CIRCULAR

ELABORATING CERTAIN ARTICLES OF LAW ON CIVIL STATUS AND GOVERNMENT’S DECREE NO. 123/2015/ND-CP DATED NOVEMBER 15, 2015 PROVIDING DETAILED REGULATIONS ON CERTAIN ARTICLES AND MEASURES TO IMPLEMENT THE LAW ON CIVIL STATUS

Circular No. 04/2020/TT-BTP dated May 28, 2020 of the Minister of Justice elaborating a number of Articles of Law on Civil Status and the Government’s Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP dated November 15, 2015 on guidelines for Law on Civil Status, which comes into force from July 16, 2020, is amended by:

Circular No. 09/2022/TT-BTP dated December 30, 2022 of the Minister of Justice on annulment of a number of contents of Circulars in the fields of legal aid and civil status promulgated by the Minister of Justice, which comes into force from January 01, 2023.

Pursuant to the Law on Civil Status No. 60/2014/QH13 dated November 20, 2014;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP dated November 15, 2015 on guidelines for Law on Civil Status;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 96/2017/ND-CP dated August 16, 2017 on functions, duties, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice; 

At the request of the Director General of the Civil Status, Citizenship and Notarization Department;

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Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Circular elaborates a number of Articles of the Law on Civil Status and the Government’s Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP dated November 15, 2015 on guidelines for the Law on Civil Status (hereinafter referred to as “Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP”) regarding authorization of civil registration; receipt of applications for civil registration and announcement of results thereof; procedures for birth registration, marriage registration, death registration, recognition of parent-child relationship and registration of some other vital events; mobile birth registration, marriage registration and death registration; issuance and guidelines on use and management of civil registers and civil status documents.

Article 2. Authorization of civil registration

1. An applicant for issuance of a copy of a civil status extract, issuance of a marital status certificate or registration of a vital event listed in Article 3 of the Law on Civil Status (hereinafter collectively referred to as “civil registration application”) may authorize another person to carry out such application; excluding marriage registration, marriage re-registration and recognition of parent-child relationship, which may not be authorized but one party may submit an application to the competent civil registration authority without a written authorization from the other party.

Authorization must be granted in writing and certified as per the law.  Such certification is not required if the authorized person is a biological sibling, grandparent, parent, child or spouse of the authorizing person.

2. In case the applicant for registration of the birth of a child is the a grandparent or another relative of the child according to regulations in Clause 1 Article 15 of the Law on Civil Status, the authorization letter from the child’s parent(s) is not required but the child’s parent(s) must agree on the contents of the birth certificate.

Article 3. Receipt of applications for civil registration and announcement of results thereof

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In case the applicant cannot revise the application immediately, the recipient shall draw up an instructional document specifying the documents/contents needing to be added and put the recipient’s signature and full name to the document.

2. The recipient shall receive civil registration applications that contain only the contents required by laws on civil status and shall not request civil registration applicants to submit documents not required by laws on civil status.

3. Civil registration applicants may submit certified copies or copies issued from the master registers (hereinafter referred to as “copies”) or photocopies together with their authentic copies for comparison. In case an applicant submits a photocopy together with its authentic copy, the application recipient shall inspect and compare the photocopy with its authentic copy and countersign and shall not request the applicant to submit a copy.

For documents presented for civil registration, the recipient shall inspect and compare them with information in the application, photograph or record information for retention purpose and return the documents to the person presenting them, and shall not request copies or photographs of such documents to be submitted.

4. When announcing the civil registration result, the announcer shall instruct the applicant to check the contents of the civil status document and civil register.

When the applicant deems the contents correct and consistent with the application, they shall put their signature and full name to the civil register according to the announcer’s instructions.

5. Both the man and woman must be present upon announcement of the marriage registration or re-registration result; both the parent and child must be present upon announcement of the result of recognition of parent-child relationship.

Article 4. Resolution of civil registration applications without proof

In case a civil registration application requires proof according to regulations in Clause 4 Article 22, Clause 2 Article 26 and Clause 2 Article 27 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and Clause 4 Article 9 and Clause 1 Article 12 of this Circular, if there is no reply to the request for proof 20 days after the date on which the request is sent, the civil registration authority shall continue to process the application as per regulations. In case proof of marital status is required, the applicant may submit a written confirmation of their marital status to apply for a marital status certificate as per regulations in Article 5 of this Circular.

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1. If the civil registration applicant is permitted to draw up a written confirmation of the accuracy of the contents in their application, the civil registration authority must explain the responsibilities and consequences arising from untruthful confirmations to the person drawing up the confirmation.

2. The civil registration authority may refuse to process a civil registration application or request the competent authority to annul the result of a civil registration application if there are grounds to confirm that the confirmation is untruthful.

Chapter II

GUIDELINES ON REGISTRATION OF SOME VITAL EVENTS

Section 1. BIRTH REGISTRATION

Article 6. Contents of birth registration

Contents of birth registration are provided for by regulations in Clause 1 Article 14 of the Law on Civil Status, Clause 1 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and the following guidelines:

1. The last name, ethnicity and full name of the child must be determined in compliance with regulations of laws and in a manner that honors national identity and fine traditions and customs of Vietnam; the name shall not be too long or hard to use.

