Divorce is the last option when the life of husband and wife becomes serious and the purpose of marriage is not achieved. In Vietnam, in cases where the litigant is abroad, one of the litigants is a foreigner or has assets in a foreign country, etc., then this divorce case is determined to have foreign elements.
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How to get a unilateral divorce when your spouse is abroad? (Illustration)
According to the provisions of Articles 28 and 29 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code of Vietnam, the settlement of marriage and family disputes or requests for marriage and family fall under the jurisdiction of the District People's Courts. However, because this is a case with foreign elements, the People's Court higher than 1 level (Provincial People's Court) will be the competent agency to settle.
*** The divorce resume with a foreigner includes:
- The original marriage certificate (if any), in case the original marriage certificate is lost, the marriage registration extract of the competent State agency shall be submitted;
- Notarized or authenticated copies of the birth certificates of the children (if there are children);
- Certified copy of ID card/CCCD/Passport; Certified copy of household registration;
- Divorce application: The divorce application is made by the non-resident party in Vietnam and consularly legalized and then transferred to the permanent resident in Vietnam to sign. (Regarding common property and common children, both parties can agree to settle the matter themselves or ask the court to settle and clearly state it in the divorce application);
- Documents proving that one party is abroad (if any).
*** The procedure for carrying out the divorce case:
- Submit a valid application for divorce at the People's Court of the province.
- Within 7-15 days, the Court examines the dossier, if the dossier is complete and valid, the Court will send a notice of advance of the court fee.
- Pay civil court cost advances at the competent Civil Judgment Execution Sub-departments and submit court cost advance receipts to the Court.
- The court opens a mediation session at the court and conducts divorce procedures at the Court according to first-instance procedures.
***Time limit for settling divorce cases:
Depending on the specific case and processing time varies. On the basis of Vietnamese law, the time limit for trial preparation is from 4 to 6 months from the date of acceptance of the case. The time limit for opening a court session is from 1 to 2 months from the date of issuance of the decision to bring the case to trial.
In fact, in some divorce cases between the Vietnamese plaintiff and the Vietnamese defendant abroad, the plaintiff can only provide the address of the defendant's last name in Vietnam without providing the defendant's address abroad. For these cases, the Supreme People's Court issued Official Dispatch 253/TANDTC-PC in 2018 instructing the local People's Courts to do the following:
- In case a Vietnamese person in the country applies for a divorce from an overseas Vietnamese and can only provide the address of the last place of residence in Vietnam of the defendant, but cannot provide the address of the defendant in a foreign country. , if through the defendant's relatives there are grounds to determine that they still have contact with their relatives in the country but their relatives do not provide the defendant's address and information to the Court nor do Upon request of the Court to notify the defendant in order to send testimony to the Court, this is considered a case where the defendant intentionally hides the address, refuses to declare or refuses to provide necessary documents.
- If the Court has requested the second time, but their relatives also refuse to provide the respondent's address and information to the Court as well as refuse to comply with the Court's request to notify the defendant, then the court brought the case to trial in the defendant's absence according to the general procedure.
- After the trial, the Court should immediately send to the defendant's relatives a copy of the judgment or decision for these people to transfer to the defendant, and at the same time conduct a public posting of the copy of the judgment or decision at the office of the commune-level People's Committee where the defendant last resided and where the defendant's relatives reside so that the litigant can use the right to appeal in accordance with the procedural law of Vietnam
Bao Ngoc
- Key word:
- divorce in Vietnam
