Guidelines for the process of divorce by mutual consent in accordance with Vietnam’s regulations (latest)

Step 1: Prepare dossiers

According to the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 and the Code of Civil Procedure 2015 of Vietnam, when both spouses request a divorce, they need to prepare the following dossiers:

- Application for divorce by mutual consent (both husband and wife must sign);

- Marriage registration certificate (original). In case the certificate is not kept or no longer exists, applicants shall ask the civil status agency where the marriage has been registered before for issuance a copy;

- Identity card or citizen identification card of husband and wife (certified copy). If not, follow the instructions of the Court to submit other personal papers;

- Birth certificates of children (certified copies) (if any);

- Family registration book (certified copy);

- Papers proving ownership of common property (certified copy) (if any).

Note: Application for divorce by mutual consent must be signed by both husband and wife and have the following contents (Clause 2 Article 362 of the Code of Civil Procedure 2015 of Vietnam):

+ Date of making the petition;

+ Name of the Court that is competent to handle the petition;

+ Name, address; phone number, fax number, e-mail address (if any) of the petitioner;

+ Specific issues requested to be resolved by the court; reasons, purposes and bases of the request for Court resolution of such civil matters;

+ Names and addresses of persons who are related to the resolution of such civil matters (if any);

+ Other information that are deemed by the petitioner to be necessary for the resolution of his/her petition;

+ Signature or fingerprints, applicable to petitioners being individuals, or signature and seal of lawful representatives, applicable to applicants being agencies or organizations, in the end of the application. If the petitioner is an enterprise, the use of the seal shall comply with provisions of the Law on Enterprise.

Step 2: Submit the application for divorce by mutual consent

When both spouses request a divorce, they shall directly submit (or send by post) 01 set of documents at the district-level People's Court where the wife or husband resides for settlement (according to Article 35 of the Code of Civil Procedure 2015 of Vietnam).

Note: According to the Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14 of the Standing Committee of National Assembly of Vietnam on Court costs and fees and remission, collection, payment, management and use thereof, Court costs and fees in the field of marriage and family are divided into with monetary value and without monetary value. For divorce by mutual consent, Court fees are specified as follows:

- Without monetary value: 300.000 VND;

- With monetary value:

According to Article 147 of the Code of Civil Procedure 2015 of Vietnam, plaintiffs must bear first-instance court fees. Therefore, when both spouses request a divorce, each person will bear the first-instance court fee according to the agreement, in case there is no agreement, each person will bear half of the court fee.

Step 3: Conduct conciliation

According to Article 54 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 of Vietnam, after accepting a divorce petition, a court shall conduct conciliation in accordance with the civil procedure law.

Step 4: Issue decisions to recognize the voluntary divorces

* Successful conciliation: The couple will reunite and the Court will issue a decision to suspend the settlement of the divorce request.

* Unsuccessful conciliation: According to Article 55 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 of Vietnam, the Court shall issue the decision to recognize the voluntary divorces when the following conditions are met:

- The two are really willing to divorce;

- Have agreed upon the property division;

- Have agreed upon looking after, raising, caring for and educating their children on the basis of ensuring the legitimate interests of the wife and children.

Le Vy

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