By Lee Hyo-sik
South Koreans, particularly frequent travelers, will enjoy a more convenient immigration inspection at U.S. airports using unmanned immigration auto-gates, beginning later this year.
If implemented, Korea will be the first Asian nation to benefit from such a streamlined U.S. immigration process and the third in the world, after Germany and the Netherlands.
The Ministry of Justice said Thursday that Korea Immigration Service Commissioner Seok Dong-hyeon reached an agreement with his U.S. counterpart Alan Bersin in Washington to allow Koreans to enter the U.S. through unmanned immigration gates installed at 20 airports across the country.
Under the reciprocal agreement, Americans will also be permitted to enter Korea using auto immigration gates set up at Incheon and Gimpo international airports.
Currently, Korean and other foreign visitors to the U.S. wait in long lines to go through the immigration process at airports. They are required to have their fingerprints and photographs taken, and answer questions from immigration inspectors about the purpose of their visit and other matters.
But to benefit from the planned simple immigration process, Koreans are still expected to submit fingerprints and other biological information to the U.S. government prior to their trip and undergo an interview with U.S. immigration officials.
“It has become easier for Koreans to travel to the United States, following the implementation in November 2008 of a U.S. visa waiver program. If Koreans are allowed to enter the U.S. using an unmanned gate, instead of going through a manned immigration checkpoint, it will make things much more convenient,” said Seo Seok-ju, deputy director at the Korea Immigration Service.
Seo said how the simplified immigration procedure will go into effect and other details still need to be worked out, adding working-level officials from both countries will hold a series of meetings in Seoul in the near future.
“It is hard to say at the moment how exactly the immigration process will get simpler in practice. We think that what the U.S. has in place for Germans and Dutch will be a benchmark for us, which means Koreans will be required to submit their biological information and have an interview with U.S. officials. But if they do it once, they will benefit whenever they go to the U.S.,” he said.
Under the “Global Entry Program,” Germans and Dutch can enter the U.S. using unmanned gates at U.S. airports.
To benefit from it, they have to be pre-certified by U.S. immigration officials and pay $100 in fees for a pass valid for five years. They are also required to hand over their biological information to the U.S. government and pass an interview with U.S. officials.
Seo said Korean government officials are seeking to work out aspects with their U.S. counterparts as quickly as possible to put the scheme into practice within this year.