Registration of Birth for Orphaned Children

According to statistics, Vietnam currently has over 150,000 orphaned children, yet only nearly 12,000 of them are being cared for at social protection centers—a relatively low rate, representing less than 10%. This is also a societal issue, as the children themselves are unfortunate and it becomes a burden on society and the community. Therefore, the care, education, and protection of children need to be emphasized, of which birth registration is essential.

The birth registration for orphaned children is specifically stipulated in Article 14 of Decree 123/2015/ND-CP as follows:

“Article 14. Birth registration for abandoned children

1. The person who discovers an abandoned child is responsible for protecting the child and immediately notifying the People’s Committee or the police of the commune where the child was abandoned. In the case where a child is abandoned at a medical facility, the head of the medical facility is responsible for notifying.

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3. At the end of the posting period, if there is no information about the child's biological parents, the commune-level People’s Committee shall notify the individual or organization temporarily caring for the child to proceed with birth registration. The individual or organization temporarily caring for the child is responsible for the child’s birth registration. The birth registration procedures are carried out in accordance with Clause 2, Article 16 of the Law on Civil Status.

The child’s first name, middle name, and surname are determined in accordance with civil law regulations. If there is no basis to determine the child's date of birth and place of birth, the day and month of discovering the abandoned child shall be taken as the child's date of birth; the year of birth shall be determined based on the child's physical condition; the place of birth is where the child was found; the place of origin is determined based on the place of birth; the child’s nationality is Vietnamese. The sections on the child’s father, mother, and ethnicity in the Birth Certificate and the Civil Status Register shall be left blank; in the Civil Status Register, it shall be clearly noted “Abandoned child”.

Additionally, Decree 123/2015/ND-CP also stipulates the birth registration for children whose parents are unidentified as follows:

“Article 15. Birth registration for children whose parents are unidentified

1. The commune-level People’s Committee where the child resides is responsible for registering the birth for children whose parents are unidentified.

2. In cases where the father is unidentified at the time of birth registration, the child’s surname, ethnicity, place of origin, and nationality shall be determined following the mother’s surname, ethnicity, place of origin, and nationality; the section on the father in the Civil Status Register and the Birth Certificate of the child shall be left blank.

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4. In cases where the mother is unidentified but the father requests to undertake procedures for recognizing the child, this shall be resolved as stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article; the section on the mother in the Civil Status Register and the Birth Certificate of the child shall be left blank.

5. The birth registration procedures for children who are not abandoned but whose parents are unidentified shall be carried out as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 14 of this Decree; in the Civil Status Register, it shall be clearly noted “Child whose parents are unidentified”.

Birth registration not only reflects an individual's basic information but also represents human rights and citizenship rights within society.

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