“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
G.O.A.’L Dual Citizenship Campaign
Information Package
1. Intro
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.’L) was founded back in 1998 by adult adoptees who returned to Korea in order to live and work in the country they were born in. In 1999 G.O.A.’L lobbied successfully for the inclusion of adult adoptees into the Overseas Koreans Act. Since then the F4 visa is available to adult adoptees and their dependants. The Dual Citizenship Campaign is naturally one further step in the development. This information package is designed for those who are interested in this campaign. If more information is needed please contact our planning committee at info@goal.or.kr
2. Planning Committee
Coordination: Dae-won Wenger, Secretary General G.O.A.’L Myriam Cransac, University of La Rochelle, Intern G.O.A.’L 2008 Advisory Board: Chung-Hwan Kim, Member of the National Assembly, B.O.D. G.O.A.’L Jong-hoon Lee, Ph.D. political Science, B.O.D. G.O.A.’L Chul-woo Lee, Professor at Yonsei University, Ph.D in Law Adoptees (in Korea): Nari Baker, Fulbright grantee 2007/2008 Robyn Shultz Adoptees (overseas): Julayne Lee (U.S.A.)
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr
“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
3. Current Situation
Presently the law of South Korea does not accept dual citizenship, with only a few exceptions: for instance, if a Korean citizen was born in the US, he or she holds both nationalities. However Article 12 of the 1997 Nationality Act states that “A person who
has had the nationalities of both the Republic of Korea and a foreign country (…) before he reaches his full twenty years of age shall select one nationality before he reaches his full twenty-two years of age”.
What concerns the case of the Overseas Adoptees of Korea, they have accidentally and without their will forfeited the Korean citizenship and undertaken their respective country’s nationality. This case is quoted in Article 15 of the 1997 Nationality Act:
A national of the Republic of Korea who falls under one of the following subparagraphs shall lose the nationality of the Republic of Korea retroactively at the time of the acquisition of the foreign nationality, if he does not report the willingness to keep the nationality of the Republic of Korea (…): (…) 2. A person who has acquired the nationality of an adoptive father or mother through an adoption by a foreigner
Article 15, subparagraph 2, 1997 Nationality Act From the point of view of the Republic of Korea, they are now considered as foreigners. Some of them may wish to acquire the Korean nationality, but if they do so, Article 10 of the 1997 Nationality Act stipulates that “A foreigner who has acquired the nationality
of the Republic of Korea but maintains a nationality of a foreign country shall renounce the nationality of the foreign within six months after the acquisition of the nationality of the Republic of Korea”. As the overwhelming majority of adoptees have spent the main
part of their live in their adoptive country, they are likely to refuse giving up their adoptive nationality. Article 18 of the same act stipulates that “A person who has lost the nationality of the
Republic of Korea shall not possess the rights afforded only to the nationals…” However,
the 1999 Act on the Immigration and Legal Status of Overseas Koreans, which includes the Korean adoptees thanks to G.O.A.’L.’s efforts, gives certain rights concerning employment, financial and foreign exchange transaction, or medical insurance to the Korean immigrants and adoptees of the world during their sojourn in Korea.
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr
“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
4. Problems
a) Military service
The immigration authorities of Korea have already expressed some concerns about the implication of dual citizenship on the mandatory military service for Korean males. It has been noticed that more and more Korean women went to the United States to give birth to their babies, so their son could be a dual national until he reaches 22 years, and finally choose the US citizenship in order to avoid military service. In order to prevent such practices, an amendment of the Article 12 of 1997 Nationality Act was voted in May 2005 and states that dual nationals born during their parents’ stay in a foreign country may renounce to their Korean citizenship only after completing military service. However, it seems that the military service does not concern the orphans of Korea; therefore 80% of the adoptees are considered as orphans. Furthermore in 2007, a lawyers’ group already suggested the establishment of dual citizenship for overseas Koreans in order to stop brain drain1, and they proposed to establish an alternative civil service, such as English training or work in public offices. Concerning the way other countries deal with military obligations in case of dual citizenship, some countries members of the Council of Europe signed several conventions on the nationality question. In 1963 was signed in Strasbourg the Convention on the Reduction of Cases of Multiple Nationality and on the Military Obligations in Cases of Multiple Nationality; and in 1997 was signed in Strasbourg the European Convention on Nationality. These texts can be found on the website of the Council of Europe (www.coe.int). According to these,
Persons possessing the nationality of two or more States Parties shall be required to fulfil their military obligations in relation to one of those States Parties only.
