From September 04, 2020, Decision 1872/QD-BTP of the Ministry of Justice on the announcement of administrative procedures comes into effect. Accordingly, the procedures for death registration involving foreign elements are specifically stipulated as follows:
Article table of contents
Death registration procedures involving foreign elements in Vietnam (Illustrative Image)
1. Application for death registration involving foreign elements in Vietnam
* Required Documents
- Death registration application form;
- Death notification or documents replacing the Death notification issued by competent authorities (documents, materials, evidence issued or duly certified by competent authorities to prove the death event in case of registering death for a long-deceased person without death notification or replacement documents).
- Power of attorney (certified) according to legal provisions in cases of authorizing another person to register the death (if the responsible person authorizes another to register the death and the authorized person is the power of attorney's grandparent, parent, child, spouse, sibling, the power of attorney does not need to be certified).
* Documents to be Presented
- Passport, ID card, citizen ID card, or other documents with photo and personal information issued by competent authorities, still valid, to prove the identity of the person requesting the death registration.
- Documents proving the last residence of the deceased to determine jurisdiction (during the transitional period). If the last residence of the deceased cannot be determined, present documents proving the place of death or where the deceased's body was found.
Note: Documents issued, notarized, or certified by foreign competent authorities for civil registration in Vietnam must be consular legalized, except as excused by international treaties to which Vietnam is a member; documents in foreign languages must be translated into Vietnamese, and the translation must be notarized or certified following legal provisions.
2. Submission methods of the Application for death registration involving foreign elements in Vietnam
The person requesting the death registration can directly apply or authorize another person to apply by one of the following methods:
- Submit directly at the competent district-level People's Committee, specifically:
- District People's Committee where the last residence of the deceased registers the death for foreigners or Vietnamese citizens residing abroad who died in Vietnam;- District People's Committee where the person died or where the deceased's body was found registers the death if the last residence of the deceased cannot be determined.
- Submit the application by postal system. The requester must send certified copies of the documents that need to be presented as mentioned above.
- Submit the application online through the civil registration system.
3. Death registration procedures involving foreign elements in Vietnam
- The person requesting the death registration submits the death registration dossier.
- The receiver is responsible for immediately checking the entire dossier, comparing the information in the application form and the validity of the documents in the dossier submitted and presented by the requester.
- If the dossier is complete and valid, the receiver writes a receipt indicating the exact time and date of the result delivery; if incomplete, they guide the applicant to supplement and complete as per regulations. If the dossier cannot be supplemented or completed immediately, a written guide detailing the required documents and contents to be supplemented must be made, signed, and named by the receiver.
- Immediately after receiving the dossier, if the death registration information is complete and appropriate, the Department of Justice reports to the Chairman of the district-level People's Committee. If the Chairman agrees to resolve, they sign the Death Extract issued to the requester. The civil registration official records it in the Death Registration Book. Upon delivering the civil registration results, the result deliverer must guide the requester to check the contents of the Death Extract and the Death Registration Book and have the person registering the death sign the book.
- After registering the death, the Department of Justice reports to the Chairman of the district-level People's Committee with a written notice, along with the Death Extract (copy), to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to notify the competent authority of the country to which the deceased was a citizen.
Note: The fee for registering a foreign element death is regulated by the Provincial People's Council, and fee waivers apply to families with particularly meritorious services to the revolution, impoverished households, and individuals with disabilities.
Le Vy
