Notes on Marriage Registration with a Malaysian National

Legal bases:

- Article 34, Article 35, Article 36 of Decree 123/2015/ND-CP;

- Article 48 of the Civil Status Law 2014.

1. Authority for Marriage Annotation

Clause 1, Article 48 of the Civil Status Law 2014 stipulates the authority to record the civil status of Vietnamese citizens that has been resolved by a competent authority abroad as follows:

The People's Committee at the district level where the Vietnamese citizen resides records in the Civil Status Register the birth; marriage; guardianship; parent-child recognition; determination of parent-child relationship; adoption; changes in civil status that have been resolved by a competent authority abroad.

=> The authority for marriage annotation belongs to the district-level People's Committee where the woman (Vietnamese citizen) resides.

2. Conditions for Marriage Annotation

Based on Clause 1, Article 34 of Decree 123/2015/ND-CP, to be annotated for marriage, at the time of marriage, both parties meet the marriage conditions and do not violate prohibitions as stipulated by the Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam.

3. Documents

- Marriage annotation declaration form according to the format specified in Circular 04/2020/TT-BTP;

- A copy of the marriage certificate issued by a competent foreign authority;

- Copies of both male and female parties' documents (if the application is submitted by mail).

4. Procedures

- Prepare and submit the application (directly or by mail) to the competent authority for resolution.

- After receiving a valid application and deeming it to meet the conditions as prescribed by law, the civil status officer records it in the Civil Status Register. The Justice Division reports to the Chairman of the district-level People's Committee to issue an extract for the requester.

Note on cases of refusal to annotate marriage (Article 36 of Decree 123/2015/ND-CP) as follows:

- The request to record marriage will be refused if it falls into one of the following cases:

+ The marriage violates prohibitions as stipulated by the Law on Marriage and Family.

+ A Vietnamese citizen marries a foreigner at a diplomatic mission or consular representative office in Vietnam.

- In case the district-level People's Committee refuses to record the marriage in the Civil Status Register, the Justice Division shall notify in writing and clearly state the reason to the requester.

Sincerely!