Conditions for foreigners and stateless people to apply for Vietnamese citizenship

I am an American citizen and I want to settle permanently in Vietnam. I would like to know what the conditions for naturalizing Vietnamese citizenship are. When naturalizing Vietnam, can I keep US citizenship?

FDVN’s Opinion

FDVN Law firm (FDVN) would like to thank you for trusting our legal services. FDVN has the following advice:

Pursuant to current law provisions, specifically in the Law on Nationality 2008 and Decree 16/2020 / ND-CP, depending on each subject, the conditions for naturalizing Vietnamese citizenship are specified as follows:

Case No 01: A foreigner falls into one of the following cases: a) Being spouses, natural parents or natural offsprings of Vietnamese citizens; b) Having made meritorious contributions to Vietnam’s national construction and defense; c) Being helpful to the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam need to meet those conditions:

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

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

In this case, the foreigner is allowed to retain his / her foreign nationality.

Case No. 02: Foreigners who do not fall into the above cases are required to satisfy the following conditions to obtain Vietnamese citizenship, including:

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;

c) Understanding Vietnamese sufficiently enough to integrate themselves into the Vietnamese community is the ability to listen, speak, read and write in Vietnamese suitable to the living and working environment of the applicant for Vietnamese citizenship.

d) Having resided in Vietnam for 5 years or more by the time of application for naturalization, has been granted a permanent residence card by a competent police agency in Vietnam. The period of permanent residence in Vietnam is counted from the date that person is issued a permanent residence card.

đ) Being capable of making their livelihood in Vietnam is proved by property, legal income source of that person or guaranteed by organizations or individuals in Vietnam.

In this case, the foreigner must renounce the foreign citizenship.

This is all FDVN's legal opinions regarding your consultation request. Hopefully, This advice will be useful to you.

Ha Thi Hien

FDVN Law Firm

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