Government Provides Translations of 235 Types of Civil Service Forms... Lowering Language Barriers for Foreigners

Translation in 10 Languages Including Russian
Convenient for Foreigners and Civil Petition Officers Alike

The government announced on the 5th that it will expand administrative services for foreigners residing in Korea by translating and providing 235 civil petition forms into 10 languages.

Until now, most civil petition forms were only available in Korean, causing significant difficulties and inconveniences for foreigners and overseas Koreans who were unfamiliar with or did not understand administrative terminology. Although some administrative agencies individually provided translated versions, the scope was limited, forcing foreigners to experience inconvenience during the application process or bear separate translation costs.

Civil petition officers also often faced difficulties explaining how to fill out documents to foreigners due to language barriers.

Accordingly, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has been promoting a multilingual translation project for civil petition forms since last year to reduce the social costs of inconvenience in civil services and to overcome language barriers. First, they surveyed frequently used forms and necessary languages among central administrative agencies, local governments, and multicultural centers, and finally selected 235 civil petition forms frequently applied for by foreigners, including family relationship registration, resident registration, immigration, and employment.

Subsequently, considering the number of foreigners residing in Korea and the demand from each agency, the forms were translated and reviewed in a total of 10 languages. The target languages are Russian, Mongolian, Vietnamese, English, Uzbek, Japanese, Chinese, Tagalog (Philippines), Thai, and Khmer (Cambodia). These translated versions will be distributed to local governments, central administrative agencies, public institutions, and multicultural centers that mainly handle foreigner civil petitions. However, the distributed translations are for reference only when foreigners apply for civil petitions, and the actual application must be submitted in Korean using the existing forms.

Hwang Myeong-seok, head of the Administrative and Civil Petition System Improvement Planning Team, said, "Providing translated civil petition forms breaks down language barriers in administrative services and allows all residents to receive services fairly." He added, "We will continue to improve various services to strengthen communication in a multicultural society and enhance the convenience of life for social members."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.