Who are issued laissez-passers in Vietnam?

Who are issued laissez-passers in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 5 Article 2 of the Law on Entry and Exit of Vietnamese Citizens 2019 stipulates as follows:

Term interpretation

In this Law, terms below are construed as follows:

1. “Exit” refers to activity of Vietnamese citizens leaving Vietnam territory via border checkpoints of Vietnam.

2. “Entry” refers to activity of Vietnamese citizens entering into Vietnam territory via border checkpoints of Vietnam from foreign countries.

3. “Passports” are documents owned by the Government and issued by competent authorities of Vietnam to Vietnamese citizens to make entry, exit and prove nationality and personal record.

4. “Passport containing electronic chips” refers to a passport embedded with electronic equipment storing encoded information of its holder and digital signature of issuing body.

5. “Laissez-passers” refer to documents issued by competent authorities of Vietnam to Vietnamese citizens to enable travel across borders according to international agreements between Vietnam and countries sharing borders.

6. “Entry and exit control” refers to examination, inspection and verification of persons and papers of entry and exit as specified in this Law.

7. “Exit suspension” refers to suspension or restriction from making exit for a definite period of Vietnamese citizens.

8. “National database for entry and exit of Vietnamese citizens” refers to collection of information of Vietnamese citizens relating to entry and exit that is digitalized, stored, managed and extracted by information infrastructure.

Thus, a laissez-passer is a document issued by a competent Vietnamese agency to Vietnamese citizens to cross the border according to an international treaty between Vietnam and a country sharing a common border.

Pursuant to Article 7 of the Law on Entry and Exit of Vietnamese Citizens 2019 regulations on validity of entry and exit documents are as follows:

Validity of entry and exit documents

1. Diplomatic passports and service passports shall be effective from 1 to 5 years; can be extended no more than 3 years per instance.

2. Validity of regular passports is as follows:

a) Regular passports issued to persons from 14 years of age shall be effective for 10 years and shall not be extended;

b) Regular passports issued to persons under 14 years of age shall be effective for 05 years and shall not be extended;

c) Regular passports issued by shortened procedures shall be effective for no more than 12 months and shall not be extended.

3. Laissez-passers shall be effective for no more than 12 months and shall not be extended.

According to this Article, a laissez-passer is valid for no more than 12 months and once expired, it will not be renewed according to the provisions of law in Vietnam.

Who are issued laissez-passers in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

Are laissez-passers considered one of the documents used for immigration in Vietnam?

According to Article 6 of the Law on Entry and Exit of Vietnamese Citizens 2019 amended and supplemented by Points a and b, Clause 1 Article 1 of the Law on Entry and Exit of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, amended 2023 regulations on entry and exit documents are as follows:

Entry and exit documents

1. Entry and exit documents include:

a) Diplomatic passports;

b) Service passports;

c) Regular passports;

d) Laissez-passers.

dd) Other papers prescribed by international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a signatory.

2. Passports containing or not containing electronic chips issued for Vietnamese citizens from 14 years of age. Passports not containing electronic chips shall be issued to Vietnamese citizens less than 14 years of age of issued by shortened procedures.

3. Information on entry and exit documents include:

a) Photographs;

b) Family name, middle name and first name;

c) Gender;

d) Place of birth; date of birth;

dd) Nationality;

e) Symbol, entry and exit document number; date of issue and issuing body; date of expiry;

g) Personal identification number or ID number;

h) Positions or titles in case of diplomatic passports and service passports satisfactory to diplomatic purposes;

i) Other information as regulated by the Government.

According to this Article, the laissez-passer is also considered one of the documents used for entry and exit according to the provisions of law in Vietnam.

Who has right to issue laissez-passers in Vietnam?

According to Article 19 of the Law on Entry and Exit of Vietnamese Citizens 2019 regulations on persons to be issued with laissez-passers are as follows:

Persons to be issued with laissez-passers

1. Vietnamese citizens residing in communes, districts or provinces sharing borders with neighboring countries.

2. Officials, employees and workers of agencies, organizations and enterprises in provinces sharing borders with neighboring countries.

3. Officials, employees and workers of agencies, organizations and enterprises which are located in central provinces or other provinces while their head offices are located in provinces sharing borders with neighboring countries.

4. Government shall elaborate this Article.

Thus, according to the above regulations in Vietnam, people who are granted laissez-passers include:

- Vietnamese citizens residing in commune, district, or province-level administrative units that share a border with neighboring countries.

- Officials, civil servants, public employees and employees belonging to agencies, organizations and enterprises of the province that share a border with neighboring countries.

- Officials, civil servants, public employees and employees belonging to agencies, organizations and enterprises in other central and localities but whose headquarters are located in a province that shares a border with a neighboring country.

Best regards!