Rules to follow when registering Cambodian spouse [in South Korea]

Sunday, February 8, 2009
By Yoav Cerralbo
(yoav@heraldm.com)
The Korea Herald (S. Korea)

International marriages are becoming more and more common, especially in the farming communities and countryside.

According to the National Statistics Office, for every eight married couples in Korea, one is an international or interracial marriage.

The Cambodian Embassy receives at least one call per day concerning the proper paperwork that needs to be completed for a Korean-Cambodian marriage to be legally binding in Cambodia.

The embassy explained that applicants must submit their request with a duly completed application form to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia through the embassy.

Application forms must be submitted with a certificate of celibacy or late spouse's death certificate or divorce verdict, criminal records, certificate of profession and monthly income, medical certificate issued by an officially recognized Cambodian medical institution, copy of passport and entry visa into Cambodia and family record book.

Furthermore the embassy said that all marriage applicants are not under any legal obligation or requirement to be a member of any association or organization to be eligible for marriage with a Cambodian citizen.

The embassy also advised against engaging an intermediary agency or association, which constitutes a violation of Cambodian law.

Foreigners do not need to proceed via organisations to marry Cambodian nationals

04-02-2009
By Ka-set

In a communiqué dated February 3rd, the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation reminded that with a view to prevent the trafficking of Cambodian women, the government issued, on November 3rd 2008, the Sub-Decree on the Formality and Procedure for the Marriage between Cambodian and Foreign Nationals. The document was communicated to all diplomatic missions accredited to Cambodia through a Ministry Note dated November 17th 2008.

However, the Ministry insisted on making clear to all Diplomatic Missions that “foreign applicants are not under any legal obligation or requirement to be a member of whatever association or organisation in order to be eligible for marriage with Cambodian citizens”.

Cambodia creates new body to regulate foreign marriage

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- A new organization to regulate foreign marriage has been created following the lifting of a six-month suspension of such unions in 2008, English-language daily newspaper the Phnom Penh Post said on Tuesday.

The Association for People Protection (APP) was licensed by the Ministry of Interior on Dec. 12 to provide "free consultations on marriages to foreigners," the paper quoted an APP statement as saying.

The APP aims at protecting Cambodian overseas migrants, especially women marrying foreigners, said Ky Sina, president of the organization.

"The duty of the association is to help people applying for passports and visas to do this legally. Any foreigner who wants to marry a Cambodian woman will have to become a member of the APP," according to the statement.

The APP will also act as a mediator "to facilitate (dialogue) and find lawyers for both husband and wife" if they have problems later in their marriage, it added.

The foreign marriage suspension was enacted in April amid concerns over an explosion in the number of broker unions involving poor or uneducated women.

It also followed the release of an International Organization for Migration (IOM) report highlighting the plight of a rising number of Cambodian brides migrating to South Korea in marriages hastily arranged by brokers who made large profits.

Some 1,759 marriage visas were issued for Cambodians by South Korea in 2007, up from 72 in 2004, said the report.