What are latest procedures for requesting a certificate of the marital status in Vietnam?

What are latest procedures for requesting a certificate of the marital status in Vietnam? - image from internet

1. Legal basis:

- Law on Marriage and Family in 2014;

- Law on Civil Status in 2014;

- Decree 123/2015/ND-CP;

- Resolution 124/2016/NQ-HDND;

- Circular 85/2019/TT-BTC.

2. Conditions: 

For the purpose of marriage registration:

- A man and a woman wishing to marry each other must satisfy the following conditions:

+ The man is full 20 years or older, the woman is full 18 years or older;

+ The marriage is voluntarily decided by the man and woman;

+ The man and woman do not lose the civil act capacity;

+ 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.

- The State shall not recognize marriage between persons of the same sex.

For the purposes of determining whether aperson has been married but divorced or if the spouse has passed away:

- The applicant must present or submit valid documents proving such status (judgment, legally effective court decision on divorce; certified copy of the death declaration);

- In case of the circumstance prescribed in Clause 2 Article 37 of the Decree 123/2015/ND-CP, a respective copy of vital records is required. Clause 2 Article 37 is stipulated as follows: A Vietnamese citizen who obtained divorce or marriage annulment abroad and then return Vietnam to permanently reside or apply for new marriage registration at the competent authority in Vietnam shall apply for documenting such divorce or marriage annulment that has been settled abroad in the vital records (hereinafter referred to as divorce record). In case of multiple divorces of marriage annulments, only the latest divorce record is required.

For the purpose of reissuance of a certificate of marital status for other purposes or due to expiration of the certificate of marital status: The certificate of marital status that was issued must be returned.

3. Application:

- A declaration according to the form prescribed by law.

- The original of one of the following documents: passport, ID card, or another document containing photo and personal information that has been issued by a competent authority and remaining valid (hereinafter referred to as identity paper) for the identity verification purpose.

- Documents proving place of residence.

- A copy of the death declaration in case a has passed away.

- Judgment, legally effective court decision on divorce.

- Issued certificate of the marital status in case of applying for reissuance of the certificate

4. Submission method:

- Submit directly or authorize another person to request the issuance of a Certificate of the latest marital status.

- Submit the application directly at the competent People's Committee at the commune level or send the application through the postal system.

5. Resolving authority:

- People's Committee at the commune where the individual is registered as a permanent resident.

- People's Committee at the commune where the individual is registered for temporary residence if there is no permanent residence.

6. Time limit:

- Within 3 working days from the date on which the satisfactory application is received, the civil status official shall verify the applicant’s marital status. If the applicant meets all conditions and the issuance of certificate of marital status is consistent with regulations of law, the civil status official shall request the President of People’s Committee to issue one certificate of marital status to the applicant. Contents of certificate of marital status shall be consistent with the applicant’s current marital status and purpose of the certificate of marital status.

- If the applicant for certificate of marital status has registered permanent residence in multiple places, he/she must prove his/her marital status. If the applicant fails to produce such evidence, the civil status official shall report it to the President of People’s Committee of commune; the President shall then request People’s Committees of communes where the applicant had registered permanent residence in writing to verify the marital status.

+ Within 3 working days from the date on which the written request is received, the requested People’s Committee of commune shall verify and respond in writing to the requesting People’s Committee of commune in terms of the applicant's marital status during his/her residence in the commune.

+ As soon as practicable after receiving such response, if there are substantial grounds, the People’s Committee of commune shall issue a certificate of marital status to the applicant within 3 working days from the date on which the satisfactory application is received.

- The Certificate of the marital status is valid for 6 months from the date of issuance.

7. Fee:

- The civil status fee falls under the jurisdiction of the provincial People's Council, so the fee amount is determined by the People's Council of each province.

- For example, the fee for issuing a Certificate of the marital status at the People's Committee of a commune/ward in Ho Chi Minh City is 3,000 VND per case (Resolution 124/2016/NQ-HDND).

Best regards!