By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff reporter
It is a common scene for foreign nationals who enter and depart Korea to wait in long lines at the airports to have their immigration documents processed by inspectors.
But the queue will be shorter as about 30,000 non-Koreans will be allowed easier entry and exit at unmanned immigration checkpoints using auto-gates, a move to make the process more pleasant and less time-consuming for foreigners.
The Ministry of Justice said Thursday that foreign passport holders who have obtained permanent residency here or invested large amounts of money will be able to process their immigration documents through an unmanned screening system at Incheon International Airport as early as July.
When the measure is put into practice, about 30,000 foreigners who frequently visit the country are expected to benefit from it.
Those who want to process their passport and other immigration papers through the automatic system will be required to first check with inspectors to verify their passports and identities.
Additionally, they should provide passport photos and fingerprints. Foreigners will then be able to enter and depart Korea by only having their passports and fingerprints confirmed by the machine.
"We have yet to decide exactly when to allow foreign nationals to use the unmanned immigration system," ministry spokesman Kim Weol-soo said. "But we plan to start it as early as possible, probably later this year, to provide the same high-quality service to non-Koreans who frequently visit the country."
In line with a growing number of outbound travelers, the ministry introduced the unmanned system for Koreans in June 2008 to make the immigration procedure easier and less time-consuming. But foreigners have been unable to benefit from the simpler process as their identities are harder to be verified.
If the plan goes well the ministry will allow around 900,000 registered foreigners here to benefit from it.
He said it will help upgrade Korea's image among foreigners and publicize its state-of-the-art technology ahead of important international gatherings, including the G-20 summit in November.