2. In case the parents fail to reach an agreement on the last name, ethnicity and native place of their child upon birth registration, the last name, ethnicity and native place of the child shall be determined according to customs but the child must take on the last name, ethnicity and native place of the mother or the father.

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1. The contents of a birth registration application for a child born overseas to a Vietnamese father or mother or to Vietnamese father and mother, having no overseas birth registration and residing in Vietnam is provided for by regulations in Article 29 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and the following guidelines:

a) Documentary evidences of the child’s lawful entry into Vietnam and residence in Vietnam per regulations in Clause 2 Article 29 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP , including a documentary evidence of the child’s lawful entry into Vietnam (such as passport, documents enabling international travel bearing an entry stamp from an immigration authority) and a written confirmation from the competent public security authority that the child is living in Vietnam.

b) The child’s Vietnamese citizenship shall be determined as prescribed in Vietnam's laws on citizenship upon birth registration.

2. In case the child’s parent chooses a foreign citizenship for the child upon birth registration, besides the written consent to such choosing, a confirmation that such choosing conforms to the foreign country's law from the competent authority of the foreign country is required.  If there is no confirmation from the competent foreign authority, the civil registration authority shall register the child’s birth but leave the nationality section in the birth certificate and birth register blank.

Article 8. Birth registration for persons possessing personal documents

1. Each commune-level People’s Committee shall handle birth registration of Vietnamese citizens living in its commune and born before January 01, 2016 with no birth registration but possessing personal documents (authentic copies or legitimate copies) such as identity documents provided for in Clause 1 Article 2 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP²; other documents issued by competent Vietnamese authorities and organizations.

2. The People's Committee of the district where an overseas Vietnamese lives before they go abroad shall handle their birth registration if they have no birth registration and possess the personal documents mentioned in Clause 1 herein and stating their place of birth as Vietnam.

3. A birth registration application for the cases provided for in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall include a birth registration application, a confirmation that birth registration has not been done; and the documents listed in Points b and c Clause 1 Article 26 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP.

Birth registration procedure and contents are provided for in Clause 2, Clause 3 and Clause 5 Article 26 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and Clauses 3 and 4 Article 9 and Article 10 of this Circular.

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Documents providing bases for birth re-registration mentioned in Point b Clause 1 Article 26 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP include:

1. A copy of the birth certificate lawfully issued by the competent Vietnamese authority.

2. The authentic copy or a copy of a replacement of the birth certificate issued before 1945 in the North and before 1975 in the South.

3. In case an applicant for birth re-registration does not have the documents mentioned in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article, the following documents, lawfully issued by competent Vietnamese authorities, may provide the bases for birth re-registration:

a) Identity card or passport;

b)³ Documentary evidences of place of residence;

c) Degrees, certificates, school report book, school records issued or confirmed by competent authorities;

d) Other documents containing full name and date of birth of the applicant.

The applicant shall submit copies of all of the abovementioned documents (if any) and a confirmation that they have submitted all available documents; and take responsibilities and consequences arising if the confirmation is untruthful as per regulations in Article 5 of this Circular.

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If the public security authority has no information to provide, the civil registration authority shall request the applicant to draw up a written confirmation of accuracy of information on their parents according to regulations in Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular and determine the birth registration contents based on such confirmation.

Article 10. Determination of birth re-registration contents

1. In case an applicant for birth re-registration has the documents required according to Clause 4 Article 26 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and Clauses 1 and 2 Article 9 of this Circular, the birth re-registration contents shall be determined based on such documents.

2. At the time of birth re-registration, if there is any change to information on the applicant’s parent or the applicant themselves contained in the documents mentioned in Clause 1 herein, the applicant shall present valid documentary evidences of such change.  If such change complies with regulations of laws, birth re-registration contents shall be determined based on the new information; and the outdated information shall be written on the back of the birth certificate and in the Remark section in the birth register.

If the mother or father of the applicant has passed away, “Deceased” shall be written in the Place of residence field in the birth register and birth certificate.

If the name of an administrative location written in issued documents has changed, the current name shall be used and the previous name shall be written on the back of the birth certificate and in the Remark section of the birth register.

Section 2. MARRIAGE REGISTRATION AND ISSUANCE OF MARITAL STATUS CERTIFICATE

Article 11. Marriage registration involving foreign elements

1. Applications for marriage registration shall be verified as per regulations in Clause 2 Article 38 of the Law on Civil Status and Clause 1 Article 31 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP as follows:

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During the investigation and verification process, if necessary, the district-level justice authority may meet the parties in person to clarify their records, whether they enter into the marriage voluntarily and the marriage purpose.

2. In case Vietnamese citizens granted a residence permit by the competent foreign authority wish to marry each other or marry Vietnamese citizens living in Vietnam, district-level People's Committees have the competence in handling their marriage registration as per Article 37 of the Law on Civil Status.

3. Documentary evidences of marital status of foreigners must be issued by competent authorities of their home countries.

