Resolving Some Issues Regarding Birth Registration

1. Is there a penalty for late birth registration?

The answer is Yes.

Clause 1, Article 15 of the Civil Status Law 2014 stipulates: Within 60 days from the child's birth date, the father or mother; grandparents or relatives; individuals or organizations raising the child are responsible for registering the birth.

If the birth registration is not done within the stipulated period, the responsible person will face administrative actions according to Clause 1, Article 27 of Decree 110/2013/ND-CP, in the form of a warning.

The overdue birth registration will follow the ordinary birth registration procedures stipulated in the Civil Status Law as follows:

- The person registering the birth submits a prescribed application form and a birth certificate to the civil status registration body.- In the absence of a birth certificate, a document from a witness confirming the birth is required; if there are no witnesses, a written affidavit about the birth must be provided;- For abandoned children, a record of the child being abandoned, made by a competent authority, is required;- For children born via surrogacy, a document proving the surrogacy according to legal regulations is required.- Right after receiving the complete documents and suitable birth information, the civil status - judicial officer records the birth details into the Civil Registry; updates the electronic Civil Registry database and the national population database to obtain the Personal Identification Number.- The civil status - judicial officer and the person registering the birth both sign the Civil Registry book.- The Chairman of the commune-level People's Committee issues a Birth Certificate to the registered person.

2. Birth Registration with Only Father or Only Mother

In cases where a child has only a father or mother, the commune-level People's Committee where the father or mother resides has the authority to register the birth. Within 60 days from the child's birth date, the father or mother is responsible for registering the birth; if the father or mother cannot register the birth, the grandparents or relatives are responsible for it.

The birth registration procedure is as mentioned above.

3. Can the name and surname of the child be changed in the birth certificate?

The answer is: Yes

The competent State authority recognizes the change of surname and name in the cases stipulated in Article 27 of the Civil Code 2005 such as:

- At the request of the adoptive parents to change the surname and name for the adoptee, or when the adoptee quits being adopted and they or their biological parents request to revert to their original name and surname;- At the request of the biological parents or the child when determining the parentage;- Changing the surname of the child from the father's surname to the mother's or vice versa;- ...

Article 7 of Decree 123/2015/ND-CP stipulates: Changing the surname, middle name, or name for a person under 18 years old must have the consent of both parents and be clearly recorded in the application form. For those aged 9 years or older, their consent is also required.

Procedure for changing the name or surname:

Documents include:

- Application form (as prescribed),- Original Birth Certificate of the person whose civil status needs changing or correcting;- Relevant documents to justify the civil status change or correction.

Procedure: Within 5 days from the date of receiving complete lawful documents, the civil status officer records the change or correction into the register and decides on the civil status change or correction. The Chairman of the district-level People's Committee signs and issues an original Decision for changing or correcting civil status to the applicant.

4. Can a lost birth certificate be re-issued? What is the procedure?

According to the guidance in Decree 123/2015/ND-CP, if the birth registration was done by an authorized Vietnamese agency before January 1, 2016, but both the Civil Registry book and the original civil status document are lost, a re-registration is allowed. The person requesting re-registration must submit copies of documents related to the initial registration. Re-registration is only conducted if the applicant is still alive at the time of application.

Article 26 of Decree 123/2015/ND-CP regulates the procedure for re-registration of birth as follows:

Documents for re-registration include:

- Application form as prescribed;- Copies of the necessary documents of the applicant or other related documents with birth information;- If the applicant is an official, public employee, or working in the armed forces, a confirmation document from the head of the agency or unit about the consistency of the birth information with the records managed by the agency/unit is required.

Procedure:

- Within 5 working days, the civil status - judicial officer examines and verifies the application. If the re-registration is lawful, the officer re-registers the birth.

If it is done at a commune-level People's Committee not the place of the original registration, the civil status - judicial officer reports to the Chairman for a written request to the original registration place to verify the local Civil Registry Book's status.- Within 5 working days from receiving the request, the initial registration place verifies and responds in writing about the status of the Civil Registry Book.- Within 3 working days from receiving the verification results, if the documents are complete and legally correct, the civil status - judicial officer re-registers the birth.

Regarding the previous Birth Certificate copies:

- If the applicant holds a copy of the Birth Certificate, the re-registration details will follow the copy; parental information is recorded at the re-registration time.- If no Birth Certificate copy is available but personal documents have consistent birth information, the re-registration follows the details of those documents. If documents are inconsistent, the information is determined based on the first official valid documents issued by the competent state authority.

For officials, public employees, or armed forces personnel, the birth information is determined based on the document from the head of the agency or unit.

5. Can a birth be registered if the mother is under legal marriage age?

If the mother is under the legal marriage age, she still has the right to register the child's birth and have the parents' names recorded on the birth certificate. The birth registration procedure follows the same steps as registering the birth with only the father or mother.

If the parents have not completed the marriage registration and do not have a legally recognized marriage under the Marriage and Family Law, the child is considered to be born out of wedlock.

If the mother wants to record the father's name on the birth certificate, she must proceed with the paternity recognition for the child at the commune-level civil status authority. If this recognition is legally compliant, the commune-level People's Committee will simultaneously handle the paternity recognition and birth registration.

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