
The Korean Ministry of Justice.
If you have a query about visa issues or immigration matters in South Korea, you may schedule a No-Charge Initial Consultation with an Immigration Attorney:
