Is it possible to register a marriage in the absence of one person in Vietnam? Who has the right to request the annulment of an illegal marriage due to coercion in Vietnam?
Is it possible to register a marriage in the absence of one person in Vietnam?
Article 18, Clause 1 of the 2014 Civil Status Law stipulates the procedure for marriage registration as follows:
Marriage Registration Procedures
1. Both the male and female must submit a marriage registration application according to the prescribed form to the civil status registration agency and must be present together at the time of marriage registration.
- Immediately after receiving all required documents as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, if the conditions for marriage as defined by the Law on Marriage and Family are satisfied, the civil status officer shall record the marriage in the Civil Status Register, and both the male and female shall sign the Civil Status Register. Both parties shall also sign the Marriage Certificate; the civil status officer reports to the Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune to organize the ceremony to present the Marriage Certificate to both parties.
In cases where it is necessary to verify the marriage conditions of both parties, the resolution period shall not exceed 05 working days.
Thus, both the male and female must be present together when registering for marriage. Therefore, it is not possible to register a marriage with one person absent.
Is it possible to register a marriage in the absence of one person in Vietnam? Who has the right to request the annulment of an illegal marriage due to coercion in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)
According to the law in Vietnam, can a marriage be obstructed?
Article 8 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family stipulates the conditions for marriage as follows:
Marriage Conditions
- A male and female who wish to marry each other must comply with the following conditions:
a) The male must be at least 20 years old, and the female must be at least 18 years old;
b) Marriage must be voluntarily decided by the male and female;
c) Neither party is suffering from a mental illness or another condition that deprives them of the ability to perceive and control their behavior;
d) The marriage does not fall into one of the cases prohibited by points a, b, c, and d, Clause 2, Article 5 of this Law.
- The state does not recognize marriage between people of the same sex.
Additionally, Clause 2 of Article 5 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family stipulates the protection policies for marriage and family as follows:
Protection Policies for Marriage and Family
Marriage and family relationships established and carried out according to this Law shall be respected and protected by the law.
The following acts are prohibited:
a) Sham marriage, fake divorce;
b) Underage marriage, forcing marriage, deceiving marriage, obstructing marriage;
c) A person who is currently married to another person marries or lives as husband and wife with another person, or a person who is not married marries or lives as husband and wife with another person who is married;
d) Marriages or cohabitation as husband and wife between people who have a direct bloodline; between people who have a kinship within three generations; between adoptive parents and adopted children; between people who previously had an adoptive parent-child relationship, between a father-in-law and daughter-in-law, mother-in-law and son-in-law, stepfather and stepdaughter, stepmother and stepson;
dd) Demanding property in marriage;
e) Forcing divorce, deceiving divorce, obstructing divorce;
g) Performing reproductive techniques for commercial purposes, surrogate pregnancy for commercial purposes, selecting the gender of the fetus, or cloning;
h) Domestic violence;
i) Exploiting the exercise of marriage and family rights for human trafficking, labor exploitation, sexual exploitation, or other purposes for profit.
...
Thus, obstructing marriage includes threatening, intimidating, mistreating, abusing, demanding property, or committing other acts to prevent the marriage of a person who meets the marriage conditions as stipulated by this Law or forcing another person to maintain a marriage relationship against their will.
Therefore, if the obstruction of marriage falls into the aforementioned cases, it is deemed a violation of the law.
Who has the right to request the annulment of an illegal marriage due to coercion in Vietnam?
Article 10 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family stipulates the individuals who have the right to request the annulment of an illegal marriage:
Individuals with the right to request the annulment of an illegal marriage
A person who is forced into marriage, deceived into marriage, as per the provisions of civil procedure law, has the right to request on their own behalf or ask the individuals or organizations prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article to request the Court to annul the illegal marriage due to the violation of the regulation in point b, Clause 1, Article 8 of this Law.
The following individuals or organizations, as per the provisions of civil procedure law, have the right to request the Court to annul an illegal marriage due to the violation of the regulations in points a, c, and d, Clause 1, Article 8 of this Law:
a) The spouse of a person who marries another while having a spouse; father, mother, child, guardian, or other lawful representatives of the person who marries illegally;
b) The state management agency for family affairs;
c) The state management agency for children;
d) The Vietnam Women's Union.
- Other individuals, agencies, or organizations, upon discovering an illegal marriage, have the right to request the agencies and organizations prescribed in points b, c, and d of Clause 2 of this Article to request the Court to annul the illegal marriage.
Thus, the individuals who have the right to request the annulment of an illegal marriage when forced into marriage include:
- The person forced into marriage
- Individuals, agencies, and organizations such as:
+ The spouse of a person who marries another while having a spouse; father, mother, child, guardian, or other lawful representatives of the person who marries illegally
+ The state management agency for family affairs
+ The state management agency for children
+ The Vietnam Women's Union
