I received a notice of a travel ban

A travel ban (출국금지) is a decision made by the Minister of Justice, and how to respond depends on the grounds. If you received a notice or were told about it, sort out the points below first.

• Check the grounds and period stated in the notice. When a travel ban is imposed or extended, the grounds and period must be given in writing (Immigration Act (출입국관리법) Article 4-4(1)).
• Write down the date you received the notice. The deadline for an objection is counted from that day.
• Find out which agency requested it and which case it relates to.
• Gather materials showing why you need to leave, such as a business trip order, contract schedule, letter of invitation or a family member's medical certificate.
• Check whether there is any questioning still to come and whether the case has been referred to prosecutors.

If leaving the country is found to be inappropriate for a criminal investigation, departure can be banned for up to 1 month. If the investigation has been suspended because your whereabouts are unknown, or it is difficult to proceed because of flight or similar, the ban can be up to 3 months; for a suspended case where a warrant has been issued, it can last for the warrant's validity period. These periods can be extended (Immigration Act Articles 4(2) and 4-2). While a criminal trial is pending, departure can be banned for up to 6 months (Article 4(1)).

Notice can be withheld if there is a risk of serious and obvious obstruction to the investigation, but you must be notified once the total period including extensions exceeds 3 months (Article 4-4(3)(ii)). This is why some people first learn of a ban at the airport.

You can file an objection with the Minister of Justice within 10 days of the day you received notice of the travel ban or its extension, or the day you learned of it. The Minister must decide within 15 days and, if unavoidable, can extend this once by up to 15 days (Immigration Act Article 4-5).

In the objection, set out the specific reasons you need to leave, along with circumstances showing there is no risk you will flee. Useful materials include a fixed home and job, family in Korea, a record of faithfully responding to summonses so far, a short travel schedule and a return ticket.

When the grounds for a travel ban no longer exist, it must be lifted immediately, and the agency that requested it must also ask for it to be lifted (Article 4-3). If your questioning is over or the case has ended with non-referral or non-indictment, that is a basis for asking for it to be lifted. Another option is to ask the investigator to bring the questioning forward so that it is done before you leave.

A travel ban is an administrative decision, so it can also be challenged in an administrative lawsuit. A lawsuit to cancel it must be filed within 90 days of learning of the decision (Administrative Litigation Act (행정소송법) Article 20).

If a person suspected of an offense punishable by imprisonment, with or without labor, for a maximum of 3 years or more poses a risk of destroying evidence or fleeing and there is an urgent need, investigators can ask for a travel ban on the spot at the airport. It is lifted if approval is not requested from the Minister of Justice within 6 hours, or not obtained within 12 hours (Immigration Act Article 4-6). For foreign nationals, departure is suspended (출국정지) under the same procedure, and the provisions on travel bans apply accordingly (Article 29).

At the consultation, we check the grounds and period of the travel ban and decide what to do first, looking at your investigation and your travel plans together. If questioning remains, we work to bring the investigation to a close sooner by preparing you and attending with you, and Jisan Law also writes and submits the travel ban objection with the supporting circumstances and materials. If the objection does not lift the ban, we continue on to an administrative lawsuit. If your departure date is close, contact us right away through the chat on this page.