Article 12. Issuance of marital status certificate

Issuance of the marital status certificate is provided for by regulations in Articles 21, 22 and 23 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and the following guidelines:

1. If an applicant wishes to be reissued with the marital status certificate to get married but could not submit the old marital status certificate, the applicant shall provide the reason they could not submit it.  Within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the civil registration authority shall verify with the authority of the locality where the applicant planned to register their marriage in writing.  If the civil registration authority could not verify or receive the verification result, the civil registration authority shall allow the applicant to draw up a confirmation of their marital status according to regulations in Articles 4 and 5 herein.

2. The marital status certificate shall remain valid until the time at which the marital status is changed or for 06 months starting from the date of issuance, whichever comes first.

Example: a marital status certificate was issued on February 03, 2020 but, on February 10, 2020, the certificate holder registered their marriage, so the certificate was only valid until February 10, 2020.

3. In case an applicant wishes to use the marital status certificate for marriage purpose, the civil registration authority shall issue only one copy to the applicant. The marital status certificate shall contain the full name, year of birth, nationality and identity documents of the applicant, and the locality where the applicant plans to register their marriage.

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This certificate is issued for getting married to Mr. KIM JONG DOEK, born in 1970, South Korean citizen, passport No. HQ12345 issued by the competent South Korean authority on February 02, 2020; at the premises of the competent South Korean authority in South Korea.

4. In case an applicant wishes to use the marital status certificate for a purpose besides marriage, the applicant is not required to meet the marriage conditions; the marital status certificate shall specify its use and that it may not be used for getting married.  The certificate shall be issued in the amount requested by the applicant.

Example: this certificate is issued for house selling procedures and may not be used for marriage registration.

5. Civil registration authorities may reject applications for marital status certificates that are to be used for same-sex marriage or marriage to a foreigner on the premises of a foreign representative mission in Vietnam.

Section 3. DEATH REGISTRATION AND PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP RECOGNITION

Article 13. Death registration

Death registration is provided for by Section 7 Chapter II of the Law on Civil Status and the following guidelines:

1. The applicant for registration of a death that happened a long time ago without a death notice or an equivalent document per regulations in Clause 2 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP shall provide documents/evidences issued by the competent authority or a valid confirmation of the death.

2. The civil registration authority may reject death registration applications that do not include any document or evidence required by Clause 1 of this Article or sufficient documents or evidences.

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Proof of parent-child relationship according to regulations in Clause 1 Article 25 and Clause 1 Article 44 of the Law on Civil Status includes one of the following documents:

1.  Written confirmation of the father-child or mother-child relationship from a competent domestic or foreign regulatory body, organization, health authority or testing authority.

2. In case there is no proof of the parent-child relationship per regulations in Clause 1 herein, the parent and child shall draw up a confirmation of their parent-child relationship according to regulations in Article 5 herein with at least 2 witness of their parent-child relationship.

Article 15. Birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition

1.  If a birth registration is combined with parent-child relationship recognition, the People’s Committee of the commune where the mother or father lives shall handle the application.

If a birth registration is combined with parent-child relationship recognition, the People’s Committee of the commune where the mother or father lives shall handle the application.

2. An application for birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition consists of:

a) A birth registration application and an application for parent-child relationship recognition made using the prescribed forms;

b) A certificate of live birth or an equivalent document per regulations in Clause 1 Article 16 of the Law on Civil Status;

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3. Commune-level People’s Committees shall handle applications for birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition following the procedures prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 Article 16 and Article 25 of the Law on Civil Status; and district-level People’s Committees shall handle applications for birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition following the procedures prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 Article 36 and Article 44 of the Law on Civil Status.

Contents of birth registration shall be determined according to regulations in Clause 1 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and Article 6 of this Circular. The birth certificate and extract of the parent-child relationship recognition document shall be issued to the applicant concurrently.

Article 16. Parent-child relationship recognition and civil status revision in some special cases

1. In case a man and a woman cohabit and have a child without marriage registration and the child lives with the father, if the father cannot contact the mother upon application for father-child relationship recognition, the mother’s opinion may be excluded from the application for father-child relationship recognition.

If the certificate of live birth and personal documents of the mother are available, the mother field shall be filled out based on the certificate of live birth and personal documents of the mother. Otherwise, this field shall be filled out based on information provided by the father; and the father shall take responsibility for such information.

2. In case the wife gives birth to a child before marriage registration, the birth is registered without the father’s information and the couple have a document recognizing the child as their common child, an application for civil status revision shall be submitted instead of an application for father-child relationship recognition to add the father’s information to the birth register and birth certificate of the child.

3. In case the wife gives birth to a child before marriage registration without birth registration and, upon birth registration, the couple has a document recognizing the child as their common child, the father’s information shall be added to the child’s birth certificate immediately without applying for father-child relationship recognition.

Legal consequences and liabilities arising from provision of untruthful information on the mother and common child recognition document per Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article are provided for in Article 5 of this Circular.

