Title
Apostille Korea Runs a Service for School Record Corrections After a Legal Name Change Once a name change is approved, the passport, visa, qualifications and bank accounts must be updated, and so must the school records at every school attended from primary through university, one by one.
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Content
Apostille Korea said it offers a service that handles the school record corrections left over after a legal name change is approved. Correcting an entry in a school record requires submitting a separate application and legal supporting documents to every school the applicant graduated from. Filing for a name change has become simple, but the burden of the steps that follow approval has not eased.
- On 16 November 2005 the Supreme Court ruled that changing one's name is closely tied to personal rights and the pursuit of happiness, permitting name changes as a matter of principle.
- Applications have risen every year since, reaching around 160,000 in a single year.
- Filing requires only five to six documents, including the application for permission to change one's name and a basic certificate of personal records, and can be done the same day.
- Once approval comes through a review that takes about two to three months, the applicant must personally report and apply for corrections to the passport, visa, qualifications and bank accounts.
From prohibition in principle to permission in principle
Before 2005, a social convention holding that names should not be changed lightly led the Supreme Court to prohibit name changes as a matter of principle. Only a handful of exceptions were recognised, such as a name mistakenly entered on a birth report, a change aligning a name with the generational character in a family register, or a name identical or similar to that of a notorious person. That practice changed with a Supreme Court ruling on 16 November 2005. The court explained that an individual's change of name is closely tied to that person's own personal rights and pursuit of happiness, and permitted name changes as a matter of principle. Applications have increased every year since, reaching around 160,000 in a single year. The procedure also became simpler: with only five to six documents, including the application for permission and a basic certificate of personal records, filing can be completed the same day.
The real burden begins after approval
Where a person who changes their name actually runs into trouble is in the steps that follow. Once approval is decided in a review that takes about two to three months, the applicant must personally report the change and apply for corrections to the passport, visa, qualifications and bank accounts issued under the former name. Even after moving between banks, government offices and service providers to submit correction requests and supporting evidence, some of those applications come back rejected. The most daunting of them is the school record correction. Anyone seeking to correct an entry in a school record must complete and submit a separate application and legal supporting documents at every school they graduated from, from primary school and middle school through high school and university. Apostille Korea assembles the per-school applications together with the required legal supporting documents and handles the process through its school record correction service.
Frequently asked questions
Does filing for a name change itself take long?
Filing needs only five to six documents, including the application for permission and a basic certificate of personal records, and can be done the same day. The review, however, takes about two to three months.
Once the change is approved, does the new name apply everywhere automatically?
No. The passport, visa, qualifications and bank accounts issued under the former name each require the person to report the change and apply for the correction.
Can school records be corrected all at once?
No. A separate application and legal supporting documents must be submitted at each school attended, from primary and middle school through high school and university.
Source: 미래한국 · 2017-06-26