Marriage relationship with foreigners

I. LEGAL BASIS:

• Law on Marriage and family 2014.
• Law on Civil status 2014.
• Decree No. 123/2015/NĐ-CP on guidelines for Law on Civil status.
• Decree No. 126/2014/NĐ-CP on detailing a number of articles and measures for implementation of the Law on Marriage and family 2014.
• Joint Circular No. 01/2016/TTLT-TANDTC-VKSNDTC-BTP on guiding a number of articles of the Law on Marriage and family 2014.
• Circular No. 15/2015/TT-BTP on guiding a number of articles of the Law on Civil status 2014 and Decree No. 123/2015/NĐ-CP dated November 15, 2015 on detailing a number of articles and measures for the implementation of the Law on Civil status 2014.

II. REGULATIONS ON MARRIAGE RELATIONSHIP WITH FOREIGN ELEMENTS:

1. Conditions for getting married:

• The man is full 20 years or older, the woman is full 18 years or older;
• The marriage is voluntarily decided by the man and woman;
• The man and woman do not lose the civil act capacity;
• The marriage does not fall into one of the following cases:

• Sham marriage or sham divorce;
• Underage marriage, forcing a person into marriage, deceiving a person into marriage, obstructing marriage;
• A married person getting married to or cohabitating as husband and wife with another person, or an unmarried person getting married to or cohabitating as husband and wife with a married person;
• Getting married or cohabitating as husband and wife between people of the same direct blood line; relatives within three generations; adoptive parent and adopted child; or former adoptive parent and adopted child, father-in-law and daughter-in-law, mother-in-law and son-in-law, or stepparent and stepchild;

• The State shall not recognize marriage between persons of the same sex.

2. Order and procedures:

2.1. Order and procedures for registering the marriage certificate:

Step 1: The applicant applies the dossier of the marriage certificate to a competent district-level people’s committee.

The application consists of:

• The applicants shall present the original of one of the following documents: passport, ID card, or another document containing the photo and personal information that has been issued by a competent authority and remaining valid (hereinafter referred to as identity paper) for the identity verification purpose.
• Application forms for marriage registration using the form as prescribed; the two partners may fill out a single application form;
• A written certification of a competent Vietnamese or foreign health organization stating that he/she does not suffer any mental or other diseases which deprive him/her of the ability to perceive and control his/her acts to the civil status registration agency (with the duration of 6 months)
• A document certifying the marital status of a foreigner is a document that is issued by a foreign competent authority, remains valid, and certifies that the holder is being single. If the foreign country does not issue a document certifying marital status, an equivalent document issued by the foreign competent authority certifying the holder’s eligibility for marriage as prescribed in the law of such a country is required.
• Foreigners and Vietnamese citizens residing abroad must submit a copy of passport or valuable papers in lieu of passport or present original of passport or valuable papers in lieu of passport in case of direct submission.
• Certificate of marital status of Vietnamese citizens residing in Vietnam.

In addition to the papers mentioned above, on a case-by-case basis, a partner shall submit the following papers as appropriate:

• The partner being Vietnamese citizen obtained divorce or granted marriage annulment at a foreign competent authority, he/she shall also submit a copy of vital records;
• A Vietnamese citizen who serves in the armed forces or whose work is directly related to state secrets shall submit a written confirmation  that this person’s marriage does not contravene regulations of that sector;
• If the applicant for marriage registration is working or studying abroad for a definite period of time, he/she must submit a certificate of marital status issued by the Vietnamese diplomatic mission or consular representative of Vietnam.

Step 2: The recipient is responsible for immediately checking the entire application, including the information in the declaration and the validity of the documents submitted and presented by the applicant.

• If the application is complete and valid, the recipient issues a receipt stating the date and time of the result.
• If the application file is not complete, the recipient instructs the applicant to supplement the application as prescribed by law.
• In case of unable to supplement or complete the application immediately, a written guide must be made with the signature and full name of the recipient, clearly stating the types of papers and contents to be supplemented and completed.
• If the application for marriage registration has not been supplemented or completed after the applicants receive the instructions, the recipient refuses to receive the application. The refusal must be made in writing with the signature and full name of the recipient, clearly stating the reason for refusal.

Step 3: Within 10 working days from the date on which the satisfactory application is received, the Committee Division of Justice shall assess it and carry out verification deemed necessary.

• If the application is considered satisfactory, and both partners meet conditions for marriage as prescribed in the Law on marriage and family and are not subject to refusal cases, Committee Division of Justice shall request the President of People’s Committee of the district to sign 2 originals of marriage licenses.
• Within 3 working days from the date on which the President of People’s Committee of district signs marriage licenses, Committee Division of Justice shall grant marriage licenses to the partners in person.

