Is birth registration for children allowed at temporary residence?

My husband is American. We have been married for 2 years and are temporarily residing in Da Nang. I'm from Kon Tum. If we have a baby, I want to register the baby in Danang. Can I do this and what is the procedure? Sincerely thanks!

FDVN’s opinions:

Thank you for concerning FDVN’s legal services. Regarding your consulting requests, after studying the relevant legal documents, FDVN Law Firm would like to give you the following advice:

1. According to Article 35 of the Law on Civil Status 2014, the competence to register birth is provided as follows:

“District-level People's Committees of places of residence of fathers or mothers shall register birth for children in the following cases:

1. Children born in Vietnam:

a/ Having a parent being a Vietnamese citizen and the other being a foreigner or a stateless person;

b/ Having a parent being a Vietnamese citizen residing in the country and the other being a Vietnamese citizen residing abroad;

c/ Having both parents being Vietnamese citizens residing abroad;

d/ Having both parents being foreigners or stateless persons.”

Based on the information you provided, you are a Vietnamese citizen, your husband is a foreigner and your child was born in Vietnam.  Therefore, the District-level People's Committee in which you reside has the authority to register your child's birth.

2. According to Article 12 of the 2006 Law on Residence, amended and supplemented in 2013:

“Article 12.- Places of residence of citizens

1. The place of residence of a citizen means a lawful domicile where such a person regularly lives. The place of residence of a citizen may be a place of permanent residence or a place of temporary residence.

Lawful domiciles can be dwelling houses, means or other buildings where citizens live. Lawful domiciles can belong to citizens' ownership or be leased, lent or let for free-of-charge stay by agencies, organizations or individuals in accordance with law.

Place of permanent residence means a place where a citizen lives regularly, stably and permanently at a given locality and has registered his/her permanent residence.

Place of temporary residence means a place other than the registered place of permanent residence where a citizen lives and has registered his/her temporary residence.

2. Where a citizen's place of residence defined in Clause 1 of this Article can not be identified, his/her place of residence is the place where he/she is living.”

Currently, the law does not specify the temporary residence period to register the birth of your child at the temporary residence, so it is possible to register your child's birth at the District-level People's Committees in Da Nang if you are actually living and working stably and have registered temporary residence there.

3. The procedures for birth registration for a child are specified in Article 36 of the Law on Civil Status 2014 as follows::

“1. Birth registrants shall submit the papers specified in Clause 1, Article 16 of this Law to the civil status registration agency. In case either parent is or both parents are foreigner(s), a document on the agreement of the parents on the selection of citizenship for their child.

If the parents choose a foreign citizenship for their child, their agreement document must contain certification of a competent foreign state agency of which they are citizens.

2. Immediately after receiving the papers specified in Clause 1 of this Article, if seeing that the birth declaration information is complete and proper, the civil status officer shall record the birth declaration contents prescribed in Article 14 of this Law in the civil status book; for a child having a foreign citizenship, the civil status officer shall not record the content prescribed at Point c, Clause 1, Article 14 of this Law.

The civil status officer and birth registrant shall both sign in the civil status book. The district-level Justice Division shall report to the chairperson of the district-level People's Committee to grant a birth certificate to the person whose birth is registered.”

In which, the birth registration contents include the information specified in Clause 1, Article 14 of this Law:

“ a/ Information of the person whose birth is registered: family name, middle name and first name; gender; birthdate; birthplace; native place; ethnicity; and citizenship;

b/ Information of the parents of the person whose birth is registered: full name, middle name and first name; year of birth; ethnicity; citizenship; and place of residence;

c/ The personal identification number of the person whose birth is registered. … In case the child has foreign nationality, this content should not be written.”

Above is FDVN Law Firm's opinion for your consulting requests based on studying the relevant legal provisions. Hopefully, FDVN's advice would be helpful to you.

Hoang Tran Ngoc Anh - FDVN Law Firm

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