If my husband and I are separated, can my husband's name be deleted in my child's birth certificate in Vietnam?

If my husband and I are separated, can my husband's name be deleted in my child's birth certificate in Vietnam?

Currently, my child's birth certificate has the names of both father and mother. But since my husband and I are separated, I'm planning to divorce, so I want to amend my child's birth certificate so that it doesn't have the father's name on it anymore, just the mother's name on it, is that okay?

Reply:

Pursuant to the provisions of Clause 12, Article 4 of the Law on Civil Status 2014:

12. Civil status correction means a competent state agency correcting civil status information of an individual when there is an error in the civil status registration.

Article 26 of the Law on Civil Status 2014 defines scope of civil status change including:

1. Change of family name, middle name and first name of individuals in birth registration contents when there are grounds as prescribed by the civil law.

2. Change of information about parents in birth registration contents after being adopted as children in accordance with the Law on Adoption.

At the same time, Clause 1, Clause 2, Article 17 of Circular 04/2020/TT-BTP stipulates:

1. Civil status shall be changed only upon detection of a mistake in civil registration; contents of a civil status document lawfully issued to officialize contents of another personal document  shall not be corrected.

2. A mistake in civil registration must be attributed to the civil registration applicant or the civil registration authority.

Combining the above regulations, we see that the correction of civil status, specifically the father's full name and mother's full name on the child's birth certificate, can only be done when there are errors during the birth registration procedure due to civil status officials or errors made by the person registering the birth.

In the past case, at the time of birth registration, the information about the father and mother on the child's birth certificate was completely accurate, then you could not carry out the procedure to correct the information omitting the father's name on the child's birth certificate due to separation of parents in Vietnam.

If my husband and I are separated, can my husband's name be deleted in my child's birth certificate in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

Can I name my child after my last name and not put his father's name on the birth certificate in Vietnam?

My husband and I got married in 2017 and have 1 child together. After completing the divorce procedure, I did not mention that I was currently pregnant. The divorce agreement only includes a child who is a girl and is raised by me without needing support from her father. I want to ask, after I give birth to my second child, can I make a birth certificate using the mother's last name and leave the father's information blank? I hope the consulting team can help you. Thank you.

Reply:

Article 16 of the Law on Civil Status 2014 stipulates the 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.

Clause 2, Article 15 of Decree 123/2015/ND-CP details birth registration for children with unidentified parents as follows:

2. If a child’s father is unidentified, the family name, race, native place, nationality of the child in the application for birth registration shall be determined according to respective information of his/her mother; the child’s father section in vital records and birth certificate shall be left blank.

In your case, the law does not stipulate that the child should be named after the father's (or mother's) surname, so when declaring to make a Birth Certificate for your child, you can use the mother's last name as the child's last name in Vietnam. 

In the father information section, you can leave it blank as prescribed above in Vietnam.

Can I get a birth certificate for my child at his parents' temporary residence in Vietnam?

My husband and I have Hanoi household registration but currently work in Ho Chi Minh City. Can my newborn child get a birth certificate here?

Reply:

Pursuant to Article 13 of the Law on Civil Status 2014 stipulates:

- The authority to register a child's birth is the People's Committee (People's Committee) at the commune, ward or town level - the place of residence of the father or mother.

In addition, based on Article 11 of the 2020 Residence Law, it is stipulated that:

1. The place of residence of a citizen includes a permanent residence and/or a temporary residence.

2. In case the places of permanent and temporary residence of a citizen could not be determined, their place of residence shall be determined in accordance with regulations in Clause 1 Article 19 herein.

- “temporary absence” means a citizen’s absence from their place of residence for a definite amount of time.

- “place of permanent residence” (hereinafter referred to as “permanent residence”) refers to a place of secure and long-term residence of a citizen that is registered as their permanent residence;

According to this Article, if you have registered temporary residence in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, you can register your child's birth at the People's Committee of the commune or ward where you have a temporary residence book.

Best regards!