Even if a foreigner has not obtained a legal stay visa, if their child is enrolled in an elementary, middle, or high school in Korea, the child will be allowed to remain in the country until age 24. That is a four-year extension from before.
The Ministry of Justice said on the 6th that if a foreign child born in Korea or who entered midstream is enrolled in an elementary, middle, or high school in Korea and has been granted lawful status, the parent's period of stay has been expanded so they can remain until the child's youth (age 24).
Korea ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991. Under this convention and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the children of foreigners staying illegally can also enroll in elementary, middle, and high schools in Korea. In such cases, parents or guardians are also granted lawful status.
Until now, parents could remain in Korea only for up to one additional year after their child graduated from high school or became an adult (19).
The new measure was prepared after gathering opinions that the parents' period of stay should be extended for protection if a foreign child advances to a domestic university or learns job skills and becomes independent. The new measure has been in effect since on the 26th.
Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Ministry of Justice said, "Foreign children who have stayed in Korea for a long time and graduated from high school are members of the community who have formed an identity comparable to that of citizens," adding, "We will continue to create an environment and system of stay that allows foreign children to adapt stably to our society and contribute to national development."
Earlier, in 2010, the government revised the Enforcement Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to simplify admission and transfer procedures so that even the children of undocumented residents could attend elementary and secondary schools. As a result, as long as a guardian proves a domestic address, such as by submitting a lease agreement, the child could be admitted to school.
Also in 2010, the Ministry of Justice said it would refrain from crackdowns on children of undocumented residents enrolled in elementary and middle schools and, even if caught, would defer deportation of the students and their parents until the child graduates from middle school. In 2013, after a high school student was deported when their undocumented status surfaced during a police investigation while trying to break up a fight among friends, the scope of this policy was expanded to include high school students.