Can grandparents apply for their grandchildren's birth certificates?
Please ask: Can grandparents apply for their grandchildren's birth certificates? - Question from Ms. Yen (Hanoi).
Can grandparents apply for their grandchildren's birth certificates?
Clause 1, Article 15 of the 2014 Law on Civil Status stipulates birth registration responsibility as follows:
Birth registration responsibility
1. Within 60 days after the birth of their child, the father or mother shall register the child’s birth; if the parents are unable to register their child’s birth, the grandfather or grandmother or another relative or the individual or organization that is nurturing the child shall register his/her birth.
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And in Clause 17 and Clause 19, Article 3 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014, there are regulations on next of kin as follows:
Interpretation of terms
In this Law, the following terms are understood as follows:
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17. People of the same direct blood line are those in the consanguineous relationship in which a person gives birth to another in a successive order.
18. Relatives within three generations are people born of the same stock with parents constituting the first generation; full siblings, paternal half-siblings and maternal half-siblings constituting the second generation; and children of paternal aunts, maternal aunts, paternal uncles, maternal uncles constituting the third generation.
19. Next of kin include people with marriage relation or raising relation, people of the same direct blood line and relatives within three generations.
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Thus, if the father or mother cannot register the child's birth, the grandparents can still register their grandchildren's birth in Vietnam.
In addition, other relatives or individuals or organizations raising children are also responsible for registering the child's birth in Vietnam.
Can grandparents register their grandchildren's birth in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)
When registering a birth without a birth certification paper, what documents can be replaced in Vietnam?
In Clause 1, Article 16 of the 2014 Law on Civil Status, there are regulations on birth registration procedures as follows:
Birth registration procedures
1. Birth registrants shall submit declarations made according to a set form and birth certification papers to the civil status registration agency. If having no birth certification paper, a document of a witness certifying the birth shall be submitted; if there is no witness, there must be a written pledge of the birth; for birth registration for abandoned children, there must be a written record certifying the child’s abandonment made by a competent agency; for birth registration for children born by surrogate mothers, there must be a document proving the surrogacy as prescribed by law.
2. Immediately after receiving full papers specified in Clause 1 of this Article, if seeing that the birth declaration is complete and proper, justice and civil status officers shall record birth registration contents under Clause 1, Article 14 of this Law in the civil status books and update them in the electronic civil status database and the national population database for getting personal identification numbers.
Justice and civil status officers and birth registrants shall together sign in the civil status books. Chairpersons of commune-level People's Committees shall grant birth certificates to birth registrants.
3. The Government shall stipulate in detail the birth registration for abandoned children and children whose parents have not yet been identified due to surrogacy; and the determination of native places for abandoned children and children with unidentified parents.
Thus, when carrying out birth registration procedures, if there is no birth certificate, the person registering the birth can submit a witness's document confirming the birth; If there is no witness, there must be a written commitment to the birth.
What guidelines must be determined when giving last name and full name of the child in Vietnam?
In Article 6 of Circular 04/2020/TT-BTP, there are regulations on contents of birth registration as follows:
Contents of birth registration
Contents of birth registration are provided for by regulations in Clause 1 Article 14 of the Law on Civil Status, Clause 1 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and the following guidelines:
1. The last name, ethnicity and full name of the child must be determined in compliance with regulations of laws and in a manner that honors national identity and fine traditions and customs of Vietnam; the name shall not be too long or hard to use.
2. In case the parents fail to reach an agreement on the last name, ethnicity and native place of their child upon birth registration, the last name, ethnicity and native place of the child shall be determined according to customs but the child must take on the last name, ethnicity and native place of the mother or the father.
Thus, setting a child's last name and full name must ensure the following principles in Vietnam:
- In accordance with the law and the requirements of preserving Vietnam's national identity, customs and fine cultural traditions; Don't make the name too long or difficult to use.
- If the father and mother cannot agree on the child's surname when registering the birth, the child's surname will be determined according to custom but must follow the father's or mother's last name.
Best regards!
