Can parents who are not old enough to get married make a birth certificate for their child in Vietnam?

Can parents who are not old enough to get married make a birth certificate for their child in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 8 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 stipulates conditions for getting married, specifically 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.

Article 30 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates right to declaration of birth and death, specifically as follows:

1. When an individual is born, he/she has the right to have his/her birth declared.

2. When an individual dies, he/she has the right to have his/her death declared.

3. If a newborn dies after 24 hours or later from the time of birth, his/her birth and death must be declared; if he/she dies under 24 hours from the time of birth, his/her birth and death are not required to be declared, unless his/her biological father or mother request.

4. The declaration of birth and death shall be prescribed in by law on civil status affairs.

According to Article 13 of the 2016 Law on Children, there are provisions on the right to have a birth and nationality, as follows:

Children have the right to be registered for birth or death, have the right to a legally registered full name and a nationality. Children also have the right to have their parents, ethnic groups and sex defined as regulated by laws.

Thus, the birth registration is the right of children, regardless of the circumstances or situations where the child is born, even when the parents are still not old enough to register the marriage. In this case, when registering the birth on the child's birth certificate, only the mother's name will be recorded in Vietnam.

What are birth registration procedures for children in Vietnam?

Article 16 of the Law on Civil Status 2014 stipulates birth registration procedures, as follows:

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.

According to this Article, when wishing to carry out the birth registration for a child, the individual implementing it needs to fully prepare all the above-mentioned documents in order to be granted a birth certificate for the child in Vietnam.

What does application for birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition in Vietnam comprise?

According to Article 15 of Circular 04/2020/TT/BTP stipulating birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition:

1. If a birth registration is combined with parent-child relationship recognition, the People’s Committee of the commune where the mother or father lives shall handle the application.

In case a birth registration is combined with parent-child relationship recognition where one parent is a foreigner or an overseas Vietnamese, the People's Committee of the district where the Vietnamese parent lives shall handle the application.

2. An application for birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition consists of:

a) A birth registration application and an application for parent-child relationship recognition made using the prescribed forms;

b) A certificate of live birth or an equivalent document per regulations in Clause 1 Article 16 of the Law on Civil Status;

c) Proof of parent-child relationship according to regulations in Article 14 of this Circular.

3. Commune-level People’s Committees shall handle applications for birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition following the procedures prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 Article 16 and Article 25 of the Law on Civil Status; and district-level People’s Committees shall handle applications for birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition following the procedures prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 Article 36 and Article 44 of the Law on Civil Status.

Contents of birth registration shall be determined according to regulations in Clause 1 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and Article 6 of this Circular. The birth certificate and extract of the parent-child relationship recognition document shall be issued to the applicant concurrently.

Therefore, when you want to make a birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition in Vietnam, including birth registration application and an application for parent-child relationship recognition; certificate of live birth or an equivalent document and Proof of parent-child relationship.

Best Regards!