Conditions and procedures for naturalization in Vietnam?

Legal situation: I’m Vietnamese working in Singapore, and now that I have reached retirement age, I want to take my family back to live in my homeland. My wife and my son (who is 26 years old this year) are both Singaporeans, and now I want to naturalize in Vietnam for my wife and son. Could a lawyer please advise on the necessary procedures?

Answer:

Thank you for trusting and sending your question to the “FDVN'' law firm. After researching the legal regulation, FDVN has the following information to share:

(1) The conditions for naturalization in Vietnam

According to Article 19  of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality 2008, in cases where the father is Vietnamese (holding Vietnamese nationality) and has a biological child who is a foreign citizen (holding Singaporean nationality) and wishes to acquire Vietnamese nationality, the wife and child must be residing in Vietnam, must submit an application for Vietnamese nationality, and must meet the following conditions:

a) Having the full civil act capacity as prescribed by Vietnam’s laws;

b) Obeying the Constitution and laws of Vietnam; respecting the traditions, customs and practices of the Vietnamese nation;

(i) He/she satisfies the conditions for naturalization of Vietnamese nationality according to Law of Vietnamese Nationality.

(ii) He/she has made meritorious contributions to Vietnam’s national construction and defense and the naturalization of Vietnamese nationality with retention of foreign nationality is beneficial to the Government of Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

(iii) Retention of his/her foreign nationality upon naturalization of Vietnamese nationality is satisfactory to regulations and law of said foreign country.

(iv) Renunciation of foreign nationality leads to impacts on his/her rights and benefits in the foreign country.

(v) He/she does not utilize foreign nationality to harm legal rights and benefits of agencies, organizations and individuals; harm national security and benefits, social order and safety of the Government of Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

(2) The procedures for naturalization in Vietnam

(i) Prepare the dossier

For your case, upon meeting all the conditions mentioned in section (1) above, to proceed with the procedure for applying for Vietnamese nationality, you need to prepare the dossier and papers:

- A copy of the birth certificate, passport or other substitute papers;

-  A curriculum vitae;

- A judicial record issued by a competent Vietnamese authority for the period the applicant resides in Vietnam and a judicial record issued by a competent foreign authority for the period the applicant resides in the foreign country. Judicial records must be issued within 90 days before the date of filing the dossier;

- Documents proving the conditions for exemption from certain conditions for acquiring Vietnamese nationality: A copy of the marriage certificate (proving the husband-wife relationship); a copy of the birth certificate (proving the father-child relationship) or other valid documents proving the father-child relationship.

(ii) Carry out the procedure for applying for naturalization in Vietnam.

According to Article 21 Law on VietNamese Nationality 2008, the procedure for acquiring Vietnamese citizenship is carried out as follows:

- A person applying for Vietnamese nationality shall file a dossier to the provincial-level Justice Service of the locality where he/she resides.

- Within 5 working days after the receipt of a complete and valid dossier, the provincial-level Justice Service shall send to the provincial-level Public Security Department a request for verification of the applicant’s identity.

- Within 30 days after the receipt of a request from the provincial-level Justice Service, the provincial-level Public Security Department shall conduct verification and send verification results to the provincial-level Justice Service. During this period, the provincial-level Justice Service shall examine papers in the dossier of application for Vietnamese nationality.

- Within 10 working days after the receipt of verification results, the provincial-level Justice Service shall complete the dossier for submission to the provincial-level People’s Committee president.

- Within 10 working days after the receipt of a request from the provincial-level Justice Service, the provincial-level People’s Committee president shall consider, make conclusion and send his/her proposal to the Ministry of Justice.

- Within 20 working days after the receipt of the proposal from the provincial-level People’s Committee president, the Ministry of Justice shall re-examine the dossier, if finding that all conditions for naturalization in Vietnam are met, the Ministry shall send a written notification to the applicant for carrying out procedures to renounce his/her foreign nationality, except the case in which the applicant wishes to retain his/her foreign nationality or is a stateless person. Within 10 working days after the receipt of a written permission for the applicant to renounce his/her foreign nationality, the Minister of Justice shall report the case to the Prime Minister for submission to the President for consideration and decision.

- In case the applicant wishes to retain his/her foreign nationality or is a stateless person, within 20 days after the receipt of the proposal from the provincial-level People’s Committee president, the Ministry of Justice shall re-examine the dossier, if finding that the applicant is eligible for naturalization in Vietnam, the Ministry shall report the case to the Prime Minister for submission to the President for consideration and decision.

- The President shall consider and make decision within 30 working days after the receipt of the Prime Minister’s proposal.

The above is FDVN's legal advice related to your consulting requests after studying relevant legal regulations. Hopefully, FDVN’s advice will be helpful to you.

Thanh Tra - FDVN Law Firm

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