Are acts of men and women cohabiting as husband and wife without marriage registration prohibited in Vietnam?

Are acts of men and women cohabiting as husband and wife without marriage registration prohibited in Vietnam?

Clause 2, Article 5 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 provides for protection of the marriage and family regime as follows:

2. The following acts are prohibited:

a/ Sham marriage or sham divorce;

b/ Underage marriage, forcing a person into marriage, deceiving a person into marriage, obstructing marriage;

c/ 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;

d/ 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;

dd/ Demanding property in marriage;

e/ Forcing a person into divorce; deceiving a person into divorce; obstructing divorce;

g/ Giving birth with assisted reproductive technology for commercial purpose, commercial gestational surrogacy, prenatal sex selection, cloning;

h/ Domestic violence;

i/ Taking advantage of marriage and family rights for human trafficking, labor exploitation or sexual abuse or committing another act for self-seeking purposes.

Thus, if you live together as husband and wife, you are not prohibited by law. If you are married but live as husband and wife with another person or you are not married but live as husband and wife with a married person, it is prohibited according to the provisions of law in Vietnam.

What is settlement of consequences of men and women cohabiting as husband and wife without marriage registration in Vietnam?

Article 14 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 provides for settlement of consequences of men and women cohabiting as husband and wife without marriage registration as follows:

1. A man and woman eligible for getting married under this Law who cohabit as husband and wife without registering their marriage have no rights and obligations between husband and wife. Rights and obligations toward their children, property, obligations and contracts between the partners must comply with Articles 15 and 16 of this Law.

2. For a man and woman who cohabit as husband and wife under Clause 1 of this Article and later register their marriage in accordance with law, their marriage relation shall be established from the time of marriage registration.

Article 15 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 stipulates rights and obligations of parents and children for men and women cohabiting as husband and wife without marriage registration as follows:

Rights and obligations between a man and woman cohabiting as husband and wife and their children must comply this Law’s provisions on rights and obligations of parents and children.

Article 16 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 provides for settlement of property relations and obligations and contracts between men and women cohabiting as husband and wife without marriage registration as follows:

1. Property relations, obligations and contracts between a man and woman cohabiting as husband and wife without marriage registration shall be settled under the partners’ agreement. In case there is no agreement, they shall be settled in accordance with the Civil Code and other relevant laws.

2. The settlement of property relations must ensure lawful rights and interests of women and children. Housework and other related work to maintain the cohabitation shall be regarded as income-generating labor.

According to this Article, the consequences of men and women cohabiting as husband and wife without marriage registration in Vietnam shall be settled in accordance with the above-said law.

What are conditions for marriage registration in Vietnam?

In Article 8 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014, conditions for getting married are as follows:

1. A man and a woman wishing to marry each other must satisfy the following conditions:

a /The man is full 20 years or older, the woman is full 18 years or older;

b/ The marriage is voluntarily decided by the man and woman;

c/ The man and woman do not lose the civil act capacity;

d/ The marriage does not fall into one of the cases prescribed at Points a, b, c and d, Clause 2, Article 5 of this Law.

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

Therefore, if individuals want to register their marriage, they must fully meet the above conditions in Vietnam.

Best Regards!