Immigration handed me a fine notice: pay it, or be sent to court?

The letter is a 통고서, and the sum printed on it is a 범칙금. You have 15 days, counted from the day it is served, to pay. Miss those 15 days and the immigration office has to refer your case for prosecution, which turns an immigration matter into a criminal one. That is the decision in a single line. What the letter does not tell you is the cost that begins once you have paid.

What this letter is, and what it is not

Where an investigation of an immigration offender (출입국사범) produces firm proof of the breach, the head of the immigration office for your area may serve a written notice stating the reasons clearly and requiring payment, at a place named in it, of a sum equivalent to a fine. Notice is given by serving the 통고서, so the day it reaches your hand is the day the count begins.

This is not a court fine, and no judge has looked at it. It is also not the 과태료 that friends may have described to you, which is the administrative penalty the Immigration Act uses for a different family of breaches. A 범칙금 under the notice procedure and a 과태료 are separate instruments with separate consequences, and only the first one is the subject here.

The 15 days, and what happens on day 16

Once the 통고서 is served, the 범칙금 has to be cleared inside 15 days. Should the 15 days pass without payment, the office must refer the case for prosecution. Two things are worth knowing about that referral.

• Payment that arrives before the referral actually goes out still stops it. Being late is not automatically too late, but you would be relying on the office's internal timing, which you cannot see from outside.
• Where the person is already under a deportation order, no referral is made.

The office may also permit a provisional payment. And in some cases the notice never comes at all: where the office concludes that the circumstances warrant imprisonment or something heavier, it must refer the case for prosecution at once instead of issuing a notice.

The interview before the notice is not a chat

This is where foreign nationals most often damage their own position. The investigation that leads to a notice runs under the Act's own investigation provisions, and the record of your questioning, the 용의자신문조서, counts as a suspect interrogation record under Article 244 of the Criminal Procedure Act.

In plain terms, what you say in that room can be used in a criminal case afterwards, including the criminal case that follows if the 범칙금 goes unpaid. So tell the officer, before answering anything, which language you need. Have the record read out to you in full before you sign it, and correct the names, dates, workplaces and amounts, because that is where errors sit. If you are not sure of a date, say that you will check and come back to it. That is a complete answer.

How much is it, and can the amount move?

The scale of the 범칙금 is set by ministerial rule, in two tables attached to the Enforcement Rule. No figure appears here, because the amount turns on which breach and which table applies, and the only numbers worth acting on are the ones in those tables and the one on your own notice. Read the amount off the 통고서. To check the standard figure before you go in, ask on 1345, the immigration contact number, or look up the Enforcement Rule's attached tables, 별표 7 and 별표 8, in the national law database.

What the rule does say is that the standard amount is not fixed.

• The office may reduce or increase it by up to one half, taking account of your age and circumstances, the motive and the result of the breach, your ability to pay, and how many breaches there were.
• With the Minister's approval it may depart from the scale altogether.
• The Minister may waive the notice procedure entirely, weighing age and circumstances, motive and result, ability to pay, and other circumstances.

None of that arrives by waiting for it. It is argued, with documents, while the office is still deciding.

The cost that starts when you pay

Paying closes the case. It also starts a period you will meet again if you ever try to bring a family member or a worker to Korea.

Where a person has breached the provisions on false invitations, or certain employment and reporting provisions of the Immigration Act, and has paid a 범칙금 of 5 million won or more, a certificate of visa issuance (사증발급인정서) may be refused for 3 years counted from the date of payment. Where the 범칙금 paid was under 5 million won, the period is 1 year. The Minister may set a shorter period, taking into account the risk of repetition, the motive and the result.

So the choice is not simply paying and moving on against going to court. It is a paid 범칙금 plus that bar on inviting anyone, set against a criminal referral and the record it can leave. Which one hurts more depends on what you intend to do in Korea over the next three years, and that is a question to answer before day 15, not after.

The next few days

Photograph both sides of the 통고서: the amount, the place of payment, and the date of service. Then put two dates where you will see them every morning, the date of service and the fifteenth day after it. Bring the notice, your residence card (외국인등록증), your passport and anything that shows how the breach came about, including a contract or messages from whoever arranged the work. With those, the question of whether to argue for a reduction or a waiver can be answered quickly, and the referral is not something anyone can call back once it has gone. A consultation with us is a paid service, and the amount is quoted on the return call.

법무법인 대한중앙
1533-7377

Rules applied

Immigration Act (출입국관리법) Article 102(1) (where an investigation of an 출입국사범 produces firm proof, the head of the local immigration office may serve a written notice, stating the reasons clearly, to pay a 범칙금 at a designated place), (2) (provisional payment may be allowed), (3) (immediate referral for prosecution where the circumstances warrant imprisonment or heavier) and (4) (the investigation follows Articles 47 to 50, and the 용의자신문조서 counts as a suspect interrogation record under Article 244 of the Criminal Procedure Act), Article 103(1) (the scale is set by ministerial rule) and (2) (the Minister of Justice may waive a 통고처분, considering age and circumstances, the motive and result of the breach, ability to pay and other circumstances), Article 104 (notice is given by serving the 통고서), Article 105(1) (payment within 15 days), (2) (referral for prosecution where payment is not made in time, unless payment is made before the referral) and (3) (no referral where a deportation order has been issued). Article 100 is referred to only to separate the 과태료 from the 범칙금. Enforcement Rule (출입국관리법 시행규칙) Article 86(1) (the scale is in 별표 7 and 별표 8), (2) (reduction or increase by up to one half) and (3) (departure from the scale with the Minister's approval, and the same for a waiver under Article 103(2)), Article 17-3(2) items 1 and 2 (a 사증발급인정서 may be refused for 3 years from the date of payment where a 범칙금 of 5 million won or more was paid for a breach of Article 7-2, 12-3, 18(3) to (5), 21(2) or 33-3 item 1, and for 1 year where the 범칙금 was under 5 million won, with the Minister able to set a shorter period). No won amount for a 범칙금 is given in this article: 별표 7 and 별표 8 were not available when it was written.

This is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different.