A Seoul court has supported the rejection of an application for dual US-South Korean citizenship because their parent’s residence in the US was for the purpose of their child gaining US citizenship.
The Seoul Administrative Court said Monday that it had ruled in favor of the Seoul Southern Immigration Office, which rejected the plaintiff’s February 2024 application to retain the citizenships of both countries.
Korean court says birth tourism illegitimate!👏
-🇰🇷 law states only 1 loyalty (i.e. passport) allowed
-Unless born to Korean parents in a Birthright Citizenship nation (citizenship thru both blood & soil)
-Unless parents went there just to give birthhttps://t.co/ltYG50tbZc
— John Kline (@JohnJKline99) February 26, 2025
South Korea’s Nationality Act states that a child of a citizen obtains citizenship at birth, and the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution grants citizenship to anyone born inside its territories. This means that someone born in the US to parents who are Korean citizens — as in case of the plaintiff — is granted dual citizenships at birth.