4. People’s Courts shall decide cases where the wife gives birth or is pregnant during the marriage period but the wife or husband does not recognize the child as their common child or another person wishes to recognize the child as their own as per the law.

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Section 4. CIVIL STATUS INFORMATION REVISION, CORRECTION AND CHANGE

Article 17. Civil status correction

1. Civil status shall be changed only upon detection of a mistake in civil registration; contents of a civil status document lawfully issued to officialize contents of another personal document  shall not be corrected.

2. A mistake in civil registration must be attributed to the civil registration applicant or the civil registration authority.

3. The regulatory body where a death is registered has the power to correct death registration contents at the request of the person responsible for registering the death according to regulations in Article 33 of the Law on Civil Status.

Article 18. Civil status information revision

1. Civil status documents mentioned in Clause 2 Article 75 of the Law on Civil Status remain valid and do not need to be revised based on the existing civil status forms.

2. Civil status documents lawfully issued from January 01, 2016 may add missing civil status information if there are proofs lawfully issued by competent authorities/organizations.

Vietnamese citizenship shall be added to civil status documents issued from January 01, 2016 after it has been confirmed that the applicant has Vietnamese citizenship as per regulations of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship.

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If there is no certificate of live birth or written confirmation of the healthcare establishment, the date/ month of birth shall be determined as follows:

a) If the individual’s personal documents have a consistent date/month of birth, this date/month shall be used.

If the individual’s personal documents have no consistent date/month of birth, the date/month on the document confirmed to be valid or issued first shall be chosen.

b) If the individual have no personal document or their personal documents contain no date/month of birth, they may draw up a confirmation of their date/month of birth according to regulations in Article 5 of this Circular.

c) If the date and month of birth could not be determined following the guidelines in Points a and b herein, January 01 of the birth year shall be chosen; if the birth month could be determined but not the birth date, the first of the birth month shall be chosen as the birth date.

4. In case the authority revising the civil status information is not the original civil registration authority, after revision is completed, a written notification and a copy of the civil status extract shall be sent to the original civil registration authority to have the new information added to the civil register; if the original civil registration authority is a representative mission, the notification shall be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Article 19. Change and revision of civil status information of adopted children

1. After the child is adopted, at the request of the adoptive parent(s), the People's Committee of the locality where the child’s birth was registered or where the child lives shall change the child’s civil status according to regulations in Articles 26, 27, 28 and 46 of the Law on Civil Status.

2. If the adopted child is an abandoned child or a child with unknown biological parents, at the request of the adoptive parent(s), the People's Committee of the locality where the child’s birth was registered or where the child lives shall add information of the adoptive parent(s) to the father/mother field in the birth certificate and birth register; and “adoptive parent(s)" must be included in the Remark section of the birth register.

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If the father and mother fields in the birth certificate and birth register are filled out, at the request of the adoptive father or mother, the People's Committee of the locality where the child’s birth was registered or where the adopted child lives shall replace the father or mother’s information in the birth certificate and birth register with information on the step-father or step-mother; and “adoptive father" or “adoptive mother” must be included in the Remark section of the birth register.

Article 20. Civil status information revision, correction and change and ethnicity re-determination in some special cases

1. Competence in civil status information revision, correction and change and ethnicity re-determination for vital events registered at Departments of Justice:

a) If the applicant is an overseas Vietnamese, the People's Committee of the district where the applicant lives before going abroad has the power to change, correct and revise their civil status information and redetermine their ethnicity;

b) If the applicant is a foreigner residing in Vietnam, the People's Committee of the district where the applicant lives has the power to correct and revise their civil status information.

c) If the applicant is a foreigner not residing in Vietnam, the People's Committee of the district where the Department of Justice that registered the applicant’s civil events is located has the power to correct and revise civil status information.

c) If the applicant is a foreigner not residing in Vietnam, the People's Committee of the district where the Department of Justice that registered the applicant’s civil events is located has the power to correct and revise civil status information.

2. In case an applicant for civil status information revision, correction or change or ethnicity re-determination no longer has the authentic copies of civil status documents or the civil registration authority no longer keeps the civil register, the civil registration authority may receive and handle the application as per regulations.

After issuing the extract of civil status information revision, correction or change or ethnicity re-determination to the applicant, the official in-charge of civil status tasks shall record the changed, corrected or revised civil status information or re-determined ethnicity in the Remark section of the civil register or on the back of the authentic copy of the civil status document as regulated.

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Article 21. Recording civil status changes per judgments and decisions of competent authorities in civil registers

1. Upon receipt of a notification and enclosed judgment extract or decision copy concerning change of civil status of an individual, the civil registration authority  shall record such change in the civil register according to regulations in Clause 1 Article 30 of the Law on Civil Status; if the civil register is retained by the superior civil status managing authority, send a notification and a photocopy of the judgment extract or decision copy to this managing authority to have such change recorded in the civil register.

2. In case the civil registration authority has not received a notification and enclosed judgment extract or decision copy but is provided with a valid and effective judgment extract or decision copy by the individual whose civil status information is subject to change, the civil registration authority shall record such change in the civil register according to regulations in Clause 1 herein, and note such change on the back of the authentic copy of the civil status document.  In case the authority making the note is not the one registering the individual’s civil status, the former shall note such change on the back of the authentic copy of the civil status document and send a photocopy of the judgment extract or decision copy to the latter have such change recorded in the civil register.

