Seoul City Opens 'Yeongdeungpo Immigration Civil Service Center' for Swift Resolution of 160,000 Foreigners' Complaints in Southwestern Area

Extension of Stay and Status Change for Visiting Employment (H-2) and Overseas Koreans (F-4), Various Reports and Certificate Issuance
Available to 160,000 Foreign Residents under Former Seoul Nambu Immigration Office Jurisdiction... Opening on the 2nd of Next Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Foreign residents living in the southwestern region will soon be able to quickly handle civil affairs such as extension of stay and change of status through the Immigration Civil Service Center on the first floor of the Seonamgwon Global Center, without having to visit the Seoul Southern Immigration Office.

On the 24th, Seoul City announced that, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Yeongdeungpo-gu, the 'Yeongdeungpo Immigration Civil Service Center' will open on the first floor of the Seonamgwon Global Center on July 2nd. Foreigners who are not proficient in Korean face great difficulties in the process of obtaining permission for extension of stay, including online reservations and document preparation. The distance from home to the immigration office is far, and due to the large number of people waiting, online advance reservations must be made at least 2 to 3 months in advance.

At the Yeongdeungpo Immigration Civil Service Center, various immigration-related tasks such as change of stay status for visiting employment (H2) and overseas Koreans (F4), extension of period, change of residence, various reports, and issuance of certificates are handled in the same way as the immigration offices under the Ministry of Justice, except for some tasks. From the 25th, advance online visit reservations can be made on the HiKorea website, and guidance is provided through the Seoul City Foreigners Portal and foreigner support facility SNS.

In addition, foreigners who are not proficient in Korean can more easily handle stay-related civil affairs through interpretation and translation support from foreigner counselors at the Seonamgwon Global Center. The Seonamgwon Global Center plans to provide more convenient one-stop comprehensive services to visiting foreign residents by enabling not only counseling services for foreigners and various education programs (Korean language, computer classes, etc.) and cultural programs but also immigration civil service processing.

Kim Seon-soon, Director of the Seoul City Women and Family Policy Office, said, “With the opening of the Yeongdeungpo Immigration Civil Service Center within the Seonamgwon Global Center, it is expected that residents in foreigner-dense areas of the southwestern region will be able to handle civil affairs such as extension and change of stay periods much more easily and conveniently.” She added, “We will actively support foreign residents in Seoul to use better administrative services through the Seonamgwon Global Center, which provides various services such as interpretation and translation.”