Immigrant wives’ wing opened to celebrate International women's day

- Seoul immigration office -

In celebration of international women's day (March 8th), an exclusive "nest" for foreign women who came to Korea as international marriage was opened in Seoul Immigration Office.

On the opening day of the foreign wives’ room, named "I with You lounge" to represent togetherness and support, over 100 foreign wives gathered to celebrate. The newly opened facility is located on the 3rd floor of the Seoul Immigration office building. It is about 23 square meters, includes breastfeeding and diaper changing room, and provides internet access and various guide books.

Usually, foreign wives frequently visit the immigration office for the first two years of their stay in Korea. Until they are eligible for Korean citizenship after the first two years, they need to visit the immigration office for many important applications such as foreigner registration, extension of stay, notification of settlement. Thus, the notion of having a dedicated space to rest or to socialize has been very well received by the immigrant wives.

Gwang-sik Min, the head of the Seoul immigration office, said “The first two years of their stay usually is the toughest part for foreign wives. They have difficulty going outside, because they are still adjusting to their surroundings and the Korean language, and on top of that, this usually is when they are either pregnant or raising infants. This made it very difficult for these women to actually come down to he immigration office.” He went on to say: “I believe that this was very meaningful, Not only for its functional helpfulness to these women, but also its implications – that we are developing more services to help women from all nations.”

Also, everyday from 11AM to 3PM, volunteer foreign wives, who have been in Korea for a long time, will be there to provide tips and information to those who need them (Mon – China, Tue – Japan, Wed – Philippines Thu – Vietnam and other countries, Fri – Mongolia) Phone: 2650-6365.

Patricia (Filipino origin, mother of 2), who is an immigrant wife who now has Korean nationality and is currently the representative the Seoul Internal Wives Committee, will be the head operator of the “I with You Lounge.” She said “I would like to help newlywed immigrant wives feel at home in Korea, since Korea really is their second home now. I hope that support and attention from the wives who’ve been through all this before, along with a chance to communicate with others (including through their internet café, http://cafe.daum.net/immigration/) will help them do just that.

In addition, the day also saw the publication of the first issue of “Foreign Wives’ Gathering newsletter 26,000 copies were printed and distributed to households of immigrant wives.
Currently, there are 95,661foreigners with Korean National’s Spouse (F-2-1) status. From these, 26,536 of them currently resides in Seoul, Sungnam, Anyang, Gwachun, Gwangmyoung and Hanam areas.