Vietnam: 03 cases of refusal of registration of marriage which involves foreign elements

According to Decree No. 126/2014/ND-CP of Vietnam’s Government, an agency competent to make marriage registration shall refuse to register a marriage which involves foreign elements when:

- A partner or both partners is/are ineligible to get married under the Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam;

- The foreign partner is ineligible to get married under the law of the country of his/her citizenship;

- A partner fails to provide a complete dossier according to Article 20 of this Decree.

Marriage registration shall be refused when the result of interview, appraisal or verification shows that the marriage is arranged through brokerage for profit-seeking purpose; is sham not for the purpose of building a well off, equal, progressive, happy and sustainable family; or is made use of for human trafficking, labor exploitation, sexual abuse or for other self-seeking purposes.

Besides, Decree No. 126/2014/ND-CP also stipulates the order of marriage registration at representative missions as follows:

- Within 15 days after receiving a complete and valid dossier and a fee, a representative mission shall:

+ Directly interview both partners at its office according to the order and procedures prescribed at Points a and b, Clause 1, Article 23 of this Decree;

+ 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 representative mission shall conduct verification;

+ 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 head of the representative mission shall sign a marriage certificate.

In case of refusing marriage registration, the representative mission shall send a notice clearly stating the reason for refusal to the couple.

- The marriage registration ceremony shall be held within 5 working days after the representative mission head signs a marriage certificate.

The marriage registration ceremony shall be held officially at the office of the representative mission. Both partners must be present at the marriage registration ceremony. A representative of the representative mission shall conduct the ceremony and ask the partners to affirm their voluntariness of marriage. If the partners agree to get married, the representative of the representative mission shall record their marriage in the marriage registration book, request the partners to sign the marriage certificate and marriage registration book and give each partner one original marriage certificate.

- A marriage certificate becomes valid on the date of holding the marriage registration ceremony in accordance with Clause 3 of this Article. The representative mission shall grant copies of the marriage certificate from the marriage registration book when so requested.

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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