Order of procedure

- The applicant submits the application dossier for marriage certificate to the People's Committee of the relevant competent district.

- The receiver (refer to the civil status officer) immediately checks the entire application dossier by verifying the information in the Declaration forms and reviewing the validity of the papers or documents in the application dossier.

- If the application dossier is completed and eligible, the receiver shall write a receipt form which should clearly state the date and time for returning the result; if the application dossier is not completed, the receiver shall have to guide the applicant to supplement the documents to complete the dossier as regulated; in case it is impossible to supplement and complete the dossier right away, the applicant should be provided with the guidelines in a written form that clearly states the type of papers, documents or the contents need to be supplemented with full name and signature of the receiver.

- If the dossier for registration of marriage has not been supplemented or completed after being guided as regulated, the receiver shall refuse such dossier. The refusal of the dossier for registration of marriage shall be written in text, clearly stating the reasons for the refusal with full name of the receiver.

- Within 3 (three) working days from the date of accepting the completed application dossier, the civil status officer inspects and verifies the declared information in the dossier; if the concerned parties meet all the marriage conditions and requirements prescribed by law, the officer shall report to and ask for the approval of the Chairman of the people’s committee of the commune. In case the Chairman of the commune-level People’s Committee agrees to process the application, the Chairman shall sign to issue two originals of Marriage Certificates; then civil status officer records such marriage information in the Marriage Registration Book with the signatories of the couple and the officer; the couple jointly signs the Marriage Certificates; Chairman of the People’s Committee shall award the Marriage Certificate to the couple.

* Notes:

+ In case the applicant submits a paper which is a copy issued from the original book or certified copy of the original, the civil status officer shall not require the applicant to show the originals; if the applicant submits only the copies with the present of the originals, the civil status officer shall compare the copies to the originals and then sign the copies to confirm the comparison of the contents of both types of documents without asking the applicant for the certified copies of such documents.

+ If it is required to present the papers by law when applying for civil status, the civil status officer shall have to check the papers, compare them with the information in the declaration forms and return them to the applicant without asking the applicant for submitting the copy of such documents. The civil status officer may take one copy of the presented documents or write down the information of the submitted paper for filing.

+ The civil status officer should fully accept the eligible and completed application dossier according to the provisions of the law without requiring the applicant to submit any other types of documents that are not included in the regulations.

How to apply:

The applicant is required to submit the application dossier for marriage registration in person to the People’s Committee of the relevant competent district (either the man or the woman may submit the application dossier in person without the authorization of the other).

Dossier Components:

* Documents to be presented

- Passport or identity card or other type of valid papers affixed with photos and personal information issued by the competent agencies to prove the identification of the Vietnamese citizen.

- Documents proving the residence to determine the authority of processing the marriage registration (during the period of time when the National Database on Population and the National E-Civil Status Database have not been completely built and implemented nationwide)

* Documents to be submitted:

- Marriage Application Form with full information of the couple. The couple may jointly fill out only one application form;

- Documents issued by the competent authority of neighboring country which is no later than 6 months prior to the date of accepting the application dossier, confirming that the citizen of neighboring country is currently unmarried.

- Copies of documents evidencing the personal identification, papers evidencing the places of permanent residence in the border areas of the citizen of the neighboring country. 

Number of dossiers: 01 set (of dossier)

Processing time: three (3) working days. In case of verification, the time limit for processing the application shall not exceed eight (8) working days.

Applicant of the administrative procedures: Individual

Agencies implementing administrative procedures: Commune-level People's Committees in border regions where Vietnamese citizens permanently reside.

Coordinating agency: None

Results of the applied administrative procedure: Marriage Certificate

Fees: Exemption of fees

Samples of Declaration forms: Marriage Certificate Form.

Requirements, conditions for the implementation of administrative procedure:

- A man whose age is 20 years or older and a woman  whose age is 18 years or more.

- The marriage is voluntarily decided by the man and the woman;

- The parties (the man and the woman) do not lose the civil act capacity;

- Việc kết hôn không thuộc một trong các trường hợp cấm kết hôn, gồm:

- The marriage is not classified as one of the following prohibition cases of marriage:

+ Fake marriage;

+ Child marriage, forced marriage,deception of mariage; obstruction of marriage;

+ a married person marries another; an unmarried person marries a married person;

+ Marriage between the people of direct bloodline; betwent those who are relatives of three generations; between an adoptive parent and an adopted child; between a former adoptive parent and his/her adopted child; between a father-in-law and his daughter-in-law; between a mother-in-law and her son-in-law; between a stepfather and a step child; between a stepmother and her stepchild.

* Same-sex Marriage is not recognized by the State.

Legal bases:

- The Marriage and Family Law in 2014;

- Civil Status Law in 2014;

- Decree No.123/2015/NĐ-CP dated 15 November 2015 by the Government regulating a number of articles and measures for the implementation of the Civil Status Law;

- Circular No.15/2015/TT-BTP dated 16 November 2015 by the Ministry of Justice guiding the implementation of a number of articles in the Civil Status Law and the Decree No.123/2015/NĐ-CP dated 15 November 2015 by the Government regulating  a number of articles and measures for the implementation of the Civil Status Law;