Article 21, European Convention on Nationality
1
Kang Shin-who, Lawyers’ Group Calls for Dual Nationality
The Korea Times, 11 October 2007
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr
“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
b) Health insurance
The establishment of dual citizenship could also raise a slight problem concerning contributions to the Health Insurance program. The fact that some subscribers pay their contributions only from the date when they obtained their visa or their citizenship could provoke some critics among the citizens who have paid their contributions for a longer period of time.
c) Countries that do not accept dual citizenship
If the Republic of Korea accepts the establishment of a dual citizenship for Overseas Adoptees, it would concern only those who were adopted in a country that accept itself the dual citizenship for its nationals. Consequently the adoptees from Denmark, Luxemburg, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium cannot benefit from this measure, although there may be exceptions. In the case of Denmark, the country follows the principle of avoiding dual nationality. Article 7(i) of the 2004 Consolidation Act on Danish Nationality states that “Danish
nationality will be lost by any person who acquires a foreign nationality upon application or with his or her express consent”. The website of the ministry of refugee, immigration
and integration affairs (http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/) states that dual nationality is accepted only in extreme cases. What concerns Luxembourg, according to a brochure available on the government website (www.gouvernement.lu) the new law of 2001 on the Luxembourg nationality states that a citizen of Luxembourg loses his nationality if he voluntary acquires a foreign citizenship after 18 years of age. Concerning Norway, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration website (www.udi.no) reads that a Norwegian citizen who cannot be the national of two countries. There can be a few exceptions but none of them concern the Korean adoptees. However, the legislation of the following countries may accept some exceptions:
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr
“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
In the case of the Netherlands, the website of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (www.minbuza.nl) explains that if a Dutch citizen wishes to obtain a foreign nationality after April 1st 2003, he will loose automatically his or her Dutch citizenship, but some exceptions can be made if he or she was born in the country of the other nationality and has the principal residence in this country at the time he or she applies for the other citizenship. In any case, the Dutch citizens are advised to address to a Dutch embassy or consulate before applying for another nationality, in order to know whether they will lose their Dutch citizenship. In Germany, Article 25 of the 1913 Nationality Act states that “A German shall lose his
citizenship upon the acquisition of a foreign citizenship where such acquisition results from his application”. However, the Federal Ministry of the Interior websites
(www.bmi.bund.de) states that in certain cases, German citizens may apply for dual citizenship without losing their German nationality. The Belgian Federal Public Service for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation (www.diplomatie.be) states that a Belgian citizen who wishes to acquire another citizenship would automatically lose his Belgian citizenship. However, from June 9th 2007, the Belgian citizen will lose his nationality only if he obtains the nationality of Austria, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain or the United Kingdom.
d) double taxation
The problems of taxation liability and double taxation are often solved by international conventions between countries. There may be bilateral tax treaties of multilateral treaties made by the European Union.
