Dual Citizenship

Update: December 12, 2010 It is possible to apply for Korean Citizenship as per immediate. There are a few conditions though. Currently applications are supposed to be accepted only within the Republic of Korea. Also, only permanent residents (Fx-visa holders) can apply. Furthermore G.O.A.'L has tried to receive confirmation that the status of an "orphan" guarantees to be exempt from service but was not able to do so. For this particular reason G.O.A.'L recommends all male adoptees who may be eligible for active military duty to wait for the Military Law Revision (submitted by Congressman Kim Chung-hwan) to be passed by the National Assembly. An information booklet will be published in December 2010 which contains vital information about the advantages/disadvantages of Dual Citizenship for Korean adoptees. Since allowing Dual Citizenship is a precedence in the world of international adoption, many things will continue to change - a work in progress. G.O.A.'L promises to communicate all changes as accurate as possible to the international adoptee community. G.O.A.'L intends to publish the "Guidebook to Korean Citizenship" also in an electronic form (English, French) early 2011. Currently the following countries allow Dual Citizenship: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, U.S.A. Only Norway and Denmark do not allow Dual Citizenship. G.O.A.'L recommends to apply via its citizenship services. All services are free of charge for G.O.A.'L members. G.O.A.'L is authorized to translate documents that needs to be handed in to immigration office. The Ministry of Justice recognizes G.O.A.'L as the official counseling center for Korean adoptees. If you are interested in receiving more information please send an email to daewon.wenger@gmail.com About the campaign In Fall 2007 G.O.A.'L officially started this campaign by researching information about dual citizenship. On May 15, 2008, Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (G.O.A.'L) officially launched its global campaign to obtain dual citizenship rights for Korean adoptees holding foreign nationalities as a result of their overseas adoption. At present, this granting of such dual citizenship could positively affect Korean adoptees holding citizenship in the following countries: Australia, Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, USA and possibly Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, and Sweden. Historical background Since 1956, officially more than 160,000 Korean babies and children have been sent for foreign adoption to at least 14 different countries. Although about two-thirds were sent to the United States, significant populations of Koreans were adopted to Europe, Canada and Australia. Additionally, an unknown number of Korean children were adopted through privately arranged adoptions. International adoption from Korea is still ongoing. Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (G.O.A.'L) was founded in 1998 by adult Korean adoptees who returned to Korea to learn about their origins. As such, G.O.A.'L has played an integral part in raising awareness about adoption, providing education to adoptees, adoption professionals, as well as average Korean nationals through volunteer opportunities with the organization. Over the past decade, many returning adoptees have chosed to live in Korea for extensive periods of time studying, working, searching for birth families, and some even getting married and settling in Korea. In 1999 G.O.A.'L successfully lobbied with Korean adoptee individuals and other interested groups to have Korean adoptees included as benefitting persons of the Overseas Koreans Act, which essentially saw the creation of the F-4 visa. The F-4 has been an important step to providing a means for adoptees to return to Korea to study, live and work freely, almost like Korean nationals. However, it does have limits. Current situation At present, the Korean law does not allow dual citizensh

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