Order of Procedure

- The applicant submits the application dossier for recording Marriage Certification issued by a foreign competent agency (hereafter referred to the annotation of marriage) in the Civil Status Registration Book  to the People's Committee of the relevant competent district

- The civil status officer (refer to the receiver) immediately checks all the 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 marriage application dossier has not been supplemented or completed after being guided as regulated, the civil status officer shall refuse such dossier. The refusal of the birth application dossier shall be written in text, clearly stating the reasons for the refusal with full name of the receiver

- If the application dossier for note of marriage fully meets the conditions and is not the case of being refused to be recorded in Marriage Registration Book according to the regulations, the Justice Division shall report to and ask for the approval of the Chairman of the people’s committee of the district. In case the Chairman of the district-level People’s Committee agrees to process the application, the Chairman shall sign to issue the Certificate of Marriage Annotation to the applicant; the civil status officer shall record such information in the Marriage Registration Book.

* The application for Marriage Annotation shall be rejected in the following cases:

- Marriage is prohibited under the provisions of the Marriage and Family Law.

- Vietnamese citizens marry foreigners at the foreign diplomatic missions and consulates in Viet Nam.

* 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 officier may take one copy of the presented documents or write down the information of the submitted paper for filing.

+ Papers issued, notarized or certified by foreign competent agencies for the use in civil status registration in Viet Nam must have apostille certification, except for cases from countries which have signed the international Apostille Convention with Viet Nam as a member; the documents in a foreign language must be provided with a notarized or certified Vietnamese translation as prescribed by law.

+ 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 may apply for Marriage Annotation in person or authorize other person to apply for it;

- The applicant may submit the application dossier for Marriage Annotation in person to the People’s Committee of the relevant  competent district or send it by post.

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 applicant for Annotation of Marriage (personal identification documents);

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

In case the application dossier is sent by post, it must be enclosed with the certified copies of the above must-present-papers.

* Documents to be submitted

- The Marriage Annotation Application Form;

- Certified copy of the marriage certificate issued by a foreign competent authority.

- Certified copy of personal identification document of the couple if the application dossier is submitted by post.

- If the Vietnamese citizen has divorced or canceled the marriage at a foreign competent agency, he/she shall file an excerpt (certificate) of the divorce or annulment of the marriage (Certificate of Divorce).

- Authorization letter in accordance with the provisions of law in the case of authorization of the application for Marriage Annotation. In case the authorized person is the grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, child, spouse or sibling of the authorizing person, the authorization letter must not be notarized or authenticated, but it is required to provide with the documents certifying the relationship with the authorizing person.

Number of dossiers: 01 set (of dossier)

Processing time: 12 (Twelve) working days.

Applicant of the administrative procedures: Individual.

Competent governmental agencies:

District-level People's Committees of localities where Vietnamese citizens reside.

Agencies implementing the administrative procedures:

The district-level Justice Division shall receive the application dossier and process to ask the Chairman of the district-level People's Committees for the consideration and decision.

Coordinating agencies: None

Results of the applied administrative procedure: Certificate of Marriage Annotation.

Fees: VND75,000

Exemption of fees of the application for civil status registration for the members of families with meritorious services to the revolution; members of the poor households; people with disabilities.

Samples of Declaration forms: Application for MarriageAnnotation Form

Requirements, conditions for the implementation of administrative procedure:

- The marriage between a Vietnamese citizen and a Vietnamese citizen or with a foreigner, processed and registered at a foreign competent agency overseas shall be recorded in the civil status book if, at the time of marriage, the concerned parties fully satisfy the conditions for marriage and such marriage does not violate the prohibitions as stipulated in the Law on Marriage and Family of Viet Nam.

- If, at the time of applying for the marriage certificate at a foreign competent agency, the marriage fails to meet the marriage conditions but does not violate the prohibitions as provided for in the Marriage and Family Law, and at the time of applying for recording the Marriage in the Civil Status Book, the consequences have been resolved or the marriage annotation is intended to protect the rights of Vietnamese citizens and children, the marriage shall also be recorded in the Civil status book.

Legal bases:

- Law on Marriage and Family;

- 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;

- Decision No.123/2016/QĐ-UBND dated 20 December 2016 by Lao cai provincial People’s Committee  regulating the rates (fees) of civil status registration  and its management and use in Lao Cai province.