By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter

Foreigners seeking to marry Koreans may have to submit health and criminal record documents before being granted visas to come here from as early as this year, the Office of the Prime Minister said Monday.

The move would affect people from countries including China, Vietnam, the Philippines and 20 other countries. Currently, only those from China are required to go through an official interview in the presence of their Korean partners in order to gain the relevant visa, but the couple interview will be applied to those from other countries as well.

The measures were included in a comprehensive plan to prevent ``fake'' interracial marriages and promote the rights of foreigners entering the country for marriage with Koreans. The administration approved the plan at a policy coordination meeting presided over by Prime Minister Han Seung-soo last week.

The action reflects concerns that multicultural marriages are becoming a major means of illegal immigration here. The Ministry of Justice recently called for efforts to strengthen relevant regulations amid a rising number of fake marriages.

In a related measure, the administration will make it obligatory for foreigners to stay here for a certain period of time before applying for permanent residence. The ministry is working closely with the immigration office to set up related rules, ministry officials said.

``Foreigners in the U.S. and Germany should live in the countries for more than five years to get a permanent resident status. Korea need a similar regulation as the number of foreigners seeking permanent residence has surged,'' a ministry spokesman said.

The measures are expected to make it almost impossible for foreigners with serious health problems and criminal records to enter the country for marriage.

As of May 2008, a total of 144,385 foreigners were living in Korea after being married to Korean spouses. Of them, 62 percent were from China, 14 percent from Vietnam and 4.4 percent from Japan, according to the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.

The ministry said 71.1 percent of the foreign spouses still don't have Korean citizenship.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr