Procedures for getting married with foreigner

1/ CONDITIONS AND REQUIREMENTS.

– The man is at least 20 years old, the woman is at least 18 years old;

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

– The man and woman do not lose the capacity for civil act;

– Vietnamese citizens residing abroad must have a residence permit issued by a foreign competent authority;

– The marriage does not fall into one of the cases prohibited from marriage prescribed at points a, b, c and d, Clause 2, Article 5 of Law on Marriage and Family, including:

Sham marriage;
Child marriage, forced marriage, deceiving a person into marriage, obstructing marriage;
A married person getting married to or cohabiting with another person, or an unmarried person getting married to or cohabiting with a married person;
Getting married or cohabiting with people of the same direct bloodline, relatives within three generations, adoptive parent and adopted child, or former adoptive parent and adopted child, father-in-law and daughter-in-law, mother-in-law and son-in-law, or stepparent and stepchild.

* Note: The State shall not recognize marriage between persons of the same sex.

2/ PROFILE COMPOSITION.

* Documents to be presented:

– Passport, ID card, or another document containing photo and personal information that has been issued by a competent authority and remaining valid for identity verification purpose.

– Foreigners present the original of passport for identity verification purpose; if they have no passport to do so, they can present an international travel document or a residence card.

– Documents proving his/her place of residence to determine the marriage registration authority (in the transitional stage).

* Documents to be submitted:

– A declaration for marriage registration (having complete information of both male and female partners. Both partners may fill out one single application form for marriage registration).

– A written certification of a competent Vietnamese or foreign health organization stating that he/she does not suffer any mental or other diseases which deprive him/her of the ability to perceive and control his/her acts.

– A document certifying marital status of foreigner which is issued by a foreign competent authority, remains valid, and certifies that the holder is single; If the foreign country does not issue a document certifying marital status, an equivalent document issued by the foreign competent authority certifying the holder’s eligibility for marriage as prescribed in the law of such country is required.

The value of document certifying marital status of a foreigner shall be determined according to the term stated on such document. If the document certifying marital status of foreigner has an indefinite term, such document and the written certification of a competent health organization shall only remain valid for 06 months from the date of issue.

– Foreigners, Vietnamese citizens residing abroad shall submit a copy of their passport/ valid passport substitute documents.

– Certificate of marital status of Vietnamese citizens residing in the country (in the transition stage).

* Other documents to be presented or submitted on a case-by-case basis:

– If the Vietnamese partner divorced or annulled their marriage at a foreign competent authority, he/she shall also submit a copy of civil status extract about such divorce or marriage annulment;

– If the Vietnamese partner is a civil servant, or a public employee, or serving the army, he/she shall also submit a document issued by the authority certifying that his/her marriage to the foreigner is conformable to regulations of such sector.

– If the partner registering for marriage is working, or studying abroad for a definite term, he/she shall submit a certificate of marital status issued by overseas diplomatic mission or consular offices of Vietnam.

* NOTE: For documents presented or submitted:

In case the applicant submits documents that are copies of master registers or certified true copies from originals, the dossier-receiving person shall not be allowed to ask for presentation of originals; if the applicant only submits the photocopy and presents the original, the receiver is responsible for checking and comparing the photocopy with the original and then signing for certification.
For documents presented during civil status registration, the receiving person is responsible for checking and comparing if documents are appropriate to the declaration form, taking pictures, or recording information to save and return it to the applicant. The receiving person is not allowed to ask for copies or photos of such documents.
Documents issued, notarized, or certified by a foreign competent authority that is used for civil status registration in Vietnam shall be consular legalized, except for cases of exemption under international treaties to which Vietnam is a signatory. Documents in a foreign language must be translated into Vietnamese and notarized or authenticated by the translator’s signature as prescribed by law.
The receiving person is responsible for properly and sufficiently receiving civil status registration dossiers in accordance with civil status law, and is not allowed to ask for any additional documents that are not required by civil status law.

Quantity: 01 set.

3/ SEQUENCE.

Step 1: The applicant shall submit the marriage registration dossier directly to the dossier-receiving and result-delivering section at the commune-level People’s Committee (male or female partners can directly submit the dossier without written authorization of the other party).

Step 2: The receiving person is responsible for immediately checking the entire dossier, comparing the information in the declaration and the validity of the documents included, whereby:

If the dossier is complete and valid, the receiving person shall write a receipt clearly stating the date and time of delivering the result; if the dossier is incomplete, the applicant shall be guided to supplement and complete the sufficient dossier;
In case it is not possible to supplement or complete the dossier immediately, the receiving person shall make a guiding document clearly stating the types of documents and contents to be supplemented, completed, signed, and then sign, and clearly write the full name of the receiving person.

Step 3: Within 10 – 15 working days from the date of receipt of complete and valid dossiers, the Department of Justice shall examine and verify the marriage registration dossiers; If necessary, the Department of Justice will work directly with the parties to clarify their identities, deliberation, and marriage purpose. If the application is found to be valid and the parties are eligible for marriage as prescribed, the Department of Justice shall report to the Chairman of the commune-level People’s Committee for consideration and decision.

Step 4: If the Chairman of the People’s Committee agrees, he/she shall sign 02 originals of the Marriage Certificate. Within 03 working days, the Department of Justice shall organize the handover of the marriage certificate to the couple, each party keeps 01 copy.

NOTE:

Upon marriage registration, both male and female partners must be present at the head office of the People’s Committee. The civil status officer shall guide the male and female parties to check the contents of the marriage certificate and the civil status book. If they agree, the civil status officer with both male and female partners sign in the book; Both male and female partners shall sign the marriage certificate also.
If either or both partners cannot present to receive the marriage certificate, the Department of Judicial shall, upon their request in writing, give an extension of granting period provided that the extension shall not exceed 60 days, from the date on which the Chairman of People’s Committee at district-level signs marriage certificate.
Upon expiration of such 60-day period, if both partners fail to present and receive the marriage certificate, the Chairman of the People’s Committee will cancel the signed marriage certificate. If the partners still wish to get married thereafter, they shall follow the procedures for marriage registration from the beginning.

4/ PROCESSING TIME.

15 working days.

5/ IMPLEMENTING AUTHORITY.

Department of Judicial.

6/ FEES AND CHARGES.

Fee for marriage registration is no more than VND 1,500,000.
People from families with meritorious services to the revolution; people from poor households; the disabled shall have an exemption from this fee.