What Do The Terms “Passport”, Travel Certificate, and Visa mean for Korean Adoptees? 

Clarifying Terminology Related to Original Travel Documents For Korean Adoptees.

Above - Our cheeky AI Illustration, to show that this Korean Adoptee “Korean Passport” is NOT actually a Passport - it’s a “Travel Certificate” that just SAYS “PASSPORT” on the cover.

ALL Korean Adoptees traveled from S. Korea to their Western Countries of Adoption on ONE WAY EXIT “Travel Certificates” - some of which said “PASSPORT” and some of which said “TRAVEL CERTIFICATE” on the COVER. ALL OF THESE DOCUMENTS WERE ACTUALLY TRAVEL CERTIFICATES.

Above: Examples of various styles of Original / Historical (issued at the time of adoption) Korean Adoptee “Travel Certificates” from the 1950s - 1980s, some of which say “Passport” on the cover. (Not shown: 1990s-2000s examples).

You might ask, “Wait, you mean I did NOT have a Korean Passport when I was adopted, even though my travel document says “PASSPORT” on the cover?” NO, you DID NOT. You had a “Travel Certificate” that just SAYS “Passport” on the COVER. PLEASE READ MORE BELOW.

What is the difference between a “Passport”, Travel Certificate, and Visa for Korean Adoptees? 

*Please note that we are referring to the the ORIGINAL / HISTORICAL TRAVEL DOCUMENTS issued when a Korean Adoptee FIRST departed Korea for their Western Receiving Country at the time of their ADOPTION. If you are a Korean Adoptee with a CURRENT Passport, this IS a valid / real Passport.

These terms can be confusing, and we at Paperslip have only recently been provided with clarity about these terms by a non-KSS Adoptee with US Immigration expertise.

Please note that we use the terms “TRAVEL DOCUMENTS” or “KOREAN TRAVEL DOCUMENTS” to collectively describe any of the following: “Passport”, “Travel Certificate”, or “Visa”. 

*Please note that, depending on the context, the Korean Government will likely think of / refer to your “Passport” / Travel Certificate Number / Travel ID number as a “PASSPORT NUMBER”.

1. ”PASSPORTS” for Korean Adoptees:

*Please note that we are referring to the the ORIGINAL / HISTORICAL TRAVEL DOCUMENTS issued when a Korean Adoptee FIRST departed Korea for their Western Receiving Country at the time of their ADOPTION. If you are a Korean Adoptee with a CURRENT Passport, this IS a valid / real Passport.

For Korean Adoptees, a “Passport” is actually just a Travel Certificate. It may just SAY “Passport” on the cover.

Because the style / look of travel documents CHANGED over time, Travel Certificates may say “Passport” on the cover, even though they were actually Travel Certificates. Throughout Paperslip, we colloquially (in common language) refer to the Travel Documents as the “Korean Passport / Travel Certificate” - however, in actuality, NO Korean Adoptees had a TRUE Passport, they ONLY had a Travel Certificate, which may alternately say “Passport” or “Travel Certificate” on the cover. 

To be clear: ALL Korean Adoptee “Passports” are actually “Travel Certificates” (unless there were special circumstances).

Korean Adoptees were not typically allowed free return back to Korea. Only a TRUE Passport, NOT a Travel Certificate, would allow a Korean Adoptee to return to Korea. Unless there were special circumstances which we don’t know of, Korean Adoptees only ever had Travel Certificates in actuality, even if the cover of their travel document said “Passport”. 

A few examples of these documents are at the top of this page. Please look through your documents to locate your Korean “Passport” / Travel Certificate. If you do not have this document and are a US Adoptee, you can file a FREE FOIA request - be sure to request your ALIEN FILE.

2. Travel Certificate

*Please note that we are referring to the the ORIGINAL / HISTORICAL TRAVEL DOCUMENTS issued when a Korean Adoptee FIRST departed Korea for their Western Receiving Country at the time of their ADOPTION.

A “Travel Certificate” is an an EXIT document that allows for ONE WAY travel to a single destination during a specified window for entry. The traveler cannot return to the originating country unless they are denied entry in the destination country. This applies to MOST Korean adoptees.

To be clear: If you are a Korean Adoptee, even if you have a Korean travel document which says “Passport” on the cover, this is in ACTUALITY a Travel Certificate. 

3. Visa: 

*Please note that we are referring to the the ORIGINAL / HISTORICAL TRAVEL DOCUMENTS issued when a Korean Adoptee FIRST departed Korea and ARRIVED TO their Western Receiving Country at the time of their ADOPTION.

A “Visa” is an ENTRY approval document issued by the receiving country. Korea did not issue visas when adoptees were sent abroad.

For US adoptees, this is likely an I-800, I-800H, I-600, or I-600H. For older adoptees, this may be an I-130 or IR-2 visa. Some adoptees have reported that they were issued an I-9 work visa. If this is you, please seek the advice of an immigration attorney, as it is a work visa and may indicate that you were brought into the US for the purposes of labor.

A Korean visa is typically issued when the adoptee later returns to Korea as a Foreign National of the receiving country. For most adoptees, this is now the F4 visa.

Please note that for Korean Adoptees from the 1970s at least, the term “VISAS” was stamped onto the document once a Korean Adoptee ARRIVED to the US. (We are not sure of what practice was employed by non-US Western Receiving Countries).

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TRAVEL DOCUMENTS are the collective phrase that can describe any of the above: “Passports”, Travel Certificates, and Visas.

NOTE: Adoptees should check the sequence of when the Travel Certificate and Western Receiving Country Visas were approved. The approval of the Visa should not pre-date (come before) the approval or existence of the Travel Document, as a valid Passport or Travel Certificate IS a requirement for issuance of a Visa.