Procedures for issuance of certificates of Vietnamese nationality

Procedures for issuance of certificates of Vietnamese nationality (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Procedures for issuance of certificates of Vietnamese nationality 

Procedures for issuance of certificates of Vietnamese nationality according to Article 31 of Decree 16/2020/ND-CP are as follows:

- Each applicant for issuance of certificate of Vietnamese nationality shall prepare 1 application consisting of a declaration form, 2 4x6 photos taken in the past 6 months and copies of following documents:

+ Documents on record of the applicant namely ID card, Citizen Identity Card, residence documents, temporary resident card, laissez-passers, documents allowing international travel or documents confirming personal record bearing photos issued by competent agencies;

+ Documents proving Vietnamese nationality according to Article 11 of Law on Vietnamese Nationality or equivalent documents issued by previous government, including birth certificates where nationality section is left empty or full name sections are filled with full name of the applicant and his/her parents in Vietnamese;

+ In case documents proving Vietnamese nationality specified in Point b Clause 1 of Article 31 of Decree 16/2020/ND-CP are not available, the applicant must prepare personal data sheet together with any of the documents specified in Clause 2 Article 28 of Decree 16/2020/ND-CP to serve as the basis for verification of Vietnamese nationality.

- Procedures for examining, verifying and looking up Vietnamese nationality are as follows:

+ In case documents proving Vietnamese nationality are available, if the applications are submitted at Departments of Justice, within 5 working days from the date on which the applications are accepted, Departments of Justice shall examine, directly look up or request Ministry of Justice in writing to look up Vietnamese nationality; within 10 working days, Ministry of Justice shall look up and respond the Departments of Justice in writing.

If authenticity of documents proving Vietnamese nationality is called into question, Departments of Justice shall request agencies that issued the questioned documents to verify; within 10 days from the date on which request of the Departments of Justice is received, the issuing agencies shall verify and respond the Departments of Justice in writing.

In case of submitting applications at representative bodies, within 05 working days from the date on which applications are accepted, representative bodies are responsible for examining the applications, directly looking up or requesting Ministry of Foreign Affairs in written form to propose Ministry of Justice to looking up Vietnamese nationality; within 10 working days, Ministry of Justice shall look up and respond in written form.

If authenticity of documents proving Vietnamese nationality issued by domestic competent agencies is called into question, representative bodies shall propose Ministry of Foreign Affairs in written form to request the issuing agencies to verify; within 10 working days from the date on which request of Ministry of Foreign Affairs is received, the issuing agencies shall verify and respond Ministry of Foreign Affairs in written form.

Within 5 working days from the date on which lookup results are received, Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall inform the representative bodies in written form;

+ In case of having documents specified in Clause 2 Article 28 of Decree 16/2020/ND-CP without having documents proving Vietnamese nationality, if applications are submitted at Departments of Justice, within 5 working days from the date on which the applications are accepted, Departments of Justice shall look up or request Ministry of Justice to look up Vietnamese nationality, within 10 working days, Ministry of Justice shall look up and respond Departments of Justice in written form. Meanwhile, Departments of Justice shall request police authorities of the same level to verify record of the applicants;

Within 45 working days from the date on which request of the Departments of Justice is received, police authorities shall verify and respond Departments of Justice in written form.

If applications are submitted at representative bodies, within 5 working days from the date on which the applications are accepted, representative bodies shall look up or attach photos of documents and information provided by the applicants to the applicants and send to Ministry of Foreign Affairs to request Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Public Security to look up and verify record of the applicants.

Within 10 working days, Ministry of Justice shall look up and respond Ministry of Foreign Affairs in written form; within 45 days, Ministry of Public Security shall verify record of the applicants and respond.

Within 5 working days from the date on which lookup results are received, Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall inform the representative bodies in written form.

- Within 5 working days from the date on which lookup and verification results specified in Clause 2 of Article 31 of Decree 16/2020/ND-CP are received, if the applicants are verified to be obtaining Vietnamese nationality and they are not under lists of persons subject to renunciation, denaturalization or annulment of decisions on naturalization of Vietnamese nationality, agencies that accept the applications shall record in Vietnamese nationality certificate registry; heads of the agencies shall sign and issue certificates of Vietnamese nationality to the applicants.

If issuance of certificates of Vietnamese nationality is not well-grounded, agencies accepting the application shall respond the applicants in writing.

2. Entitlement to issue certificates of Vietnamese nationality

According to Article 30 of the Decree 16/2020/ND-CP, entitlement to issue certificates of Vietnamese nationality is as follow:

Applicants for issuance of certificates of Vietnamese nationality shall apply at Departments of Justice where they reside domestically or representative bodies where they reside overseas at the time of application.

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