Discount on International Express Mail for Multicultural Families in Korea

Gyeonggi-do Province and the Gyeongin Regional Postal Service announced on January 17, 2023, that they are offering a 10% discount on international express mail for multicultural families.

Who Qualifies for Discounted Mail

The project has been underway since the two organizations (provincial government and postal services) signed a related agreement in 2011 for the early settlement of multicultural families in Korea.

Any multicultural family, a marriage between one Korean spouse and one spouse of foreign nationality, can send international express mail to their home countries at a low price if they have an ID card, a family registration, or a household member confirmation document to identify themselves as a member of a multicultural family at 470 post offices in the province.

Need for Assistance with Mail for Multicultural Families

In 2022, 470 post offices in the province mailed 4,118 packages, for a total of 23 million won for multicultural families. Based on that data, most multicultural families would save 5,600 KRW per package if they had a 10% discount.

Choi Young-mook, head of the family’s multicultural division, said, “I hope multicultural families will actively utilize the international express postal rate discount system to convey their warm hearts to families in their home countries. We will do our best to support multicultural families in Korea.”

“Gyeongnam has 70,000 multicultural families, the second largest number after the Seoul metropolitan area, and there are many marriage immigrants and naturalized people who are experiencing economic difficulties and loneliness in Korean life,” said Kim Ok-nam, head of the family support division in Gyeongsangnam-do.

Details of Discounted Mail for Multicultural Families

Contents of application
• Support period: January 1st to December 31st, 2023 (1 year)
• Support details: Send to your home country, non-profit individuals, 10% discount on EMS (EMS premium) postage
• Subject to support
①A person specified on the alien registration card as “spouse of the people” or status of residence F-6 (marriage immigration).
② A person who can testify to marriage immigrants, etc. under subparagraph 2 of Article 2 of the Multicultural Family Support Act;
② Marriage immigrant (unnaturalized): Foreign registration card and spouse’s family relationship register (certificate of marriage relationship) is necessary to submit
<<  결혼이민자(미귀화자):외국인등록증과배우자의가족관계등록부(혼인관계증명서)제출 >>
② Naturalization (nationality acquirer): Resident registration card, and family relationship register (basic certificate and certificate of marriage relationship) are necessary to submit
<< 귀화자(국적취득자):주민등록증,가족관계등록부(기본증명서와혼인관계증명서)제출 >>
Reception Information
• Reception location: Gyeonggi-do, Incheon Metropolitan City & Busan post offices
• Reception method
①Prepare the mail to be sent, the sender and recipient’s English addresses, zip codes, and English names.
②Visit the post office and fill out the instructions on the EMS non-document cover (address form).
③Take a waiting list, and when the order is right, deliver mail and signage to the mail clerk.
Say, “Please give me a discount on multicultural EMS.”  >> “다문화EMS할인해주세요” << plus have all the papers because remember that some documents plus your ID is necessary for this discount.

Do not worry, your husband or yourself can get the papers such as a marriage certificate (혼인관계증명서) in the nearby 주민센터 ( community center ), or also you can get it in the app called GOV.24 anytime, any day.
Or if you have Korean nationality already, you can get the basic certificate (기본증명서) as well in the community center or online, so it is not hard.

Personal Experience

I am so happy to know there is support like this because with the K-wave many of our families know more about Korea. My mother likes dramas and also skincare from Korea but also I have to say, that since the postage prices are so high, I could not give my mother many things.

During the pandemic, the situation became worse. Prices rose a lot and sadly we did not have too many options. We really couldn’t send anything during that time. When things got better I really thought prices were going to change but sadly no… the current war between Russia and Ukraine affected oil prices and inflation is continuing to just get worse and worse.

I feel so happy that we can get at least a discount and we can make our families feel closer to Korea and us.

Thanks for reading and keep checking my other posts~