Real estate transactions for expatriates will likely be simplified after a government decision to cut bureaucratic red tape.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said yesterday that the cabinet has approved revisions on land acquisition laws covering expatriates.

The reform bill will be submitted for approval to the National Assembly in August and will likely be adopted after six months. Currently, expatriates purchasing land in Korea have to file a land transaction form with the local government, which is same as the one submitted by Korean nationals. But expatriates then have to turn in a separate form on the purchase that is exclusive to them.

Under the revised law, expatriates only have to turn in the first form. "The simplified administrative procedure on land acquisitions may spur real estate sales in Korea," said Lee Hong-sun, an official at the ministry. "However, the primary goal in revising this law is to help lessen the complications expatriates face in acquiring land here."

Lee added that in the past a substantial number of Koreans with foreign citizenship complained about the repetitive dual registration system. Expatriates currently hold slightly less than 0.2 percent, or 198.2 square kilometers, of land in South Korea.

In addition, the government said it has decided to scrap a clause that restricts land acquisition for expatriates whose home country imposes similar restraints on Koreans. The ministry cited that such discrimination was outdated and went against the World Trade Organization’s most-favored nation (MFN) treatment. Therefore expatriates whose mother country is a member of the WTO will receive the MFN treatment, which allows smoother and restriction-free real estate transactions.

This article appeared on www.joongangdaily.joins.com

July 30, 2008