By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

Foreign residents who want to become naturalized Koreans will see their waiting time reduced by at least a year after the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) announced that the written exam will be offered to more applicants. The government is also going to offer sign language interpretation service for the hearing-impaired.

The MOJ announced Thursday that it will change the way it operates the naturalization examination from July to clear the long waiting list of applicants for the test. Testing will be held at a middle school in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, every second Saturday, three times a day.

``We expect some 15,000 applicants to take the test and 10,000 among them to pass it this year. It will reduce the waiting period by at least a year,'' said MOJ official Kang Sung-hwan.

Those who want to be naturalized in Korea must have lived in the country for more than five years ― a two-year exception is applied to foreigners married to Koreans.

The applicants have to pass a document screening, a written test and interview ― a process which currently takes an average of 30 months.

With the exception of wives, minors and people over 60, all applicants have to pass the written test, which previously was administered twice a week for just 70 people, leading to a waiting list that has reached 23,000.

``Moreover, the examinees can only take the test only twice from June. Those who failed could previously take the exam three times and it caused new applicants to wait longer,'' said Kang. ``As they can take the test only twice now, we expect them to take it more seriously.''

In addition, the test kit was changed from a set of 10 multiple-choice questions and 10 short essays to 20 multiple-choice questions to provide more objectivity in test making and grading.

The MOJ has also began to provide resources for the disabled. Braille type was introduced last year and sign language translation will now be offered.

It also eliminated the requirement that spouses have 30 million won. ``If the couple has been married for more than two years and prove their sincerity in marriage, they don't have to have bank balance more than 30 million won or real estate,'' he said. ``Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han changed the rule after visiting a multicultural household in Ansan and listening to their problems.''

meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr