SFSgrad

To all that commented on this topic..... Thank you....and we have finished the process....and are happy to announce, she has her "Eagle" in hand!  (Eagle is the nickname they give for American passports in Korea.)
 
For those that might run into this scenario, I will summarize.
 
The facts:  My GF was born in the US, and had some childhood passports in her possession.  Her parents had filed for a US birth certificate at her birth, but it had since been lost.  She left the US at around the age of 2, and lived the next 49 years as a Korean citizen.  Sometime in her late teens, her parents took some sort of action to tell the US embassy in Korea that they would not longer be pursuing passports for her.
 
The Process:  Based on comments here, and logic I had her make an appointment at the US embassy in Seoul just to explore the chances of her getting her passport back.  I had her bring all documents that we had, which was basically just childhood passports.   Within a minute, the embassy rep had told her unequivocally that she WAS a US Citizen, and could have a passport within two weeks.
 
Well..... it did not quite happen that fast, however from the time all requirements were met, she did have it "in hand" in 8 calendar days!  (Keep in mind, Korea is one of the most efficient countries on the planet...and maybe this has worn off on the US embassy there....hehehe.
 
The embassy asked her about 1/2 dozen questions that were tailored to her situation, basically a paper trail to what was discussed in her initial interview.  They also asked for a series of pictures, starting from her age of last passport, showing her age progression ....from child to current age.  I am not sure if this would be required of all, but she had a slight name change from US birth certificate to the name she used in Korea (Got to love those Asian Mother-in-laws....hehehe).
 
The embassy aspect was a well oiled machine, and everything worked as explained.  However, this story is not without the wheels coming off the bus at some point.....  The difficulty came when we tried to get a copy of her birth certificate....and man....did incompetence rein!!!  Clearly the system had no tolerance for a foreign origin request.  The staff (more on this later) that handled her application did not have a clue on how to handle her application, and each phone call generated a different answer...and I mean....not even similar answer.  The digital forms did not have nearly enough space to accommodate a foreign address, and so many entries had to be abbreviated, but not in such a manner that the mailman could not still get a correspondence through.
 
To make a long story short.... I noticed the application center was manned 24/7..... so since I live in Hawaii, I chose a time that would be middle of the night for mainlanders.....and got a hold of an agent....who not only knew his job, but was intelligent and had spent some years living overseas.  Wow....luck, fate, whatever you want to call it....I am not sure where we would be if our paths had not crossed.  Much of the issues involved long Korean addresses not matching the short ones that would fit into their digital fields....  He was able to look at the long one, and the shorter ones that we could enter....and simply conclude....YUP this is the same address.  WOW.... All others could not do this...let alone comprehend that their fields would not allow us to create mirror image addresses.  In summary, before I hung up the phone, I knew her birth certificate had been pushed through the system.
 
Once the embassy had BC in hand, they scheduled one more interview with parents (within one day), and I think this would not have been the case had her name on her current documents matched the name on her BC (again thank you Korean mother-in-law...hehee...it's own story).
 
At the conclusion of the clarifying interview, she was told she would have passport in hand within two week (took 8 calendar days).  They even took her picture for the passport at the embassy (see attached).  I can not say how pleased I was with the quality and quick service of the US Embassy Seoul.  Hehehe..... The US birth certificate….. a month plus which included several phone calls to the incompetents…. (sans the last one). 
 
And for the record, the name on her US passport is the name she was given at birth, hehehe....the name she prefers.  Only a couple of letters different, but easier for Westerners to pronounce...hehe.
 
Thank you all for your comments.  She arrives Hawaii on May 20th, 2019.

To all that commented on this topic..... Thank you....and we have finished the process....and are happy to announce, she has her "Eagle" in hand!  (Eagle is the nickname they give for American passports in Korea.)
 
For those that might run into this scenario, I will summarize.
 
The facts:  My GF was born in the US, and had some childhood passports in her possession.  Her parents had filed for a US birth certificate at her birth, but it had since been lost.  She left the US at around the age of 2, and lived the next 49 years as a Korean citizen.  Sometime in her late teens, her parents took some sort of action to tell the US embassy in Korea that they would not longer be pursuing passports for her.
 
The Process:  Based on comments here, and logic I had her make an appointment at the US embassy in Seoul just to explore the chances of her getting her passport back.  I had her bring all documents that we had, which was basically just childhood passports.   Within a minute, the embassy rep had told her unequivocally that she WAS a US Citizen, and could have a passport within two weeks.
 
Well..... it did not quite happen that fast, however from the time all requirements were met, she did have it "in hand" in 8 calendar days!  (Keep in mind, Korea is one of the most efficient countries on the planet...and maybe this has worn off on the US embassy there....hehehe.
 
The embassy asked her about 1/2 dozen questions that were tailored to her situation, basically a paper trail to what was discussed in her initial interview.  They also asked for a series of pictures, starting from her age of last passport, showing her age progression ....from child to current age.  I am not sure if this would be required of all, but she had a slight name change from US birth certificate to the name she used in Korea (Got to love those Asian Mother-in-laws....hehehe).
 
The embassy aspect was a well oiled machine, and everything worked as explained.  However, this story is not without the wheels coming off the bus at some point.....  The difficulty came when we tried to get a copy of her birth certificate....and man....did incompetence rein!!!  Clearly the system had no tolerance for a foreign origin request.  The staff (more on this later) that handled her application did not have a clue on how to handle her application, and each phone call generated a different answer...and I mean....not even similar answer.  The digital forms did not have nearly enough space to accommodate a foreign address, and so many entries had to be abbreviated, but not in such a manner that the mailman could not still get a correspondence through.
 
