Military service is one of the rights and responsibilities of Vietnamese citizens, reflecting patriotism and the duty to protect the Fatherland. Below is the guidance on calculating the age eligible for conscription.
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Vietnam: Guidance on calculating the age eligible for conscription (Illustrative image)
Age eligible for conscription in Vietnam
According to Article 30 of the Law on Military Service, the age eligible for conscription in Vietnam is regulated as follows:
Age eligible for conscription
Citizens turning to 18 years of age shall be conscripted into the army. Age eligible for conscription is from 18 to under 26 years of age. A citizen who enters university or college and postpones the conscription shall be eligible for conscription until he/she turns to 28 years of age.
There are three important age milestones to note as follows:
- 18 years of age;
- From 18 to 25 years of age;
- Up to 27 years of age for citizens who enter university or college and postpone the conscription.
Thus, the age eligible for conscription in Vietnam ranges from 18 to 27 years of age.
Guidance on calculating the age eligible for conscription in Vietnam
The age eligible for conscription in Vietnam must be calculated precisely by the day, month, and year. If citizen A's date of birth is dd/mm/yyyy, the timeline for reaching the eligible age is calculated as follows:
- Turn 18 years of age: dd/mm/(yyyy + 18)
- Turn 26 years of age: dd/mm/(yyyy + 26)
- Turn 28 years of age: dd/mm/(yyyy + 28)
Example: Tran Thanh Phong was born on June 25, 2000. The way to calculate Phong's age eligible for conscription is as follows:
+ Turn 18 years of age: 25/06/(2000+18) = June 25, 2018
From June 25, 2018, Phong begins to reach the age eligible for conscription.
+ Turn 26 years of age: 25/06/(2000+26) = June 25, 2026
Thus, from June 25, 2026, Phong will be out of the age eligible for conscription (in the case of turning 26 years of age).
+ Turn 28 years of age: 25/06/(2000+28) = June 25, 2028
If Mr. Phong enters university or college and postpones the conscription, he will be out of the conscription age by June 25, 2028.
Note: In cases of conscription evasion, Vietnamese citizens may face administrative fines or imprisonment penalties. To be specific:
An administrative fine of up to 4,000,000 VND for conscription evasion
According to Articles 4, 5, 6 of Decree 120/2013/ND-CP by the Government of Vietnam on penalties for administrative violations against regulations on national defense and cryptography, the penalties for some acts of conscription evasion are specifically regulated as follows:
- Failure to apply for initial registration for conscription: Fine from 200,000 - 600,000 VND and enforced conscription registration.
- Failure to be present at the time or location for preliminary selection stated in the call to preliminary selection for conscription without a legitimate reason: Fine from 500,000 - 1,000,000 VND and enforced participation in preliminary selection for conscription according to the plan of the conscription council.
- Failure to be present at the time or location for health examination stated in the call to health examination for conscription without a legitimate reason: Fine from 800,000 - 1,200,000 VND and enforced health examination according to the plan of the conscription council.
- Alteration of health classification results by persons undergoing health examination for the purpose of conscription evasion: Fine from 2,000,000 - 4,000,000 VND and enforced health reexamination for persons undergoing health examination for conscription.
- Failure to be present at the assembling time or location stated in the enlistment order without a legitimate reason: Fine from 1,500,000 - 2,500,000 VND.
The imprisonment penalty of up to 5 years for conscription evasion
According to Article 332 of the Criminal Code, any person who fails to comply with regulations of law on conscription defies an enlistment order or military training order even though he/she has incurred an administrative penalty or has an unspent conviction for the same offense shall face a penalty of up to 02 years' community sentence or 03 - 24 months' imprisonment.
This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 01 - 05 years' imprisonment:
- The offender injures himself/herself to avoid conscription;
- The offence is committed in wartime;
- The offender drags another person into committing the offence.
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