Appraisal of draft Decree on Abolition of Paper Household Registration Book in Vietnam

According to representatives from the The Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order of the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam, the Draft Decree has been constructed with 16 articles, of which 14 articles amend the decrees with regulations on the submission and presentation of paper household registration books and temporary residence certificates when performing administrative procedures and public administrative services. Specifically, it eliminates the requirements for citizens to submit and present household registration books and temporary residence certificates.

Additionally, the Draft Decree stipulates that competent authorities, officials, civil servants, and individuals assigned the responsibility of receiving and handling administrative procedures, as well as providing public services, must exploit and use citizen's residence information from the National Database on Population to resolve administrative procedures and provide public services.

The exploitation and use of citizen's residence information in the National Database on Population can be conducted via one of the following methods: using QRCode readers, chip readers on citizen ID cards with embedded chips to extract information; online search and extraction of personal information in the National Database on Population through the public service portal; using electronic identification accounts to log in and utilize information displayed in the VNEID application; and other methods as prescribed by sector-specific laws.

Competent authorities, officials, civil servants, and individuals assigned the responsibility of receiving and handling administrative procedures and providing public services are only permitted to request citizens to submit or present documents proving residence information when the information cannot be extracted from the National Database on Population or has not yet been updated in the database.

The Draft Decree does not establish additional administrative procedures; on the contrary, it reduces and simplifies many procedures prescribed in the amended and supplemented decrees per the provisions of this Draft Decree, thus facilitating convenience for citizens in administrative procedures.

The draft also clearly specifies five methods to exploit and use residence information in the National Database on Population.

Specifically, using citizen ID cards with embedded chips as legal documents proving personal and permanent residence information; using QRCode readers on citizen ID cards with embedded chips; using chip readers on citizen ID cards; online search and extraction of personal information in the National Database on Population through the Public Service Portal for administrative procedures, public administrative services, and civil transactions; using the VNeID application displaying information on electronic devices for resolving administrative procedures, public administrative services, and civil transactions; using a certificate of residence information and a notice of personal identification number and information in the National Database on Population.

According to the Department of Administrative Management on Social Order, the National Database on Population is currently uniformly operating, and citizens can utilize residence information in the National Database on Population to conduct administrative procedures.

The connection and exploitation of the National Database on Population serve various purposes, such as connecting with the National Public Service Portal and the Government Office to authenticate personal identification numbers and citizens' ID cards, authenticate household heads' information, and look up citizens' information; connecting with Vietnam Social Security to link citizens' information; connecting with the Ministry of Justice to issue and cancel personal identification numbers for newly born children; connecting with the Ministry of Health to verify citizens' vaccination information.

Connecting and authenticating with the Vietnam Electricity Group for operations in the electricity sector; connecting and authenticating with the Government Cipher Committee to review cipher officials' information; connecting with the General Department of Taxation and the Ministry of Finance to authenticate citizens' information, authenticate household heads' information, look up citizens' information, clean up data for the tax sector, and tax operations; successfully piloting the citizen information authentication service in 63 provinces and central-affiliated cities, thereby facilitating the resolution of administrative procedures, providing public services online for citizens through the National Integration Axis of the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Hence, requiring citizens to present documents such as household registration books, temporary residence books, or requiring authentication of documents in administrative procedure records to validate personal information and residence information per the above-cited decrees—while such information is already in specialized databases connected and shared with the National Database on Population—results in wastefulness and inconvenience for citizens in administrative procedures.

Therefore, issuing the Decree to amend and supplement certain articles of the decrees related to the submission and presentation of household registration books and temporary residence certificates when conducting administrative procedures and providing public administrative services as prescribed by the Law on Residence is necessary and appropriate for practicality.

Once passed and issued, the decree will take effect from January 1, 2023.

According to the Portal of the Government of Vietnam

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