My KOREAnization

September 7th 2020

My husband and I were legally married on October 14th 1999. I was 23. My husband was 30. We did not have a wedding ceremony. Documents were signed and submitted and voila! We got a marriage certificate.

I became a Korean citizen in December 2002. It took months of preparation studying for the Korean citizenship test. My husband was my teacher. His patience easily ran out because I asked a lot of questions. We studied the Korean language. Memorizing the letters was the easy part. Reading and writing made me so frustrated because I know I would never get better at them. We studied the South Korean history using high school text books. Knowing the written test will be in multiple choices made me feel less worried. The panel interview was the thing that made me so nervous. My spoken Korean was so bad. Four interviewers interrogated me about my life in Korea. They asked about my husband's family. I recited the names of my husband's parents and siblings.

I sang the Korean national anthem and recited the oath of allegiance. Luck surely played a role on how I passed both the written test and the panel interview. Many applicants fail their first, second and third applications. I truly had no idea how I passed on my first application.

When I got the notice that I passed the citizenship, my husband and I applied for my social security ID. And then I applied for a Korean passport. Before I can redeem my passport, I was told to go to the Philippine embassy to denounce my Filipino citizenship. The Philippine consul warned me that if war breaks between North and South Korea, the Philippine embassy will not be able to assist in my evacuation. The back cover of my Philippine passport was cut diagonally and was handed back to me. I guess it served as a souvenir. I got my first Philippine passport in 1997. I had traveled only to Korea from 1997 to 2002. When I received my Korean passport, I knew it will be easy for me to travel in other countries as South Korean passport holders get privileges to travel as tourists without visas from 30-120 days.

I am very grateful for the Korean government for approving my citizenship application only after three years of being a resident. I passed the written test at one go. Many foreigners fail this test. All the questions were in Korean. I was lucky the test was all multiple choices. The panel interview with four immigration officials was the tough part. I was so nervous. I stuttered a lot but I passed.

At present, the Korean Immigration Office has become stricter and more thorough in granting citizenships. Not all applicants are granted citizenship. There are Korean-Chinese applicants who are descendants of full-blooded Koreans that fail the test year after year. Most foreign men married to Korean women get rejected a lot.

The best part of being a Korean citizen is having a Korean passport. I was able to go to Europe without any visa. I was granted a 10-year valid U.S. tourist visa in 2004. Now Korean nationals no longer need to go the US embassy to get tourist visas. We can apply online and get automatic approval.

I was able to get a working-holiday visa in Australia in 2006. I didn't need a visa to travel to Japan. It's not easy to travel when you have a Philippine passport. I'm not ashamed to be a Filipino but it's a shame the Philippines is a third-world country. Developed countries assume all Filipino travelers are going to stay illegally to find greener pastures. That's a sad fact.

When immigration officials take my passport, they're surprised that my name is CATHERINE LUZEL FRANCISCO. 99% of Koreans have three-syllable names. LEE HOJIN, KIM YUNA, JANG DONGGUN. They knew right away that I got my citizenship by marriage because next to my name is typed; WIFE OF LEE.

I'm very thankful for my husband for giving me the opportunity to be a Korean. I'm very blessed to be married for twenty years now. We dated four years before that. I am proud to say we still laugh and fight like we used to when we first started dating. Many things have changed but luckily most things changed for the better.