Order of settlement of registration of marriage involving foreign elements in Vietnam

According to Decree No. 126/2014/ND-CP of Vietnam’s Government, the order of settlement of registration of marriage involving foreign elements in Vietnam is specified as follows:

- Within 15 days after receiving a dossier, the provincial-level Justice Department shall:

+ Directly interview both partners at its office to check and clarify their personal identifications, voluntariness and purpose of their marriage and their understanding about the family and personal circumstances of each other; understanding about the language, customs, practices, culture and marriage and family law of each country. In case an interpreter is needed for the interview, the provincial-level Justice Department shall appoint an interpreter;

+ The interview result shall be recorded in writing. The interviewer shall state his/her proposal in and sign the interview document. The interpreter (if any) shall undertake that he/she has accurately interpreted the interview contents and sign the interview document;

+ If the interview result shows that the partners have not understood the circumstances of each other, the provincial-level Justice Department shall make an appointment for another interview. The subsequent interview shall be conducted within 30 days from the date of the first interview;

+ Study and verify the marriage registration dossier. In case there is any doubt or a complaint or denunciation that the marriage is arranged through brokerage for profit-seeking purpose, or is sham or made use of for human trafficking, labor exploitation, sexual abuse or for other self-seeking purposes, or when finding it necessary to clarify personal identification details of a partner or papers in the marriage registration dossier, the provincial-level Justice Department shall conduct verification.

- When considering that matters to be verified fall under the function of the public security agency, the provincial-level Justice Department shall send a written request together with a copy of the marriage registration dossier to the provincial-level public security agency for verification of those matters.

+ Within 7 working days after receiving a written request from the provincial-level Justice Department, the public security agency shall verify the requested matters and issue a written reply to the former.

+ Past the time limit for verification prescribed in this Article, if the public security agency fails to issue a written reply, the provincial-level Justice Department shall still complete the dossier stating the matters requested for verification by the public security agency and proposing the chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee to consider and make decision.

- After interviewing the partners and studying and verifying the marriage registration dossier and opinions of the public security agency (if any), the provincial-level Justice Department shall send a report on the result together with the marriage registration dossier and propose the settlement of marriage registration to the provincial-level People’s Committee for decision.

+ Within 5 working days after receiving a written proposal from the provincial-level Justice Department together with the marriage registration dossier, if finding the partners fully satisfy the marriage conditions and do not fall into the cases of refusal of marriage registration prescribed in Article 26 of this Decree, the chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee shall sign a marriage certificate and return the dossier to the provincial- level Justice Department for organization of a marriage registration ceremony.

+ In case of refusing marriage registration, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall send a document clearly stating the reason to the provincial-level Justice Department for notification to the couple.

Note: For marriages between Vietnamese citizens residing abroad or between foreigners residing in Vietnam, the interview prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article is not required.

View more details at Decree No. 126/2014/ND-CP of Vietnam’s Government, effective from February 15, 2015.

Le Hai

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