National Court Administration, Family Register Office for Overseas Koreans

  • KOREAN
background

Application for the Issuance of a Certificate

Eligible Applicants

  1. Subject, their spouse, and lineal blood relatives

    The subject, their spouse or lineal blood relative, or the representative of any of them may apply for the issuance of a certificate of registered matters with the subject’s name and ‘resident registration number’. However, if an application for issuing a certificate of registered matters is submitted via mail to an overseas Korean diplomatic mission, the subject’s ‘place of registration’ must be stated in the application. Lineal blood relatives mean lineal ascendants and descendants, irrespective of whether they are in a patrilineal or matrilineal line. Parents-in-law and a daughter-in-law or son-in-law are related by marriage and are not considered as lineal blood relatives. Therefore, they may not apply for the issuance of such a certificate without delegation by a lineal blood relative. An adopted family member is deemed a legal blood relative, and the relation of family members by adoption constitutes the relation of lineal blood relatives.

  2. Representative of a subject, their spouse, or lineal blood relative
    1. Qualification of representative

      Both nationals and foreigners are qualified to represent a person.

    2. Submission of a power of attorney

      The original document of a power of attorney must be submitted. If the representative is an attorney-at-law, a copy of the said power of attorney, clearly stating the purpose of the delegation to apply for the issuance of a certificate of registered matters, may be submitted. There is no regulation on the period of validity of a power of attorney. However, if a month has passed since a power of attorney was issued, it must be reconfirmed by the delegate before submitting it.

    3. Documents that must accompany a power of attorney

      A power of attorney must be signed or sealed by the subject, etc., and accompanied by a copy of the identification certificate of the subject, etc.
      Identification certificates include a resident registration card, driver's license, passport, civil service card, alien registration card, disability registration card, etc., with a photo and personal information such as a resident registration number or date of birth on it.
      A power of attorney must include the personal information of the delegating and the delegated person and the statement of delegation to issue the certificate.

  3. Foreigners
    1. A foreigner related to a Korean national

      A foreigner may apply for the issuance of a certificate of registered matters of their spouse and lineal blood relatives.

      2. How can a foreigner apply for the issuance of a certificate of registered matters of their Korean spouse?

      If the foreign spouse can be identified from the spouse’s certificate of registered matters
      ☞ The foreigner may apply for the issuance of a certificate of registered matters of their Korean spouse by entering the spouse’s name and resident registration number in the application the same way a Korean applicant does.

      If the foreign spouse cannot be identified from the spouse’s certificate of registered matters
      ☞ If a foreign spouse is not recorded in the family relation register of their Korean spouse may apply for the issuance of a certificate of registered matters of their spouse by proving their marriage. The documents that can support the marriage in such cases are those with identifiable personal data of the foreigner and their spouse, such as a deed of marriage or a certified transcript of a family register, and must be submitted along with translations. In such cases, such substantiating documents are not mandatory; thus, original documents need not be submitted. However, for a copy to be submitted, it must be verified with its original document and confirmed by an overseas Korean diplomatic mission affixed with the seal of the diplomatic mission as a genuine and true copy of the original document.

      If a foreign child applies for the issuance of a certified transcript of a closed register or a certificate of registered matters of a parent with the nationality of the Republic of Korea

      As the child is the ward of a Korean national, the child may apply for the issuance of a certificate of registered matters of the parent as a lineal blood relative if he or she substantiates their blood relation by submitting their family register in a foreign country, certificate of birth, etc.

    2. A foreigner whose relation with a Korean was terminated

      A foreigner whose relation with a Korean national was terminated, their spouse or lineal blood relative may also file an application for the issuance of a certificate of registered matters regarding the foreigner’s records.
      It should be noted that when the family relation with a Korean is dissolved, the foreigner concerned must provide the Korean subject’s name and the ‘place of registration’ instead of the ‘resident registration number’ to obtain a certificate of registered matters.

    3. Deleted or closed family relation register

      A foreigner who lost his or her Korean nationality following his or her acquisition of a foreign country’s nationality but was previously recorded in a deleted register(Jejeok Deung-Bon) or family relation register of the Republic of Korea on the grounds of birth, their spouse, or lineal blood relative, may apply for the issuance of a certificate of registered matters.

    4. If a report of registration of family relations between foreigners was accepted

      A certificate of registered matters is issued on the premise that a family relation register exists. As there is no family relation register for foreigners, a certificate of registered matters cannot be issued even if a report of family relation registration between the foreigners was accepted by a registration authority. In the above case, the registration office may issue a receipt certificate of the report.