ID cards to be available for Koreans living abroad

By Jung Min-ho

Koreans living abroad will be eligible for a national identification card starting Thursday.

All overseas nationals aged 17 or older can obtain a residential registration card if they stay in Korea for 30 days or longer, according to the Ministry of Security and Public Administration.

To apply for these cards, citizens should submit their passports, pictures and registration forms to community service centers. It is anticipated that it will take five to 15 days to then receive the cards.

The ministry expects about 110,000 of a total 1.12 million Koreans who are permanent residents of other countries to register for the cards this year.

Previously, Koreans had to give up their registration cards if they moved abroad. The government required overseas Korean nationals visiting the country to file a domestic residence report, which enabled convenience during departure and entry, purchasing real estate, conducting financial transactions and obtaining medical insurance.

Yet those activities and others such as gaining legal assistance, phone services and online purchases were somewhat limited and took more effort without registration cards in the past. The new policy was adopted to ease such difficulties.

Under the new system, residential registration cards will not be issued through consulates, but through local government offices overseas Korean nationals will have to visit to benefit from the service.

For those who need help, the ministry has run a support center on the 16th floor of the Government Complex in Seoul since Jan. 15.

The policy is also intended to help Koreans living abroad feel more at home here, noted the ministry.

Rep. Won Yoo-chul from the ruling Saenuri Party proposed the bill in 2012, and it was passed during a National Assembly plenary session last month.

Yet some complain that the policy is just another benefit for overseas Korean nationals, who pay less tax. Critics say many of them take advantage of the benefits, including the nation’s cheap but high-quality medical services, while continuing to pay taxes in the countries they reside in.