Apostille Korea legalises overseas academic and career documents for multicultural families A foreign diploma or criminal record certificate is recognised in Korea only after notarisation followed by an apostille or consular legalisation.

Apostille Korea said it handles the legalisation of documents issued abroad for foreign nationals and multicultural families who have settled in Korea. The service covers the issuance, notarisation, apostille and consular legalisation of the academic and career documents required for study, marriage and employment.

Korea has become multi-ethnic; its systems have not kept up

The makeup of Korean society has changed enough that seeing foreign performers on television is now commonplace. Today Korea is a multicultural country shared by 1.8 million foreign nationals and around 330,000 people in multicultural families. Yet settling here does not make daily life easy for many of them. Alongside discriminatory attitudes and wage issues, the shortage of administrative support is part of the difficulty. In the past many stayed briefly and left, but as the multicultural population has grown, the share of people pursuing education, marriage and employment in Korea has risen quickly. Even so, observers point out that the institutional arrangements for them remain incomplete, costing considerable time and effort.

What it takes to have credentials recognised

Those who wish to continue their studies in Korea are generally asked to have their foreign academic credentials recognised. Obtaining a diploma and a transcript is not enough on its own. For a foreign document to have legal effect in Korea, it must be notarised and then go through an apostille or consular legalisation. Someone resuming in Korea studies interrupted at a Philippine university must have the diploma issued by that university notarised and then legalised at the embassy. The same process applies when obtaining a local criminal record certificate for marriage or employment. Having someone on the ground to handle the legalisation makes matters somewhat easier, but requirements, timelines and costs differ from embassy to embassy and are hard to establish, so even a single document can take considerable time and money to legalise. Apostille Korea explained that local document issuance, notarisation, apostille and consular legalisation require an accurate reading of each country's administrative requirements and sometimes translation into that country's language, so the safest route is to work through a professional office with recognised standing.

Frequently asked questions

Source: 산업일보 · 2017-04-19