Republic Korea: two passports / two names

[santo67 0]

Hi all,

here in Korea (Republic of Korea = South Korea) the National Assembly passed a revision of the Nationality Law that allows dual citizenship to certain groups.

In case of Korean adoptees who apply for Korean citizenship (restoration of Korean citizenship), we receive Korean passports with the old identity.

This means that we have two passports with two entirely different names (first & family name). Additionally in a few cases even the birth date is not the same one.

I was wondering how traveling under such conditions will happen and what kind of problems will arise.

I have been discussing with the KOrean Ministry of Justice the problems of traveling, especially since the TSA developed the "Secure Flight Program".

Additionally US citizens have to use the US passport to leave or enter the USA. Korean citizens have the same rule applied to them here in Korea.

As you can see, there are many issues and problems ahead with this constellation. I was wondering if anyone already experienced this kind of problem.

Thank you for your feedback.

Best regards

DW

[PP2 0]

The situation is no different than any other USC who is also a dual- (or multi-) national. There are two points that need to be addressed: credentials presented at the immigration point and credentials presented to airport security/personnel.

When passing US, ROK or other countries' immigration points, a single nationality should be chosen and used for the duration of that visit. It is irrelevant whether the boarding pass matches the name on the chosen passport as far as immigration officers are concerned. Therefore, the person should use the USC passport for travel within or traversing US borders, the ROK passport for travel within or traversing ROK borders, and the citizenship of choice for travel elsewhere.

When passing airport security/personnel (including security agents, check-in agents, gate agents) the presented boarding pass must match the passport or other approved identification. If the ticket is issued in the US name, then the US passport should be used. If the ticket is issued in the ROK name, then the ROK passport should be used.

The TSA Secure Flight Program affects travelers within or traversing US borders. As long as the information on the presented passport or identification matches the information on the ticket (and there are no flags), the boarding pass will be issued. It doesn't matter whether this is a US or ROK passport. When crossing US immigration, it is possible that the SFP could be used to flag the person as entering the US with a US passport without a corresponding SFP-approved ticket that was actually issued to match a ROK passport. However, this can easily be explained by the dual citizenship status. Note that resident aliens with a foreign passport and green card with different names are common (maiden vs married surnames) and in a similar situation.

There are actually two ROK passports, one issued to nationals permanently residing within Korea and one issued to nationals permanently residing abroad. (Which would be issued by ROK to dual citizens is not clear.) In both cases, the passports have two names listed, one in native Korean and one in English. I have been told that the passports can be amended to list an alternate English name in certain circumstances, such as when the Korean national assumes the foreigner's surname after marriage. My wife will be requesting this during her next visit to Korea, so I will find out if this is actually true.

In my opinion, there are many potential problems, but there will likely be few actual problems.

Edited March 24, 2011 by PP2

[santo67 0]

Having two passports with two completely different names proved to be quite ok.

At the inbound immigration, I always show the respective passport without the boarding pass.

At the outbound immigration booth I always show the passport of the country I'm about to leave. In most cases the board pass doesn't match that passport, but that's ok. So far no problems.

Upon check-in in most cases airlines wants to see both passports. In a few cases the airline employee started to make a huge fuss out of it.

I usually buy my tickets not in my Korean name.

While the Korean passport does have two fields with the names, it's in Hangeul and one in Latin letters. However my Korean name is entirely different from my Western name. And the authorities don't acknowledge my Western name in my Korean passport. At least my birthdate is the same in both passports which is not the case in a few of my colleagues.

In any case, every country is sovereign and can issue their passports in whatever name.

Just interesting to see that my case is rather rare.

[Anh map 2,098]

Having two passports with two completely different names proved to be quite ok.

At the inbound immigration, I always show the respective passport without the boarding pass.

At the outbound immigration booth I always show the passport of the country I'm about to leave. In most cases the board pass doesn't match that passport, but that's ok. So far no problems.

Upon check-in in most cases airlines wants to see both passports. In a few cases the airline employee started to make a huge fuss out of it.

I usually buy my tickets not in my Korean name.

While the Korean passport does have two fields with the names, it's in Hangeul and one in Latin letters. However my Korean name is entirely different from my Western name. And the authorities don't acknowledge my Western name in my Korean passport. At least my birthdate is the same in both passports which is not the case in a few of my colleagues.

In any case, every country is sovereign and can issue their passports in whatever name.

Just interesting to see that my case is rather rare.

Not so rare. Hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of multi nationals do that all over the world.