Notes:

• Upon marriage registration, both male and female partners must be present at the head office of the People's Committee, the civil status officer shall ask for opinions of the male and female partners. If seeing that they voluntarily marry each other, the civil status officer shall record the marriage in the civil status book and together with the male and female partners sign in the civil status book.
• The male and female partners shall both sign in the marriage certificate.
• If either or both partner(s) cannot present to receive a marriage license(s), Committee Division of Justice shall, upon their request in writing, give an extension of granting period providing not exceeding 60 days, from the date on which the President of People’s Committee of district signs marriage licenses.  Upon expiration of such 60-day period, if both partners fail to present and receive marriage licenses, Committee Division of Justice shall request the President of People’s Committee of the district to cancel the signed marriage licenses.

Receiving agency: District-level Justice Division receives the application and advises Chairman of district-level People's Committees for consideration and decision.

Time for handling: 15 days.

Fee: Depending on the conditions of each locality and exempting fees for people from families contributed to the revolution; poor households; people with disabilities.

2.2. Order and procedures for re-registering the marriage certificate:

Conditions for carrying out the procedure:

• The marriage had been registered at the competent authority of Vietnam before January 1, 2016 but the marriage register book and the original marriage certificate are lost.
• Both parties registering marriage are alive at the time of marriage re-registration.

Step 1: The applicants apply the documents to the competent district-level of the People’s committee.

The application consists of:

• The applicants shall present the original of one of the following documents: passport, ID card, or another document containing the photo and personal information that has been issued by a competent authority and remaining valid (hereinafter referred to as identity paper) for the identity verification purpose;
• Application forms for marriage registration;
• A copy of the former marriage license. In case of absence from the copy of the marriage license, a copy of the personal document relating to the marriage registration contents is also permitted.

Step 2: The recipient is responsible for immediately checking the entire application, including the information in the declaration and the validity of the documents submitted and presented by the applicant.

• If the application is complete and valid, the recipient issues a receipt stating the date and time of the result.
• If the application file is not complete, the recipient instructs the applicant to supplement the application as prescribed by law.
• In case of unable to supplement or complete the application immediately, a written guide must be made with the signature and full name of the recipient, clearly stating the types of papers and contents to be supplemented and completed.
• If the application for marriage registration has not been supplemented or completed after the applicants receive the instructions, the recipient refuses to receive the application. The refusal must be made in writing with the signature and full name of the recipient, clearly stating the reason for refusal.

Step 3: Within 5 working days from the date on which the application is received, the civil status official shall verify it. 

• If the application for birth re-registration is submitted at the People’s Committee of a commune other than the commune which has granted the former birth registration, the civil status official shall request the President of People’s Committee to request such the People’s Committee to verify if respective vital records are being kept.
• Within 5 working days, from the date on which the request is received, the People’s Committee which has granted the former birth registration shall verify and respond in writing that if the vital records are being kept.

Step 4: If the application is considered satisfactory, and both partners meet conditions for marriage as prescribed in the Law on marriage and family and are not subject to refusal cases, Committee Division of Justice shall request the President of People’s Committee of the district to sign 2 originals of marriage licenses.

Step 5: Committee Division of Justice shall grant marriage licenses to the partners in person. The civil status officer shall record the marriage in the civil status book and together with the male and female partners sign in the civil status book. The male and female partners shall both sign in the marriage certificate.

Receiving agency: District-level of People’s committee

Time for handling: 05 working days. In case the document verification is required, the time limit shall not exceed 13 working days (excluding the time for sending verification requests and the time for sending verification replies via the postal system).

Fee: Depending on the conditions of each locality and exempting fees for people from families contributed to the revolution; poor households; people with disabilities.

3. General notes:

• The applicant for marriage registration directly submits the application to the competent district-level People's Committee (one party may apply directly without the written authorization of the other party).
• If the applicant applies the copy of the papers and presents the original, the recipient checks and compares the copy to the original and sign in the confirmation of the comparison. The recipient must not require a certified copy of such papers.
• In case the presentation of papers is required when registering civil status, the recipient is responsible for checking the papers presented and the information in the declaration and returning it to the applicant and must not be required the applicant to submit another copy of that document. The recipient can take 01 copy of the presented document or record the information of the presented document for filing.
• Papers granted, notarized or certified by competent foreign agencies for civil status registration in Vietnam shall be consular legalized in accordance with the law, unless they are exempted under a treaty to which Vietnam is a contracting party. papers in foreign languages ​​must be translated into Vietnamese and notarized for the translation under law provisions.
• The recipient is responsible for receiving the correct and complete civil status registration file in accordance with the Law on civil status and must not request the applicant to submit additional papers that are not required by law.

Legal expert: Bui Tran Thuy Vy

FDVN Law Firm

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