Article 22. Recording vital events of Vietnamese citizens resolved by competent foreign authorities in civil registers

1. If a Vietnamese citizen born overseas and having their birth registered at the competent foreign authority wishes to have their birth recorded in the civil registers, the civil registration authority shall record their birth in the civil register and issue an extract of the birth registration recorded in the civil register and a copy of the birth certificate to the applicant.

2. If a Vietnamese citizen not residing in Vietnam wishes to have their divorce recorded in the civil register so as to register their new marriage at the competent Vietnamese authority, they shall submit an application to the People's Committee of the district where they registered their previous marriage or where they register their new marriage.

Article 23. Issuance of civil status extract copies

1. A civil status registration and management authority that keeps civil registers or manages the electronic civil status database has the power to issue civil status extract copies.  Contents of civil status extract copies must be consistent with information in civil registers.  Any field in the form of the civil status extract copy that has no information available in civil registers or the electronic civil status database shall be left blank.

2. If the old civil register records age, the civil registration authority shall determine and record the corresponding birth year in the Remark section of the civil register and issue the civil status extract copy.

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3. In case an individual has their civil status information changed, corrected or revised, their ethnicity re-determined, a civil status change per a judgment or decision of the competent authority recorded in a civil register, or a vital event of Vietnamese citizens resolved by the competent foreign authority recorded in a civil register, information in the birth certificate copy and civil status extract copy shall be revised based on the information written in the Remark section of the civil register.

If an applicant applies for issuance of a marriage records extract copy but a civil status change per an effective divorce decision or judgment is recorded in the marriage register or a divorce resolved by a competent foreign authority is recorded in a civil register, the Remark section of the marriage records extract copy shall state: divorced per Judgment/Decision No. [judgment/decision number] dated [date] by the Court of [name of court].

Section 6. MOBILE BIRTH REGISTRATION, DEATH REGISTRATION AND MARRIAGE REGISTRATION

Article 24. Cases of mobile birth registration, death registration and marriage registration

1. In case a child is born to parents with a physical disability or illness that renders them unable to register the child’s birth or to parents in temporary detention or in prison and the child has no maternal or paternal grandparents or other relatives or these persons cannot register the child’s birth, the commune-level People’s Committee shall register the birth in a mobile manner.

In case a deceased person does not have any relatives or their relatives do not live in the same commune, or are old or weak, or have physical disabilities and cannot register their death, the commune-level People’s Committee shall register their death in a mobile manner.

In case both the male and female partners live in the same commune but one or both of them have a physical disability or illness that renders them unable to register their marriage, the People’s Committee of their commune shall register their marriage in a mobile manner.

2. Besides the cases provided for in Clause 1 of this Article, depending on the actual situation of each commune, commune-level People’s Committee shall decide to register births, deaths and  marriages in a mobile manner.

3. Commune-level People’s Committees shall allocate time, funding and work force for mobile civil registration according to regulations in Clauses 1 and 2 herein in a suitable way, ensuring all births, deaths and marriages are registered.

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1. The commune-level official in charge of justice - civil status affairs assigned the task of mobile birth registration and death registration shall prepare all necessary application forms and specimen civil status documents and ensure conditions for mobile registration at people’s houses or a mobile registration point, ensuring people’s convenience.

At the mobile civil registration point, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall instruct applicants to fill out application forms; check documents acting as the bases for birth registration and death registration per the Law on Civil Status, Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and this Circular; and draw up application receipt confirmations.  The result of a mobile birth/death registration application shall be announced no later than 05 working days from the date of receipt.

2. Within 02 working days from the date of receipt of an application according to Clause 1 herein, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall submit the civil status documents to the Chairperson of the commune-level People’s Committee for signature and record registration contents in the appropriate civil register.

3. Within 05 working days per regulations in Clause 1 herein, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall bring the civil status documents and civil register to announce the result to the applicant at the mobile registration point; instruct people to put their signatures and full names to the civil register as regulated; and write "Mobile registration" in the Remark section of the civil register.

4. If the applicant is illiterate, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall fill out the application form directly and then read it aloud to the applicant and instruct the applicant to append their fingerprints to the application form. When announcing the civil registration result, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall read the civil status documents to the applicant and instruct them to append their fingerprints to the civil register.

These regulations are also applicable to the mobile marriage registration procedure provided for in Article 26 of this Circular.

Article 26. Mobile marriage registration procedure

1. The commune-level official in charge of justice - civil status affairs assigned the task of mobile marriage registration and death registration shall prepare all necessary application forms and specimen civil status documents and ensure conditions for mobile registration.  At the mobile civil registration point, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall inspect and verify the marriage conditions of all parties; instruct people to fill out marriage registration application forms; and draw up application receipt confirmations.  The result of a mobile marriage registration application shall be announced no later than 05 working days from the date of receipt.

