Official Dispatch 481 by the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam on the implementation of the provisions of Decree 07

Official Dispatch 481 by the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam on the implementation of the provisions of Decree 07

On February 4, 2025, the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam issued Official Dispatch 481/BTP-HTQTCT on the implementation of the provisions of Decree 07/2025/ND-CP.

To uniformly implement the provisions of Decree 07/2025/ND-CP, the Ministry of Justice requests the People's Committees of provinces and municipalities to focus on implementing the following:

(1) Direct the Department of Justice to cooperate with relevant departments and sectors to disseminate and thoroughly grasp the contents of Decree 07/2025/ND-CP to relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals, with emphasis on the following items:

- When receiving birth registration requests, the civil status registration agency shall not require the presentation of the marriage certificate of the child's parents (if they are already married, except in cases where the parents are foreign nationals); when receiving requests for marriage registration, the civil status registration agency shall not require the submission of the marital status certificate or divorce note (for Vietnamese citizens) but shall seek information about the marital status of the child's parents and those requesting marriage registration from the provincial administrative procedures resolution information system through connection with the electronic civil status database and the national database on population.

If marital status information cannot be retrieved due to a lack of data in the database, the civil status registration agency shall verify in accordance with point c, clause 3, Article 2, Decree 07/2025/ND-CP.

- Ensure conditions regarding infrastructure and technology for connecting the local administrative procedures resolution information system with the shared electronic civil status registration and management information system of the Ministry of Justice to receive and resolve birth registration, marriage registration, and marital status confirmation procedures conformably.

- The Department of Justice shall proactively request the judicial records database management agency to issue judicial record cards to individuals applying for acquisition/reacquisition/renunciation of Vietnamese nationality while residing in Vietnam to complete applications unless the individual already holds a judicial record card at the time of application submission.

- The Department of Justice or the representative agency, where the applicant resides at the time of application submission, has the authority to receive and resolve requests for the issuance of certificates of Vietnamese nationality, or certificates of Vietnamese origin (stipulated in clause 5, clause 7, Article 4, Decree 07/2025/ND-CP).

- Communes' People's Committees shall authenticate copies from originals of documents or papers issued by competent foreign or Vietnamese authorities linked with competent foreign authorities (added authority stipulated in clause 1, Article 1, Decree 07/2025/ND-CP).

(2) Civil status, nationality, and certification applications received before the effective date of the Decree and not yet resolved will continue to be processed under Decree 23/2015/ND-CP, Decree 123/2015/ND-CP, Decree 87/2020/ND-CP, Decree 16/2020/ND-CP.

Thus, in Official Dispatch 481/BTP-HTQTCT of the Ministry of Justice (Vietnam), the notable content is: When receiving birth registration requests, the civil status registration agency does not require the marriage certificate of the child's parents; the Department of Justice proactively requests the judicial records database management agency to issue judicial record cards to those applying for acquisition/reacquisition/renunciation of Vietnamese nationality while residing in Vietnam to complete applications for acquisition/reacquisition/renunciation of Vietnamese nationality.

In 2025, which acts are prohibited concerning civil status registration procedures in Vietnam?

According to clause 1, Article 12 of the Law on Civil Status 2014 issued by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the following acts are prohibited:

- Providing false information or documents; making or using fake documents, or someone else's documents to register civil status;

- Threatening, coercing, or obstructing the exercise of the right to register civil status;

- Illegally interfering with civil status registration activities;

- Making false declarations or certifying to register civil status;

- Forging, altering, or distorting the content of civil status documents or information in the Civil Status Database;

- Bribing, manipulating, or promising material or spiritual benefits to register civil status;

- Exploiting civil status registration or evading civil status registration obligations for profit motives, to enjoy state preferential policies, or to seek illicit profit in any form;

- Officials authorized to decide on civil status registration executing registration for themselves or their relatives as prescribed by the Law on Marriage and Family;

- Unauthorized access, theft, or sabotage of information in the Civil Status Database.

Note: Individuals engaged in the aforementioned acts, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, may be subject to administrative sanctions or criminal liability in accordance with the law.

In the case of officials violating these provisions, in addition to the aforementioned penalties, they shall also be subject to disciplinary actions in accordance with the law on officials.

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