Procedure for the First-time Issuance of Ordinary Passports at Vietnamese Representative Agencies Abroad (Latest)

According to the provisions of Subsection 4, Section II, Part A of the Plan for Simplifying Administrative Procedures, Citizen Documents Related to Population Management under the State Management Function of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued by the Government of Vietnam attached to Resolution 116/NQ-CP of 2018, the "Procedure for the issuance of ordinary passports for the first time at Vietnamese representative agencies abroad" is simplified as follows:

- Regarding dossier components: Remove the dossier components including the Certificate of Personal Identification of Vietnamese citizens currently abroad issued by the Immigration Department, valid for use, documents proving Vietnamese nationality (with a photo), documents issued by state management agencies to citizens still valid, containing complete personal information and photo (with information on nationality specified in Joint Circular No. 08/2009/TTLT-BCA-BNG of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs guiding the issuance of ordinary passports and laissez-passer abroad under Decree No. 136/2007/ND-CP of the Government of Vietnam (amended and supplemented by Joint Circular No. 08/2013/TTLT-BCA-BNG); birth certificate for children under 14 years old applying for a separate passport. Instead, the applicant shall submit a copy of identity documents with a personal identification number type with a photo (if submitting a photo copy, the original must be presented for comparison);

- Regarding the application form for issuance, amendment, and supplementation of ordinary passports/laissez-passer (Form X02 specified in Joint Circular No. 08/2009/TTLT-BCA-BNG of the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs guiding the issuance of ordinary passports and laissez-passer abroad under Decree No. 136/2007/ND-CP of the Government of Vietnam (amended, supplemented by Joint Circular No. 08/2013/TTLT- BCA-BNG)): It is not required to provide information about gender (Section 2), date of birth (Section 3), place of birth (Section 4), information about relatives including biological father, biological mother, spouse (Section 10), (Section 5): Replace the field “Identity Card” with “identity documents with a personal identification number (type with a photo)”.

Dossier to be submitted to the Embassy or Consulate-General of Vietnam in the host country includes: (specified in the Law on Exit, Entry of Vietnamese Citizens 2019)

The applicant for the passport shall submit a completed application form, 02 portrait photos, related documents as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 15 of this Law, and present a Vietnamese passport or identity document issued by the competent authority of Vietnam as follows:

- A copy of the birth certificate or birth extract for persons under 14 years old;

- The most recently issued ordinary passport for those who have been issued a passport; in case of loss of passport, a loss report or notice of receipt of the application from the competent authority as prescribed in Article 28 of this Law must be attached;

- A photocopy of the Identity Card or Citizen Identity Card in case of a change of personal information compared to the information in the most recently issued passport;

- A photocopy certified by the competent authority of Vietnam proving the legal representative for persons who lack civil act capacity, persons with difficulties in perception, behavior control under the provisions of the Civil Code, and persons under 14 years old. If the photocopy is not certified, the original must be presented for inspection and comparison.

In case there is no Vietnamese passport, identity document issued by the competent authority of Vietnam, presentation of identity documents issued by the competent authority of the foreign country and documents proving Vietnamese nationality or documents as a basis for determining Vietnamese nationality as prescribed by the law on nationality shall be required.

Processing time:

Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the first passport issuance application and within 03 working days from the date of receipt of subsequent passport issuance applications, if there are sufficient grounds for the issuance of the passport, the Vietnamese representative agency abroad at the place where the passport issuance application is received shall provide results to the applicant and notify in writing the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security and the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in case it is not connected to the national database on the exit and entry of Vietnamese citizens.

In case there are insufficient grounds for the issuance of the passport or if it is necessary to extend the time to determine the grounds for passport issuance, the Vietnamese representative agency abroad shall respond in writing to the applicant, stating the reasons.

Passport issuance fee: 70 USD (based on Appendix 1, Fee Schedule in the field of diplomacy issued together with Circular 264/2016/TT-BTC amended by Clause 3, Article 1 of Circular 113/2021/TT-BTC).

The above is a summary of regulations on the procedure for the first issuance of ordinary passports at Vietnamese representative agencies abroad. For a more detailed understanding of this matter, you should refer to Resolution 116/NQ-CP of 2018.

Sincerely!