2. Within 05 working days per regulations in Clause 1 herein, if all parties meet the marriage conditions according to regulations in the Law on Marriage and Family, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall submit the marriage certificate to the Chairperson of the Commune-level People’s Committee for signature and then give the marriage certificate to the parties at the mobile registration point.

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SPECIMEN CIVIL STATUS DOCUMENTS AND CIVIL REGISTERS; GUIDELINES FOR MANAGEMENT AND USE OF CIVIL STATUS DOCUMENTS AND CIVIL REGISTERS

Section 1. SPECIMEN CIVIL STATUS DOCUMENTS AND CIVIL REGISTERS

Article 27. Specimen civil status documents and civil registers

1. Enclosed with this Circular are:

a) List of civil status documents printed and distributed by the Ministry of Justice (Appendix 1);

b) List of civil registers printed and distributed by the Ministry of Justice (Appendix 2);

c) List of civil status documents uploaded onto the web portal of the Ministry of Justice and permitted for print and use by civil registration authorities (Appendix 3);

d) List of civil registers uploaded onto the web portal of the Ministry of Justice and permitted for print and use by civil registration authorities (Appendix 4);

dd) List of civil registration application forms uploaded onto the web portal of the Ministry of Justice and permitted for print and use by civil registration authorities and citizens (Appendix 5);

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Article 28. Competence in printing and distribution of specimen civil status documents and civil registers

1. The Ministry of Justice has the power to print and distribute birth certificates (authentic copy and copy), marriage certificates (authentic copy), birth registers, marriage registers and death registers included in the lists provided for in Points a and b Clause 1 Article 27 of this Circular.

Departments of Justice shall contact the Ministry of Justice to obtain blank civil status documents and civil registers and take responsibility if affiliated civil registration authorities use specimen civil status documents and civil registers not distributed by the Ministry of Justice.

2. Civil registration authorities using the shared civil status registration and management software may be provided with specimen birth certificates (authentic copy and copy) and marriage certificates (authentic copy) included in the lists provided for in Point a Clause 1 Article 27 of this Circular.

3. Civil registration authorities may print and use specimen civil status extracts (authentic copy and copy) included in the list provided for in Point c Clause 1 Article 27 of this Circular; and specimen civil registration application forms included in the list provided for in Point dd Clause 1 Article 27 of this Circular, which are uploaded onto the web portal of the Ministry of Justice (at www.moj.gov.vn).

Civil registration applicants may print and use specimen civil registration application forms available on the web portal of the Ministry of Justice.  If an applicant cannot print the necessary application form, the civil registration authority shall print and give the form to the applicant free of charge.

4. Civil registration authorities may print and use specimen civil registers included in the list provided for in Point d Clause 1 Article 27 of this Circular, which are uploaded onto the web portal of the Ministry of Justice (at www.moj.gov.vn).

If a domestic civil registration authority cannot print specimen civil registers, the supervisory Department of Justice shall print and distribute these specimens to the  civil registration authority  or contact the Ministry of Justice to obtain these specimens.

5. Civil registration authorities shall take responsibility for use of civil status documents and civil registers printed and/or distributed against the regulations in this Circular.

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Article 29. How to fill in civil registers and civil status documents

1. Commune-level officials in charge of justice - civil status affairs, officials in charge of civil status affairs of district-level justice authorities, and members of diplomatic missions and consular posts (hereinafter collectively referred to as “civil status officials”) shall accurately fill in civil registers and civil status documents themselves with clear handwriting, no acronyms or erasing; using quality ink of one color; and avoiding using different ink colors and red ink.

Civil status documents printed using information technology must be printed with quality black ink and ensure that the letters are not blurry, missing strokes or fading.

2. Every civil register must be fan stamped from the first page to the last page after it is opened. The register shall be filled in page after page, leaving no page blank.

3. Annual registers must be filled in continuously from entry number 01 to the end of the year.  If a register is completely filled in before the year ends, start a new register and continue from the last entry number of the old register instead of starting from number 01.

If a register is not completely filled in by the end of the year, the civil registration authority may continue using this register for the following year after register closing per regulations.

4. The number written on a civil status document of an individual must be consistent with the number written in the corresponding civil register according to regulations in Clause 3 herein.

5. Columns and sections in civil registers and civil status documents must be fully and accurately filled in according to guidelines in the civil registers and in this Circular; the Gregorian calendar shall be used.

6. Civil status changes per judgments and decisions of competent authorities shall be recorded in civil registers as follows:

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b) Parent-child identification shall be recorded in the Remark section of the birth register of the child;

c) Sex re-assignment shall be recorded in the Remark section of the birth register of the person undergoing sex re-assignment;

d) Adoption and termination of adoption shall be recorded in adoption registers and in the Remark section of birth registers;

dd) Divorces, annulment of unlawful marriages and marriage recognition shall be recorded in the Remark section of marriage registers;

e) Guardianship recognition shall be recorded in guardianship registers;

g) Missing person declarations and declarations of a legally incapacitated person or person with limited capacity of exercise or cancellation of such declarations shall be recorded in the Remark section of birth registers;

h) Declarations and cancellation of declarations of death shall be recorded in death registers.

