Birth Registration
Birth registration of a child born to a Korean father and a foreign national mother
- Birth registration of a child born to married parents The father or others responsible for birth registration (including the foreign national mother residing in Korea) should report the birth for the creation of the family relationship register of the child.
- Birth registration of a child born to unmarried parents Birth registration cannot be completed by the father's report of birth alone; in this case, the birth registration of the child first requires the father's report of legal recognition in accordance with the legal recognition procedure for foreign nationals. Then, the child can acquire Korean nationality by reporting to the Minister of Justice in accordance with the Nationality Act (in the case of minors); or be approved for naturalization by the Minister (in the case of adults), to be registered as a Korean national or a naturalized Korean. Only then will the child's family relationship register be created. Therefore, the report of the birth of a child who has not acquired Korean nationality is first filed in a special registration category and when the child acquires Korean nationality and his/ her family relationship register is created, the details about his/ her birth are recorded. However, the family relationship register of a child who was legally recognized by his father unborn can only be created by the father's report of birth.
Birth registration of a child born to a Korean mother and a foreign national father
- Birth registration of a child born to married parents As the child acquires Korean nationality, the mother or others responsible for birth registration (including the foreign national father residing in Korea) should report the birth for the creation of the family relationship register of the child.
- Birth registration of a child born to unmarried parents The child's family relationship register can be created by his/ her mother or others responsible for the birth report. (The child takes his/ her mother's last name and belongs to her clan. The details about his/ her father, however, are not recorded in the register.) If legal recognition is made by the child's father, it is recorded in the register following the report of the recognition and when the child acquires the nationality of the father's country, the register is annulled after the report of the loss of Korean nationality or the notification of the loss of Korean nationality.