Can I name my child after his father's foreign surname in Vietnam?

Can I name my child after his father's foreign surname in Vietnam?

My name is Sinh, I am 28 years old, I am married to a foreigner and have 1 son with Vietnamese nationality. I want to ask, is it possible if I want to take the father's name in a foreign language for my child?

Reply:

Pursuant to Article 4 of Decree 123/2015/ND-CP regulating the determination of the content of birth and death registration as follows:

1. Birth registration contents shall being determined as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 14 of the Law on civil status the following regulations:

a) The child’s full name; race shall be determined subject to agreement of the parents as prescribed in civil law and specified in the application form for birth registration; if the parents do not or fail to reach an agreement, common practice shall prevail;

b) The child’s nationality shall be determined as prescribed in law on nationality;

c) The personal identification number of the person whose birth is registered shall be issued upon the birth registration. Procedures for issuance of personal identification numbers shall be consistent with the Law on identification numbers and the Decree on guidelines for the Law on identification numbers, in accordance with the Law on civil status and this Decree;

d) Date of birth shall be determined according to solar calendar. The child's place of birth, sex shall be determined according to the certificate of live birth issued by a competent health facility; in case of absence from a certificate of live birth, the equivalent document shall be determined as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 16 of the Law on civil status.

If a child was born at a health facility, the health facility’s name and name of the administrative division of commune/district/province where the health facility is located shall be specified in the place of birth. If a child is born outside a health facility, the name of the administrative division of commune/district/province where the child was born.

dd) Native place of the person whose birth is registered shall be determined as prescribed in Clause 8 Article 4 of the Law on civil status.

...

Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 26 of the 2015 Civil Code, naming is restricted in the following cases:

3. The naming is restricted in case it violates lawful rights and interests of other people and contravenes basic principles of civil law prescribed in Article 3 of this Code.

The name of each Vietnamese citizen must be in Vietnamese or other ethnic minority languages of Vietnam and not include any figure or any symbol other than a letter.

Thus, according to current regulations, Vietnamese citizens can only name Vietnamese citizens in Vietnamese or another ethnic language of Vietnam. Compared to the case you mentioned, you cannot name your child with the father's surname in a foreign language. For foreign languages, you can transcribe it into Vietnamese to give to your child.

What are procedures for registering a change of natural guardians between Vietnamese and foreigners?

Is it possible to register to change natural guardians between Vietnamese and foreigners? What is procedure? Thank!

Reply:

1. Legal basis:

- Law on Civil Status 2014;

- Civil Code 2015;

- Circular 04/2020/TT-BTP;

- Circular 85/2019/TT-BTC

2. Conditions: A guardian may be replaced in any of the following cases:

a) The guardian no longer meets all of the requirements specified in Article 49 or 50 of this Code;

b) The guardian being a natural person dies or is declared by court limited cognition or behavior control, limited legal capacity, incapacitated, missing or the guardian being a juridical person cease to exist;

c) The guardian seriously violates a guardian's obligation;

d) The guardian proposes his/her replacement and another person agrees to assume the guardianship.

3. Documents: In case of requesting to change the guardian, the parties shall carry out procedures to register termination of the previous guardian and register a new guardian according to regulations.

Dossier to prepare includes 2 sets:

- Document 1: Declaration for registration of termination of guardianship according to the prescribed form and documents as a basis for termination of guardian.

- Document 2: Guardianship registration declaration according to the prescribed form and documents proving the conditions for natural guardian according to the provisions of the Civil Code for the civil status registration agency.

In case there are many people who are qualified to be the natural guardian, submit a written agreement on appointing one person to be the natural guardian.

4. Submission method: Submit application in person or by mail.

5. Resolving agency: Justice Department - District People's Committee.

6. Processing time: Within 7 working days from the date of receipt of all required documents.

7. Fees: Decided by the Provincial People's Council.

Above is the procedure for changing the natural guardianship of a Vietnamese person with a foreigner. You can refer to the documents cited above for better understanding.

What is registration procedure for change of appointed guardians between Vietnamese and foreigners? 

I'm learning about the procedures for registering to change guardians between Vietnamese and foreigners. Because the Civil Status Law is not very clear, I don't know what other documents regulate it? Thank!

Reply:

1. Legal basis:

- Law on Civil Status 2014;

- Civil Code 2015;

- Circular 04/2020/TT-BTP;

- Circular 85/2019/TT-BTC.

2. Conditions: A guardian may be replaced in any of the following cases:

a) The guardian no longer meets all of the requirements specified in Article 49 or 50 of this Code;

b) The guardian being a natural person dies or is declared by court limited cognition or behavior control, limited legal capacity, incapacitated, missing or the guardian being a juridical person cease to exist;

c) The guardian seriously violates a guardian's obligation;

d) The guardian proposes his/her replacement and another person agrees to assume the guardianship.

3. Documents: In case of requesting to change the guardian, the parties shall carry out procedures to register termination of the previous guardian and register a new guardian according to regulations.

Dossier to prepare includes 2 sets:

- Document 1: Declaration for registration of termination of guardianship according to the prescribed form and documents as a basis for termination of guardianship.

- Dossier 2: Guardian registration declaration according to the prescribed form and a copy of the appointment of a guardian.

4. Submission method: Submit application in person or by mail.

5. Resolving agency: Justice Department - District People's Committee.

6. Processing time: Within 7 working days from the date of receipt of all required documents.

7. Fees: Waived.

Above is the procedure for registering a change of guardianship between Vietnamese and foreigners. You can refer to the documents cited above for better understanding.

Best regards!