From Next Year, Overseas Koreans' Family Relation Certificate Fee Unified to 1 Dollar

Starting next year, the fee for overseas Koreans to obtain family relationship registration certificates at overseas diplomatic missions will be standardized to 1 dollar.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Court Administration Office (Chief Justice Kim Sang-hwan) announced on the 26th that from January 1st next year, it will improve the issuance process of family relationship registration certificates for overseas Koreans accordingly.

Currently, when overseas Koreans apply for family relationship registration certificates at overseas diplomatic missions where family relationship registrars are not dispatched, the "certificate issuance application form" and the "certificate issued upon application" are electronically transmitted between the Court Administration Office and the overseas diplomatic missions via an electronic document distribution service based on certified electronic addresses. However, in this process, in addition to the 1 dollar certificate issuance fee, an additional 0.5 dollar certified electronic mail usage fee is charged, resulting in a total cost of 1.5 dollars. This causes the issuance cost to vary depending on the overseas diplomatic mission where the certificate is requested. Among the total 167 overseas diplomatic missions, 154 required this additional fee.

Furthermore, since certified electronic mail relies on private companies' technology and equipment, it is difficult for the Court Administration Office or the Overseas Koreans Office to take immediate action in case of system failures, causing inconvenience to overseas Koreans.

In response, the Court Administration Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have shared concerns about these issues since 2021 and have discussed improvement measures to resolve them.

Starting January next year, regardless of whether a family relationship registrar is dispatched, all overseas diplomatic missions will be able to issue certificates without charging the 0.5 dollar certified electronic mail usage fee.

A representative from the Court Administration Office stated, "Not only will the economic burden on overseas Koreans be reduced, but in case of system failures, immediate measures can be taken by the Court Administration Office and the Overseas Koreans Office to resolve the issues, thereby enhancing both stability and convenience."

Han Su-hyun, Legal Newspaper Reporter

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.