How To Obtain Your 13 Digit Korean ID Number.
Use This Trick For Low Priority / Recreational Document Hunting in Korea or at a Korean Consulate In Your Home Country:
An example of a 1980s Korean Travel Certificate / “Passport”. ALL Korean Adoptees traveled on one way exit Travel Certificates — even if the front cover said “PASSPORT”, these documents for Adoptees were NOT true passports, as they would ONLY allow for a child to LEAVE Korea, and NOT allow for a child to travel BACK.
In 1980s and later Korean Travel Certificates / “Passports”, look for your 7 digit (1234567) “PERSONAL NUMBER” to the right of your birthdate, or elsewhere on the page of your document which has your photo and birthdate.
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”.
*Please note that 7 digit “PERSONAL NUMBERS” DO NOT appear on 1970s and prior Korean Travel Certificates / “Passports”. Please see the bottom of the page for more information if your Korean travel document was ISSUED in the 1970s or prior.
+
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 “PERSONAL” 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:
Ifyou 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. And 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.
+
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.