[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The Ministry of Justice is set to improve procedures to allow foreign students in Korea to apply for extensions of their stay without having to visit immigration or foreigner offices in person. This measure is aimed at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).
On the 21st, the Ministry of Justice announced that it will expand the group application system for stay extension, which was previously allowed only at some universities, to all universities, enabling foreign students to easily apply for extensions of their stay.
Accordingly, from now on, at all universities, foreign students will no longer need to visit immigration or foreigner offices individually; instead, university officials will collect documents collectively and submit group applications. To reduce the administrative burden on universities, submission of certain documents such as enrollment certificates will also be exempted.
In the future, a system will be established to accept various civil petitions, including stay extension approvals, exclusively online without face-to-face submissions.
The Ministry of Justice stated, "By improving the inconvenience of foreign students visiting immigration and foreigner offices and face-to-face submissions, we expect to reduce congestion of civil petitions concentrated in certain periods and alleviate concerns about the spread of infectious diseases in the community through face-to-face contact."
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