Official Dispatch 481: Is a certificate of marital status required for marriage registration in Vietnam?
Official Dispatch 481: Is a certificate of marital status required for marriage registration in Vietnam?
According to Official Dispatch 481/BTP-HTQTCT dated February 4, 2025, regarding the implementation of the provisions of Decree 07/2025/ND-CP.
View the full text of Official Dispatch 481/BTP-HTQTCT here
On January 9, 2025, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 07/2025/ND-CP amending and supplementing several articles of Decrees in the fields of civil status, nationality, and authentication. This Decree took effect from the date of signing, and the Ministry of Justice issued a Decision to announce the administrative procedures amended and supplemented in the fields of civil status, nationality, and authentication.
To ensure the uniform implementation of the provisions of Decree 07/2025/ND-CP, the Ministry of Justice requests the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-affiliated cities to pay attention to implementing the following contents:
Direct the Department of Justice to cooperate with relevant departments and sectors to disseminate and thoroughly understand the content of Decree 07/2025/ND-CP to the relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals, focusing on the following key points:
- When receiving birth registration requests, the civil status registration agency does not require the presentation of the marriage certificate of the child's parents (if the child's parents have married, except in cases where the child's parents are foreigners); when receiving marriage registration requests, the civil status registration agency does not require submission of a certificate of marital status or divorce notation (for Vietnamese citizens) but rather checks the marital status information of the child's parents, and of the person requesting marriage registration on the Provincial Administrative Procedure Resolution System through connection with the electronic civil status database and the national database on population. If the marital status cannot be checked due to a lack of information in the database, the civil status registration agency will verify according to the provisions at point c, clause 3, Article 2 of Decree 07/2025/ND-CP.
- Ensure the conditions regarding infrastructure, technology, and implement the connection between the local Administrative Procedure Resolution Information System and the Ministry of Justice's shared electronic civil status registration and management information system to receive and resolve birth registration, marriage registration, and marital status confirmation procedures in compliance.
- The Department of Justice shall proactively request the criminal record database management agency to issue a Criminal Record Certificate for individuals requesting to gain/re-gain/renounce Vietnamese nationality during their residence in Vietnam to complete the application for gaining/re-gaining/renouncing Vietnamese nationality, except for cases where the individual already has a Criminal Record Certificate at the time of application submission.
- The Department of Justice or the representative office, where the applicant resides at the time of application submission, has the authority to receive and resolve the request for issuing the Vietnamese nationality confirmation, Vietnamese origin confirmation (as prescribed in clauses 5, 7, Article 4 of Decree 07/2025/ND-CP).
- The commune-level People's Committee authenticates copies from originals of documents issued by competent bodies or organizations of foreign countries; competent bodies or organizations of Vietnam linked with competent bodies or organizations of foreign countries for issuance or certification (as an added authority at clause 1, Article 1 of Decree 07/2025/ND-CP).
Additionally, the authentication, civil status, nationality records received before the Decree takes effect but not yet resolved shall continue to be resolved under the provisions of Decree 23/2015/ND-CP, Decree 123/2015/ND-CP, Decree 87/2020/ND-CP, Decree 16/2020/ND-CP.
Thus, when receiving a marriage registration request, the civil status registration agency does not require submission of a certificate of marital status or divorce notation (for Vietnamese citizens) but instead checks the marital status information of the child's parents and of the person requesting marriage registration on the Provincial Administrative Procedure Resolution System through the connection with the electronic civil status database and the national database on population.
What are the conditions for marriage registration in Vietnam?
According to the provisions in Article 8 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014, the conditions for marriage are specified as follows:
Conditions for Marriage
1. A man and woman getting married must meet the following conditions:
a) The man must be at least 20 years old, and the woman must be at least 18 years old;
b) The marriage is voluntarily decided by the man and woman;
c) Neither party is losing the capacity for civil acts;
d) The marriage is not within one of the prohibited cases as prescribed in points a, b, c, and d, clause 2, Article 5 of this Law.
2. The State does not recognize marriage between people of the same sex.
The conditions that must be met for marriage include the following:
(1) In terms of age:
Men must be at least 20 years old;
Women must be at least 18 years old;
(2) Marriage is based on voluntariness;
(3) Neither party is losing the capacity for civil acts.
Additionally, clause 2, Article 5 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 prescribes some cases in which marriage is prohibited as follows:
(1) Sham marriage, sham divorce;
(2) Underage marriage, forced marriage, fraudulent marriage, obstruction of marriage;
(3) Those who are currently married and get married or live together as husband and wife with another person, or those who are unmarried and get married or live together as husband and wife with someone who is already married;
(4) Marriage or cohabitation as husband and wife among people of direct bloodlines; among those with third-degree bloodline relations; between adoptive parents and adopted children; between a person who used to be adoptive parents with adopted children, fathers-in-law with daughters-in-law, mothers-in-law with sons-in-law, stepfathers with stepchildren from the wife, stepmothers with stepchildren from the husband;
(5) Demanding wealth in marriage.
Thus, based on the conditions for marriage, there are no regulations regarding the number of times a citizen can marry. Therefore, there is no limit to the number of times marriage registration can be conducted as per the regulations.
Additionally, currently, the State does not recognize marriage between people of the same sex.
What is the marriage registration fee in Vietnam for 2025?
According to Article 11 of the Law on Civil Status 2014, the registration fee is stipulated as follows:
Civil Status Registration Fee
1. Civil Status Registration fees are waived in the following cases:
a) Registering civil status for people from families with meritorious services to the revolution; people from poor households; people with disabilities;
b) On-time birth, death registration, guardianship, marriage registration of Vietnamese citizens residing domestically.
2. Individuals requesting registration of other civil status events beyond the provisions in clause 1 of this Article, requesting copies of civil status excerpts, must pay fees.
The Ministry of Finance details the authority for collection, collection levels, payment, management policies, and use of civil status fees.
Additionally, Article 3 of Circular 85/2019/TT-BTC provides for the list of fees under the authority of the provincial-level People's Council as follows:
List of fees under the authority of the provincial-level People's Council
1. Registration fee for residence (for activities carried out by local agencies).
2. Identity card issuance fee (for activities carried out by local agencies).
3. Civil status fee.
4. Labor permit issuance fee for foreigners working in Vietnam (for permits issued by local agencies).
5. Land use right, house ownership, and attached land assets certificate issuance fee.
6. Construction permit issuance fee.
7. Business registration fee.
Thus, based on these provisions, the marriage registration fee for 2025 varies depending on the specific circumstances as follows:
- If registering the marriage of Vietnamese citizens residing domestically: Free of charge
- If registering a marriage involving foreign elements: The fee depends on the specific province as determined by the respective provincial People's Council.
For example: According to Resolution 06/2020/NQ-HDND of the Hanoi People's Committee, the marriage registration fee at the district-level People's Committee in Hanoi is 1,000,000 VND per case.
Appendix 1B issued with Resolution 124/2016/NQ-HDND of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee provides that the marriage registration fee at the district-level People's Committee is 1,000,000 VND per case.