7. Vital events of Vietnamese citizens resolved by competent foreign authorities shall be recorded in civil registers as follows:

a) Births shall be recorded in birth registers;

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c) Guardianships shall be recorded in guardianship registers;

d) Recognition of parent-child relationships and parent-child identification shall be recorded in parent-child relationship recognition registers.  If the child's birth has been registered in Vietnam, the district-level People’s Committee shall request the authority registering the birth to add a remark to the birth register;

dd) Adoptions shall be recorded in adoption registers;

e) Civil status changes shall be recorded in registers of civil status information change, correction and revision and ethnicity re-determination with remarks added to registers of other vital events;

g) Divorces and marriage annulments shall be recorded in divorce remark registers.  If a previous marriage remark or marriage registration is done by a competent Vietnamese authority, the district-level People’s Committee shall request the authority registering the marriage or making the marriage remark to add another remark to the marriage register;

h) Deaths shall be recorded in death registers.

8. Civil status registration and management authorities archiving civil registers shall fill in civil registers according to regulations in Clause 6 of this Article immediately upon receipt of judgments and decisions.

If a civil register is archived at 2 levels, the civil status registration and management authority receiving the judgment or decision shall fill in the civil register and then notify the other authority where the civil register is archived to have the civil register updated, ensuring consistency.

9. Civil registers must be filled in based on civil status documents and applications for registration of vital events of Vietnamese citizens resolved by competent foreign authorities; if a field in a civil register lacks information from civil status documents, it shall be left blank; and information available in civil status documents without a corresponding field in the civil register shall be added to the Remark section of the civil register.

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Article 30. How to fill in names of administrative locations in civil status documents and civil registers upon changes

1. Upon change to the name of an administrative location, the administrative location field in civil status documents and civil registers shall contain the name used at the time of application.

2. Civil status extract copies shall contain the administrative location names written in civil registers.

Article 31. How to fill in birth certificates and birth registers

1. Last name, middle name and first name of the person whose birth is registered must be capitalized with all tone marks.

2. Date of birth of the person whose birth is registered must be written in both numbers and words.

3. The Place of birth field shall be filled in as follows:

a) If the child is born in a hospital, maternity ward, healthcare station or healthcare establishment (hereinafter collectively referred to as “health facility”), the name of the health facility and address of the premises of the health facility shall be filled in.

b) If the child is not born in a health facility i.e., at home, on a vehicle, on the road, in a detention center or prison or at another location, the name of the administrative location where the child is born shall be filled in (fill in all 3 administrative levels).

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d) In case of birth re-registration without sufficient information on the place of birth, the name of the Vietnamese province or name of the foreign country shall be filled in (e.g., Vinh Phuc or United States).

4. The Place of residence field shall be filled in as follows:

a) If the person whose birth is registered is a Vietnamese citizen residing in Vietnam, the permanent address shall be filled in; if there is no permanent address, the temporary address shall be filled in; if there is no permanent or temporary address, the current address shall be filled in.

5. The Personal documents of the person registering the birth field must include the type, number, issuer and date of issuance of each document.

6. The Place of birth registration shall include the exact name of the authority with competence in birth registration according to regulations of the Law on Civil Status. To be specific:

a) If the birth is registered at a commune-level People’s Committee, names of 3 administrative levels must be filled in (commune, district and province).

b) If the birth is registered at a district-level People’s Committee, names of 2 administrative levels must be filled in (district and province).

c) If the birth is registered at a representative mission of Vietnam in a foreign country, the name of the representative mission shall be filled in.

7. If the father or mother of the person whose birth is registered is a foreigner, their name shall be filled in as written in their passport or an equivalent document.

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9. The Remark section on the back of the birth certificate shall be used to record civil status information changes, correction and revision, ethnicity re-determination; civil status information changes per judgments and decisions of competent authorities, including the date, month and year of recording, changed civil status information and type, number, issuer and date of issuance of documents providing the basis for such recording.

10. Guidelines for filling in last name, middle name and first name, date, month and year, place of residence, personal documents, place of registration, location and country names and remarks of changes herein are also applicable to other types of civil registers and civil status documents to ensure consistency.

Article 32. How to fill in marriage certificates and marriage registers

1. The date, month and year of marriage registration shall be the date on which both the male and female partners are present to sign the marriage register and marriage certificate at the civil registration authority. The marriage relationship shall be established at the time of marriage registration unless otherwise provided for in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. In case of marriage re-registration and registration of marriages of couples cohabiting before January 03, 1987 per regulations in Clause 2 Article 44 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, recognition of marriage relationship per regulations in Clause 2 Article 11 of the Law on Marriage and Family, and marriage registration per regulations in Article 13 of the Law on Marriage and Family, the date, month and year of marriage relationship establishment shall be written on the back of the marriage certificate.

In case of marriage re-registration and registration of marriages of couples cohabiting before January 03, 1987 with unknown date of previous marriage registration or date of establishment of cohabiting relationship, the first date of the month of the year of marriage registration or establishment of cohabiting relationship shall be chosen; in case of unknown date and month, January 01 of the year of previous marriage registration or establishment of cohabiting relationship shall be chosen.