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr
“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
e) Issues with the F4 visa
The F4 visa established with the 1999 Act on the Immigration and Legal Status of Overseas Koreans grants certain rights to the Korean immigrants and adoptees who wish to establish in Korea in order to live and to work. But foreigners working here with the F4 visa are still not granted some other rights indicating the belonging to a people, such as the right of vote and eligibility. The F4 visa holders are also tied to some limits, for instance in the creating of an Internet website. Thus, the application for a F4 visa is very complicated. Although GOAL provides some efficient help to the adoptees in order to gather or translate the documents and to deal with the immigration office, the application procedure is quite heavy and takes a long time. The possession of the Korean citizenship and the Korean passport would avoid such a procedure. The F4 visa does not solve the problem of the sense of belonging as well. Korean nationalism values the concept of the people’s homogeneity based on blood and purity of race2. This explains that Korea’s law about citizenship follows the principle of jus
sanguinis. The multiple external aggressions that have struck Korea throughout history
accented this feeling. This is this ethnic-based nationalism that causes discrimination against migrant workers or abuses on daughters-in-law of foreign origins. The Korean people also give much importance to the clan and the lineage, according to the Confucian tradition that is powerful in the country. This explains as well the poor importance of internal adoption in Korea, as the adopted child does not share the blood of the family. When a Korean family adopts a Korean child, the purpose is to continue the lineage of the family: consequently the family acts as if the child was natural and not adopted, and the adoption aims to the interest of the family, not the interest of the child. As overseas adoptees have cut the line between them and their birth family, they cannot be part of the clan anymore. The aim of the dual citizenship campaign is to give the Korean adoptees the opportunity to integrate and to find their place into the Korean society:
2
Gi-woon Shin, Ethnic Pride Source of Prejudice, Discrimination
The Korea Herald, August 2, 2006
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr
“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
- From their point of view, the acquisition of the Korean citizenship along with their adoptive nationality would give them a broader sense of belonging, which is psychologically very important. - From the point of view of the Korean society, new citizens holding both the knowledge of two countries would give a multicultural aspect to the population. An adoptee or overseas Korean with dual nationality would become a new type of “Global Korean”, well educated, speaking different languages and mastering the culture of each of their countries. This would undoubtedly be an asset for a country like Korea, which values its human resources, as adoptees could create bridges and links between Korea and their adoptive country, concerning trade or diplomacy. Furthermore, it is important to notice that during Roh Moo-hyun’s presidency, the question of establishing dual citizenship for Overseas Koreans had already been raised many times, in order to prevent brain drain3. Consequently it would be beneficial for Korea to go from a homogeneous conception of the society to a more multicultural aspect.
3
Government Mulls Policy Chance to Prevent Brain Drain, The Korea Times, 28 October 2007
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr
“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
Research in respective countries
The US State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs’ website (www.travel.state.gov) says that “the US Government recognizes that dual nationality exists but does not
encourage it as a matter of policy because of the problems it may cause. Claims of other countries on dual national U.S. citizens may conflict with U.S. law, and dual nationality may limit U.S. Government efforts to assist citizens abroad. The country where a dual national is located generally has a stronger claim to that person's allegiance”. However, if an American citizen wants to undertake another citizenship
without the intention to give up his nationality, he may become a dual citizen. What concerns Canada, according to the Canadian Foreign Affairs and International Trade website (www.voyage.gc.ca), the Canadian law allows its citizens to remain or become a citizen of another country and still be recognized as Canadians. Australia also accepts dual citizenship, provided that the foreign citizenship is acquired after 4 April 2002, according to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (www.citizenship.gov.au). Before this date, the Australian Citizenship Act stated that someone who wanted to undertake a foreign citizenship ceased to be Australians. As well, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (www.smarttraveller.gov.au) gives some travel information for dual nationals. As well, New Zealand allows its citizens to hold multiple citizenships, as states the website of Immigration (www.immigration.gvt.nz). Italia also asserts that it accepts plurality of nationalities. The website of the Ministry of Interior (www1.interno.it) states that dual citizenship is recognized. What concerns Sweden, the Swedish Migration Board (www.migrationsverket.se) informs that the country used to avoid recognizing dual citizenship. However, since the adoption of the 2001 Citizenship Act, Swedish citizens who acquire another nationality do not have to renounce their Swedish citizenship. The French law accepts dual nationality. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website (www.diplomatie.gouv.fr) states that the ownership of several nationalities does not have any effect on the possession of the French nationality.
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr
“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
Likewise, the United Kingdom allows its nationals to become the citizens of another country without losing their British citizenship, as it explained in the UK Border Agency’s website (www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk).
