How To Obtain Your 13 Digit Korean ID Number.

Low Priority / Recreational Document Hunting in Korea or at a Korean Consulate In Your Home Country:

Please note that we do not think that the following process will get you that much information birth family search wise.

However, you may need your 13 digit ID number for the F-4 visa or Dual Citizenship application process. If your original Korean travel document (Travel Certificate or “Passport”) was issued in the 1980s or later, then this trick will work for you.

Unfortunately if your original Korean travel document was issued in the 1970s or prior, this trick will not work as the 7 digit number does not seem to have appeared on the travel documents of Korean Adoptees until the 1980s. Please see the section at the bottom of this page if your original Korean travel document (Travel Certificate or “Passport”) was issued in the 1970s or prior.

Most Adoptees already have their Orphan Hojuk. But if you have extra time to kill, and you have a translator to go with you to a Gucheong Center (구청) (District Office) in Korea, or time to go to a Korean consulate in your Western country of adoption, then please see the information below:

If you have your original Korean Travel Certificate (it may alternately say “Travel Certificate” or “Passport” on the cover) and you arrived to your Western country of adoption in the mid 1980s or later, look for either a 7 digit number with no associated letters to the immediate right of your birthdate, or alternately a 7 digit “PERSONAL” number on the same page as your photo.

If you add your 6 digit birthdate in the format of: YY / MM / DD in FRONT of this 7 digit number, you get your 13 digit “Korean ID / Registration Number”.

For example, let’s say you are born January 2nd, 1985. Your 7 digit number is 1234567.

So your Korean ID / Registration number would be:

8501021234567

You can take copies of ALL pages of your original Korean Travel Certificate to either a Gucheong Center in Korea or a Korean Consulate in your Western country of adoption, and ask for these 2 documents:

Household Registration (새대별주민등록표) and Hojuk (호적).

We think it would be best to do this in Korea at a Gucheong Center (구청) in Korea, but you can also try this at a Korean consulate in your Western country of adoption.

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Another way to obtain your 13 digit Korean ID Number:

Request your Adoption Verification Certificate from NCRC, and request your Resident Registration Number / 주민등록번호.

Please see: 

[Notice] Issuance of the “Adoption Verification Certificate” for Adoptees: For Visa (F-4), Restoration of Nationality, etc.