Article 33. How to fill in marital status certificates and marital status certificate issuance registers

1. The Marital status field shall contain the applicant’s current marital status, which must be written in an honest manner. To be specific:

- If the applicant has never married, specify that the applicant is currently not married to anyone.

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- If the applicant cohabited with another before January 03, 1987 and has not divorced or the spouse is not deceased or declared deceased, specify that the applicant is currently married to Mrs./Mr. …

- If the applicant had a marriage registered or cohabited with another before January 03, 1987 but has divorced and has not remarried, specify that the applicant had a marriage registered or was married but has divorced per Judgment/Decision No. … dated [date of issuance] by the People’s Court of …; and is currently not registering a marriage with anyone.

- If the applicant had a marriage registered or cohabited with another before January 03, 1987 but the spouse is deceased and has not remarried, specify that the applicant had a marriage registered or was married but the spouse is deceased (Death Certificate/Death Certificate Extract/Judgment No. … issued by [name of issuer] dated [date of issuance]); and is currently not registering a marriage with anyone.

- If a married applicant wishes to have the marital status prior to marriage registration certified, specify that from [date] to [date], the applicant was not married to anyone; and is currently married to Mrs./Mr. … (Marriage Certificate No. … issued by [name of issuer] on [date]).

2. For overseas Vietnamese who wish to have the marital status during their stay in Vietnam prior to traveling abroad certified, and persons with multiple past places of residence who wish to have the marital status during the time they lived in a place of residence certified, their marital status during such periods shall be specified.

Example: not married to anyone while living in Bong Lai commune, Que Vo district, Bac Ninh province from November 20, 1996 to March 04, 1998.

3. In case a Vietnamese applicant is issued with a marital status certificate by a representative mission while they reside overseas, the Place of residence field shall contain the applicant’s current address.  The applicant’s marital status shall be determined based on civil registers and the electronic civil status database managed by the representative mission and written as prescribed in Clause 2 herein.

Article 34. How to fill in death certificate extracts and death registers

1. The Time of death field shall be filled in based on the death notice or an equivalent document mentioned in Clause 2 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP , which must specify the hour, minute, date, month and year of death in numbers and in words; the hour and minute fields shall be left blank if they are unclear.

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In case of death on vehicle, death due to accident, death in detention center, in prison, at execution location or on premises of a regulatory body or organization or unknown place of death, 3 administrative levels (commune, district and province) of the location where the decedent passes away or is found deceased shall be filled in.

3. The Cause of death section in the death register  shall be filled in based on the death notice or an equivalent document mentioned in Clause 2 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP ; this section shall be left blank if such document is unavailable or the cause of death is unclear.

4. The section about the death notice or an equivalent document must include its name; number and date of issuance and name of its issuer.  If the commune-level People’s Committee with competence in registration of a death also takes responsibility for issuance of the death notice, the death notice is not required; and the section about the death notice in the death registration extract and death register shall be left blank.

Article 35. Correction when filling in civil registers and vital status documents

1. During civil registration, if there is any mistake in filling in a civil register, the civil status official shall cross out the wrong part and write the correct information above or next to it, and must not write over or erase the wrong part or write on an erased part.

If a mistake renders a page unusable, the civil status official shall cross out the page.

The Remark column of the civil register must contain the corrected contents; date of correction and signature and full name of the civil status official.

The civil status official shall report the correction to the head of the civil registration authority, who shall inspect and put a seal to the corrected contents for confirmation. The head of the civil registration authority shall inspect and put a seal to the corrected contents for confirmation.

Civil status officials shall not erase, correct or revise contents written in civil registers without permission.

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3. If a mistake is found after civil registration is completed as per the law, civil status shall be corrected as regulated.

Article 36. Opening and closing civil registers

Civil registers shall be opened and closed as follows:

1. Registers recording one type of vital event shall be numbered in the order in which they are used in a year starting from number 01.

Example: - Guardianship register, No. 01-TP/HT-2020-GH

          - Parent-child relationship recognition register, No. 01-TP/HT-2020-CMC.

Register opening date shall be the first date on which a vital event is recorded in the register.

Register closing date in case the register is used up before the year ends shall be the last date on which a vital event is recorded in the register; if the year ends and the register is not yet used up, the register closing date shall be December 31 of that year.

2. Civil status officials shall enumerate total number of vital events recorded in civil registers and number of corrections made according to regulations in Clause 1 Article 35 of this Circular and number of pages left blank (if any).

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Article 37. Archiving of civil registers and civil registration applications

1. Civil registers and civil registration applications shall be permanently preserved and archived for people’s use and state management purpose.

2. Consular Departments, representative missions, commune-level People’s Committees, district-level People’s Committees and Departments of Justice shall archive, preserve and use civil registers as per the law; and take measures against storms, floods, humidity and termites to ensure safety.

Heads of civil registration authorities shall take responsibility for loss or misuse of or damage to civil registers.

Chapter IV

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