5. Timeline
Beginning May 2008 – Launch of Campaign: Distribution of Press Releases in English, Korean, French and German Mid-May 2008 – Start of collecting signatures, contact-list compiled by M. Cransac will be used to distribute the information package to all possible organizations/individuals. July 2008- Presentation of Dual Citizenship Campaign at the KAAN Conference in the U.S.A. August 2008 – Presentation of Dual Citizenship Campaign at the 8th Annual Conference of G.O.A.’L in Seoul, Korea October 2008 – Presentation of Dual Citizenship Campaign at the Hawaii International Adoptee Gathering December 2008 – Preliminary goal of 50,000 signatures 2009 – Petitioning for changes of laws at the Korean National Assembly, beginning of lobbying
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr
“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
SOURCES
- Australian Government, Department of Immigration and Citizenship Dual Citizenship http://www.citizenship.gov.au/automatic-citizenship/dual-citz.htm Travel information for dual nationals http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/tips/dualnat.html - Belgian Federal Public Service for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation “Can I hold another nationality in addition to Belgian nationality?” http://www.diplomatie.be/en/services/nationalitydetail.asp?TEXTID=42535 - Canada Foreign Affairs and International Trade Dual citizenship: what travellers should know http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/pubs/dual_citizenship-en.asp - Council of Europe Convention on the Reduction of Cases of Multiple Nationality and on the Military Obligations in Cases of Multiple Nationality http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/QueVoulezVous.asp?NT=043&CM=7&CL=ENG European Convention on Nationality http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/QueVoulezVous.asp?NT=166&CM=7&CL=ENG - Danish Ministry of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs Dual Nationality http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/citizenship/danish_nationality/dual_nationality.htm - Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs “I would like to acquire another nationality. I am a Dutch citizen. What are the consequences for my Dutch nationality?” http://www.minbuza.nl/en/welcome/DutchCitizens,dutch_nationality/i_am_a_dutch_citizen_and_ would_like_to_acquire_anothe.html - French Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nationalité française http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/les-francais-etranger_1296/vos-droitsdemarches_1395/nationalite-francaise_5301/index.html
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr
“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
- German Federal Ministry of the Interior Dual Citizenship – Multiple Nationality http://www.bmi.bund.de/cln_028/nn_122730/Internet/Content/Themen/Staatsangehoerigkeit/Ei nzelseiten/Doppelte__Staatsangehoerigkeit__Mehrstaatigkeit__en.html - Le gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg La nationalité luxembourgeoise http://www.gouvernement.lu/tout_savoir/population_langues/natiolux.html Brochure d’information « La nationalité luxembourgeoise » http://www.gouvernement.lu/publications/informations_gouvernementales/nationalite_luxembou rgeoise/index.html - Italia Ministero Dell’Interno Cittadinanza http://www1.interno.it/mininterno/export/sites/default/it/temi/cittadinanza/Sottotema_007_Engli sh_version.html - The Korea Times Government Mulls Policy Change to Prevent Brain Drain, 28 October 2007 http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2008/04/202_12645.html Kang Shin-who, Lawyers’ Group Calls for Dual Nationality, 11 October 2007 http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/02/113_11746.html - New Zealand Immigration Becoming a citizen http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/alreadyinnz/residents/becomingacitizen/ - Norwegian Directorate of Immigration Dual Nationality http://www.udi.no/templates/Tema.aspx?id=7397 - Shin Go-wook, Ethnic pride source of prejudice, discrimination, The Korea Herald, August 2nd 2006 http://aparc.stanford.edu/news/koreas_ethnic_nationalism_is_a_source_of_both_pride_and_prej udice_according_to_giwook_shin_20060802/ - Swedish Migration Board
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr
“The adoptee organization in Korea run by adoptees since 1998”
Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A.'L)
Citizenship http://www.migrationsverket.se/english.jsp - US Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs Dual Nationality http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html
KPO Box 1364, Seoul 110-613, Korea Phone: 82-2-325-6585 • Fax: 82-2-325-6570 • Website: www.goal.or.kr