By Lee Kyung-min
Foreigners will be able to receive free legal services from lawyers regarding visa extensions and naturalization starting in the latter half of the year, the Ministry of Justice said Thursday.
Illegal aliens will also be eligible for these services, it added.
The ministry said it will set up legal counseling centers for foreigners in at least five places with large foreign communities.
The move is in response to the growing demand from expats for legal services, the ministry added.
Lawyers using translators will answer questions via fax, phone and online in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Philippines, Thai and 15 other languages.
The ministry will ask the Korean Bar Association (KBA) to recommend lawyers to volunteer for these services.
Districts with more than 10,000 foreigners, or with more than a 1 percent foreigner population, will be given priority, the ministry said.
“We expect exchange students, migrant workers and migrant wives interested in seeking legal advice will get help,” ministry official Cha Yong-ho said.
“Also, not excluding illegal aliens from the service will help them win legal status, ultimately helping them integrate into our society.”
The plan is expected to help migrant wives and foreigners at large, the official said.
Children born from migrants are Korean nationals. However, the migrants must take a test to acquire the status.
A migrant parent is eligible to apply for naturalization after two years. For foreigners without any ties here, it is five years, according to the ministry.
Under the law, those seeking naturalization are required to have had domicile address here for more than five consecutive years for foreigners without local ties, and two years for migrants married to Koreans.
They should be adults, age 19 or older, having maintained good conduct, as well as the ability to maintain a living on one’s own assets or job skills; or they should be a dependent member of a family capable of the same.
They must have basic knowledge such as an understanding of the Korean language, customs and culture.
According to data from the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, as of January, foreigners made up more than 3 percent of the nation's total population.
Out of the total population of more than 51 million, almost some 1.77 million are foreigners.
More than 32,000 foreigners live in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, some 23,000 in Hwaseong, also in Gyenonggi Province and some 16,000 in Suwon, Gyeonggi.
In Seoul, some 25,000 live in Yeongdeungpo, southwestern Seoul, and some 15,000 in Guro, also in southwestern Seoul.