The foreign grandparents of a child from an international marriage will be able to stay in South Korea to see their grandchild start elementary school, as the Ministry of Justice announced on March 26 that the duration of their permitted stay will be extended. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The foreign grandparents of a child from an international marriage will be able to stay in South Korea to see their grandchild start elementary school, as the Ministry of Justice announced on March 26 that the duration of their permitted stay will be extended.
Currently, foreign grandparents are allowed to reside in South Korea until their grandchild turns six. The Ministry of Justice’s decision will allow them to stay until the end of March in the year their grandchild turns seven.
South Korean children enter their first semester of elementary school at seven years old in the spring semester starting in March.
Grandparents may also stay if their child or son- or daughter-in-law is dealing with a severe illness, or if their grandchild has a disability.
Grandparents may also stay if their child or son- or daughter-in-law is dealing with a severe illness, or if their grandchild has a disability. (Image: Yonhap)
In cases where an international couple has three or more children or if either individual in a couple is raising a child alone, the parents of the foreign spouse may stay in South Korea regardless of their grandchild’s age.
To account for the increasing difficulty of childrearing that foreign spouses face and to ensure their children’s emotional stability, numerous calls have been consistently made for the duration of stay for grandparents to either be extended or to ease the necessary requirements to qualify for short-term residence.
According to Statistics Korea, there were 28,000 international marriages last year, accounting for 7.9 percent of all marriages.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
