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| Marhabo Jumaboeva, a citizen of Uzbekistan who lives with her two children after divorcing her Korean husband in 2016, stands behind a curtain in her home in Incheon during an interview with The Korea Times, June 7. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
This article is the third in a four-part series to highlight and address issues surrounding marginalized residents of foreign nationality who are living in legal blind spots in Korean society. ― ED.
By Lee Hyo-jin
Marhabo Jumaboeva, 38, is a citizen of Uzbekistan who lives with her two children as a single mother in Incheon. She divorced her Korean husband in 2016, ending nine years of marriage. The main reason was that her mother-in-law was overly protective of her son and looked down on Jumaboeva because she was a foreigner.
"I don't regret my choice. But the divorce, which was an unexpected event in my life, has brought many difficulties for me and my children," Jumaboeva said during an interview with The Korea Times.
Since her ex-husband refuses to provide child support, even though he was ordered to do so, Jumaboeva is on her own raising her 13-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter.
"I used to work as a multicultural educator at schools, but classes have been cancelled since the COVID-19 outbreak. Now I can barely make ends meet, since the basic livelihood grant from the government provides me with just over 1 million won ($900) a month," she said.
Being a single parent is not easy in Korea, and it is especially tough for residents of foreign nationality.
"Even though I'm the mother of two Korean children, I feel that I'm not being accepted as a member of the society. Due to my nationality, I frequently get denied social welfare benefits."
The fact that she has been denied the basic right to social welfare benefits as a person of foreign nationality is why Jumaboeva has been seeking to obtain Korean citizenship, which she did not get during her nine years of marriage, over the last four years. However, despite her efforts, involving countless consultations with immigration lawyers and experts, she has not succeeded in meeting the difficult application requirements.
Migrants who have become single parents after divorce or the death of their Korean spouse must live in Korea for two years prior to applying for citizenship, according to the Ministry of Justice. They must also complete 70 hours of the Korean Immigration Integration Program (KIIP) course, as well as pass a written test evaluating their knowledge of Korean language and culture.
Another requirement is that they must prove their financial independence by having a stable monthly income and a certain amount of assets. But having such financial independence was impossible for Jumaboeva, whose family fell into the category of a low-income household in need of government support right after the divorce made her into a single parent.
According to civic groups, this requirement ― that residents of foreign nationality who divorced their Korean national spouses prove that they have a sustainable income ― precludes many from applying for citizenship.
"The vast majority of foreigners who have divorced their Korean spouses are in urgent need of long-term social welfare support, due to their financial difficulties and unstable legal status. But in order to stabilize their situation by obtaining citizenship, they have to prove that they can live without any government aid. This is absurd," said Hwang Sun-young, head of Global Unite, a Seoul-based civic group supporting single parents of foreign nationality.
"This contradiction is highly discouraging for them. Without a stable legal status, they live with the fear that they might have to leave the country when their child grows up," she said, urging the justice ministry to apply more flexible measures to single parents in attaining citizenship.
Lee Jae-ho, a lawyer at Chingune, a public interest law firm for immigrants, said that the government does not seem to understand fully the difficult situation divorced people of foreign nationality are in, judging by the "unrealistic requirements" for the citizenship application.
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| Local activists demand protection of the rights of women of foreign nationality who are married to Korean men during a rally in front of the Government Complex Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, in this July 15, 2019 file photo. Yonhap |
"The justice ministry presumes that marriage migrants who have lived in the country for quite a long time have a high level of Korean language proficiency. But this is far from the reality," he said.
Lee explained that most spouses of foreign nationality must spend most of their time taking care of their children, which leaves them little time to learn Korean. Those who are working usually have jobs in factories or on farms that don't require excellent Korean language skills.
Hwang and Lee believe that the government should make it easier for divorced spouses of foreign nationality to obtain citizenship, instead of simply modifying Korea's visa system, as the government announced it would do in December of last year.
The Ministry of Justice said on Dec. 22 that residents of foreign nationality formerly married to Korean citizens, who become single parents of adult children through divorce, will now be eligible for the resident F-2 visa if they meet certain requirements, such as receiving at least a level 4 in Korean language proficiency and having a sufficient income level so as not to require government assistance. The visa can be renewed every three years.
Previously, if the single parent had not gained permanent residency or Korean nationality by the time that their children reach adulthood, they were given an F-1 visa for visiting family. But this visa did not guarantee them a stable legal status, as F-1 visa holders cannot work.
"Issuing visas that have to be renewed every two or three years is not a permanent measure that will enable divorced single parents of foreign nationality to integrate into society," Hwang said, stressing that granting citizenship will resolve many of the struggles and concerns of foreign national single parents.
The justice ministry fears that easing citizenship requirements may lead to abuses of the system.
But civic activists don't agree. Hwang said, "The ministry can work together with civic groups to improve the assessment system to include how much time they have spent raising their children in Korea and how they plan to spend the rest of their lives here."
Lee said, "Instead of imposing abstract requirements such as 'duration of stay,' 'language skills' and 'income level,' the government should comprehensively evaluate their level of social integration and relations with their children."
