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Certified Korean Name Change Document Translation
Certified translation of the documents that record a change of name in South Korea, including the marginal annotations and registry endorsements that carry the legal effect and that a reader unfamiliar with the system will otherwise skip.
$24.95/page
Flat rate per page, up to 250 words. No hidden fees.
100% USCIS acceptance
Every certified translation is guaranteed to be accepted by USCIS.
24-hour delivery
Most 1-3 page documents are delivered within 24 hours. Same-day available.
The family relation register replaced the hoju system
South Korea abolished the hoju household-head system in 2008 and replaced the old 호적 with the 가족관계등록부, the family relation register, which is organised per person rather than per household.
So documents from before and after 2008 are structurally different, and an older Korean packet contains hoju-era records that no longer have a current equivalent. We name the register the document actually comes from.
The detailed certificate, not the general one
The 기본증명서 — the basic certificate — comes in a general (일반) version and a detailed (상세) version, and only the detailed one lists past names. The general version prints the current name as though it had always been so.
This is the single most common mistake in a Korean name-change packet. Order the detailed basic certificate, or the translation will faithfully prove nothing.
Court permission, granted readily since 2005
A change of name in Korea requires family court permission, but the standard was relaxed substantially by a 2005 Supreme Court decision and permission is now granted in most ordinary cases. That is why Korean name changes are far commoner than Japanese ones despite the similar-looking procedure.
The court issues a decision and the change is then reported to the registration office, which enters it. Both documents may be in a packet.
Romanisation, and the RRN
Korea adopted Revised Romanisation in 2000, but personal names are exempt and families romanise as they please — 이 is Lee, Yi, Rhee or Ri; 박 is Park, Bak or Pak; 김 is Kim or Gim. A spelling difference across documents is usually no change at all.
The 주민등록번호, the thirteen-digit resident registration number, encodes the date of birth and sex and does not change with a name. It is the reliable identifier. See our Korean page.
Ordering, and what the certification covers
Upload the document, choose certified translation at $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, and it comes back typically within 24 hours as a PDF formatted to mirror the original, with a signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead. Marginal annotations are translated in place, in the margin, so the reader can see that the change was recorded against the original entry rather than written into a fresh document. See how we translate and certified versus standard.
Frequently asked questions
My basic certificate shows no former name.
You have the general version. Only the detailed (상세) basic certificate lists past names.
Why do my parents have a hoju document?
The household-head system was abolished in 2008 and replaced by the family relation register. Older documents are structurally different.
Is court permission hard to get?
Not since a 2005 Supreme Court decision relaxed the standard. Korean name changes are common.
Lee or Yi?
Personal names are exempt from Revised Romanisation and families spell as they please. Usually no change at all.
Ready to get started?
Upload the order, the resolution or the annotated certificate and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.