1. Forced deportation due to criminal offenses
If a foreigner is subject to criminal punishment in the Republic of Korea, in principle, he or she is subject to deportation, and the immigration office will consider the foreigner's criminal history and decide whether to forcibly deport the foreigner to his or her home country or allow him or her to remain in the Republic of Korea (usually as described above). The procedure is called “immigration criminal review”).
2. Overview of deportation review
The immigration office decides whether to issue a deportation or departure order by considering the degree of criminal punishment of a foreigner who has committed a criminal crime. If the crime is minor, the immigration office allows the foreigner to continue to stay in the Republic of Korea. Deportation screening will be conducted at the immigration office that has jurisdiction over the foreigner's address.
Deportation review is usually carried out in two ways. For foreigners who have received criminal punishment without being detained, deportation review begins when the prosecutor's office notifies the immigration office of the result of the criminal punishment after the criminal punishment is confirmed. In these cases, you will have time to prepare for deportation review.
On the other hand, if a foreigner is sentenced to imprisonment and imprisoned in a correctional institution and then released, or if a foreigner is arrested and tried but is sentenced to probation and is released, the person is transferred directly from the correctional institution to the immigration office and is subject to deportation review upon release. You will receive .
3. Deportation review procedures and timing
When a foreigner is released from a correctional institution and transferred to the immigration office, the immigration office usually issues a protection order for the foreigner and then proceeds with the deportation review while protecting the foreigner in the alien protection room. Most of the foreigners in question receive a deportation order and are sent to the alien detention center. They are transported and then forced to leave the country.
On the other hand, in the case of foreigners who have received criminal punishment such as suspended imprisonment or fines after trial without detention, or who have received criminal dispositions such as suspended indictment or no right to prosecution, the immigration office usually does not issue a protection order unless there are special circumstances in which there is a recognized risk of flight. A deportation review is conducted based on the foreigner's voluntary presence, and the foreigner is generally ordered to leave the Republic of Korea in the form of a departure order.
4. Judgment criteria for deportation review
The immigration office conducts deportation reviews by comprehensively considering the seriousness of the criminal crime, the level of criminal punishment, and the humanitarian reasons for the foreigner to remain in the country. Therefore, in order for a foreigner who has committed a criminal crime to continue to stay in the Republic of Korea, it is most important to lower the level of criminal punishment by submitting sufficient materials favorable to the person during the investigation and criminal trial stages. The humanitarian reasons for doing something must be fully explained.
5. Necessity of assistance from a lawyer
If a foreigner residing in the Republic of Korea is involved in a criminal offense and is being investigated by an investigative agency, he or she must consider that he or she is potentially subject to deportation review and prepare accordingly. Accordingly, ① the level of criminal punishment must be lowered as much as possible during the investigation and criminal trial process, ② appropriate responses must be taken during the investigation process to prevent arrest, and ③ the inevitability of staying in the country must be fully explained to the immigration agency during the deportation review process. Therefore, in order to avoid being unfairly forced to leave the country, it is necessary to receive assistance from a professional lawyer from the police investigation stage, and we will provide the best legal help based on our experience working as civil servants at the immigration office.
* This is related to immigration policy as of the posting date. For specific details, we recommend that you contact the office for consultation (TEL: 031-8019-9328, Email: info@immikr.com).