Court stops exile of Nepalese couple

By Lee Hyo-sik

Staff reporter

The Korea Immigration Service here has been ordered not to deport a Nepalese couple who once entered the country on forged passports until an upper court issues a final ruling on the matter.

The Seoul Administrative Court ruled against the service, Thursday, saying the Nepalese couple who have been running a restaurant and raising two children here could stay until the case was finalized by higher courts.

Last December, the immigration office found that the couple had previously entered the country on counterfeit passports in February 2001. It immediately ordered the two to leave the country, saying "they could pose a threat to national security and public safety."

But the couple filed a suit with the court against the agency to have the deportation order nullified. The two overstayed their visa after entering Korea in 2001. But they voluntarily left the country in July 2006 and later came back here with valid passports and visas.

The court said the statue of limitations on the couple's illegal entry into the country through forged passports has expired. "Additionally, they voluntarily left Korea in 2006 and came back here with proper immigration documents. There is no public good to be gained from deporting the two."

It said if the plaintiffs were deported, they would lose substantial amounts of money invested in the restaurant and their children would also lose their livelihood.

"Deportation should be carried out to prevent law-breaking illegal aliens from harming society," the court said. "But in this case, there is no evidence proving that the couple poses a threat to the public. The loss of their private interests as a result of deportation would outweigh the gain of public interest from it."