Власти Южной Кореи принимают меры, чтобы ускорить получение иностранцами ID в иммиграционных офисах. В первую очередь за счет введения системы предварительной регистрации посещения…


The wait time for foreigners filing for alien registration or extension of stay has been sharply decreased with the extended implementation of the online reservation system, the government said Tuesday.

The Ministry of Justice said since it adopted the full-scale online reservation system at six immigration offices in the Seoul metropolitan area in February, 45,635 cases have been processed via the Internet as of last week, accounting for 44.4 percent of the total.

The online system allows foreigners to designate visiting dates and hours before going into the office. Last year, only 3.5 percent made such reservations online.

In case of the offices located in the capital area, an average of 2,500 people visit a day to obtain a certificate of alien registration or to extend their stay in the country.

The justice ministry said the average queuing time has dramatically decreased with the system, from some three to four hours to 10 minutes.

In a separate effort to increase effectiveness in dealing with complaints, the ministry said it is planning to increase the discount rate of commission fee for those using online transactions for certain visa types from the current 10 percent to 20 percent. (Yonhap)