To make a long story short.... I noticed the application center was manned 24/7..... so since I live in Hawaii, I chose a time that would be middle of the night for mainlanders.....and got a hold of an agent....who not only knew his job, but was intelligent and had spent some years living overseas.  Wow....luck, fate, whatever you want to call it....I am not sure where we would be if our paths had not crossed.  Much of the issues involved long Korean addresses not matching the short ones that would fit into their digital fields....  He was able to look at the long one, and the shorter ones that we could enter....and simply conclude....YUP this is the same address.  WOW.... All others could not do this...let alone comprehend that their fields would not allow us to create mirror image addresses.  In summary, before I hung up the phone, I knew her birth certificate had been pushed through the system.
 
Once the embassy had BC in hand, they scheduled one more interview with parents (within one day), and I think this would not have been the case had her name on her current documents matched the name on her BC (again thank you Korean mother-in-law...hehee...it's own story).
 
At the conclusion of the clarifying interview, she was told she would have passport in hand within two week (took 8 calendar days).  They even took her picture for the passport at the embassy (see attached).  I can not say how pleased I was with the quality and quick service of the US Embassy Seoul.  Hehehe..... The US birth certificate….. a month plus which included several phone calls to the incompetents…. (sans the last one). 
 
And for the record, the name on her US passport is the name she was given at birth, hehehe....the name she prefers.  Only a couple of letters different, but easier for Westerners to pronounce...hehe.
 
Thank you all for your comments.  She arrives Hawaii on May 20th, 2019.

To all that commented on this topic..... Thank you....and we have finished the process....and are happy to announce, she has her "Eagle" in hand!  (Eagle is the nickname they give for American passports in Korea.)
 
For those that might run into this scenario, I will summarize.
 
The facts:  My GF was born in the US, and had some childhood passports in her possession.  Her parents had filed for a US birth certificate at her birth, but it had since been lost.  She left the US at around the age of 2, and lived the next 49 years as a Korean citizen.  Sometime in her late teens, her parents took some sort of action to tell the US embassy in Korea that they would not longer be pursuing passports for her.
 
The Process:  Based on comments here, and logic I had her make an appointment at the US embassy in Seoul just to explore the chances of her getting her passport back.  I had her bring all documents that we had, which was basically just childhood passports.   Within a minute, the embassy rep had told her unequivocally that she WAS a US Citizen, and could have a passport within two weeks.
 
Well..... it did not quite happen that fast, however from the time all requirements were met, she did have it "in hand" in 8 calendar days!  (Keep in mind, Korea is one of the most efficient countries on the planet...and maybe this has worn off on the US embassy there....hehehe.
 
The embassy asked her about 1/2 dozen questions that were tailored to her situation, basically a paper trail to what was discussed in her initial interview.  They also asked for a series of pictures, starting from her age of last passport, showing her age progression ....from child to current age.  I am not sure if this would be required of all, but she had a slight name change from US birth certificate to the name she used in Korea (Got to love those Asian Mother-in-laws....hehehe).
 
The embassy aspect was a well oiled machine, and everything worked as explained.  However, this story is not without the wheels coming off the bus at some point.....  The difficulty came when we tried to get a copy of her birth certificate....and man....did incompetence rein!!!  Clearly the system had no tolerance for a foreign origin request.  The staff (more on this later) that handled her application did not have a clue on how to handle her application, and each phone call generated a different answer...and I mean....not even similar answer.  The digital forms did not have nearly enough space to accommodate a foreign address, and so many entries had to be abbreviated, but not in such a manner that the mailman could not still get a correspondence through.
 
To make a long story short.... I noticed the application center was manned 24/7..... so since I live in Hawaii, I chose a time that would be middle of the night for mainlanders.....and got a hold of an agent....who not only knew his job, but was intelligent and had spent some years living overseas.  Wow....luck, fate, whatever you want to call it....I am not sure where we would be if our paths had not crossed.  Much of the issues involved long Korean addresses not matching the short ones that would fit into their digital fields....  He was able to look at the long one, and the shorter ones that we could enter....and simply conclude....YUP this is the same address.  WOW.... All others could not do this...let alone comprehend that their fields would not allow us to create mirror image addresses.  In summary, before I hung up the phone, I knew her birth certificate had been pushed through the system.
 
Once the embassy had BC in hand, they scheduled one more interview with parents (within one day), and I think this would not have been the case had her name on her current documents matched the name on her BC (again thank you Korean mother-in-law...hehee...it's own story).
 
At the conclusion of the clarifying interview, she was told she would have passport in hand within two week (took 8 calendar days).  They even took her picture for the passport at the embassy (see attached).  I can not say how pleased I was with the quality and quick service of the US Embassy Seoul.  Hehehe..... The US birth certificate….. a month plus which included several phone calls to the incompetents…. (sans the last one). 
 
And for the record, the name on her US passport is the name she was given at birth, hehehe....the name she prefers.  Only a couple of letters different, but easier for Westerners to pronounce...hehe.
 
Thank you all for your comments.  She arrives Hawaii on May 20th, 2019.

Yup....gonna be 52 in about a month..... A real beauty (inside and out and that picture does not do her justice...hehehe... passport mug shot!)
PS:  I grew up in Korea.....we speak a mixture of Korean and English...with each other...