Circular No. 04/2020/TT-BTP detailing Law on Civil Status and Decree 123/2015/ND-CP

CIRCULAR

ON DETAILING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF THE LAW ON CIVIL STATUS AND THE GOVERNMENT’S DECREE NO. 123/2015/ND-CP DATED NOVEMBER 15, 2015, DETAILING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF, AND MEASURES TO IMPLEMENT, THE LAW ON CIVIL STATUS

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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,detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Law on Civil Status;

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

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

The Ministry of Justice hereby promulgates the Circular on detailing a number of articles of the Law on Civil Status and the Government’s Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP dated November 15, 2015, detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Law on Civil Status.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Circular details a number of articles of the Law on Civil Status and the Government’s Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP dated November 15, 2015, detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Law on Civil Status (hereinafter referred to as the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP) on the civil status registration authorization, receipt of dossiers and return of civil status registration results; order and procedures for birth registration, marriage registration, death declaration, parent and child recognition and other civil status matters;  mobile registration for births, marriages and deaths; promulgating and guiding the use and management of  civil status books and civil status papers.

Article 2. Civil status registration authorization

1. Requesters for grant of civil status extract copies or marital status certificates, and requesters for registration of civil status matters in accordance with Article 3 of the Law on Civil Status (hereinafter referred to as requesters for civil status registration) may authorize other persons to register; except for the cases of marriage registration, re-registration for marriage, parent and child recognition registration, in such cases, one party may directly submit a dossier at the competent civil status registration agency without the power of attorney of another party.

The authorization must be made in writing and certified in accordance with law provisions. In case where the mandator authorizes his/her grandfather, grandmother, parent, son, daughter, wife, husband, or sibling, the certified power of attorney is not required.

2. In case the person performing procedures for birth registration is the child s grandfather, grandmother or another relative as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 15 of the Law on Civil Status, the power of attorney from the child’s parent is not required, but the birth declaration contents must be agreed by the child’s parent.

Article 3. Receipt of dossiers and return of civil status registration results

1. The dossier recipient shall be responsible for checking the dossier, if the dossier is incomplete, the recipient shall immediately guide the requester to complete it as prescribed.

In case of failing to complete the dossier immediately, the recipient shall make a written guidance, clearly stating types of documents and contents to be completed, sign with his/her full name.

2. The recipient shall be responsible for receiving the right and adequate dossier of civil status registration in accordance with law provisions on civil status. It is not allowed to request the civil status registrant to provide additional papers that are not required by the law on civil status.

3. Requester for civil status registration may submit certified copies of originals or duplicates granted from master books (hereinafter referred to as copies) or photocopies enclosed with the originals for comparison. If the requester submits photocopies enclosed with the originals, the recipient shall be responsible for checking and comparing the photocopies with the originals and confirm. In this case, the recipient is not allowed to request for copies of such papers.

For papers produced when carrying out civil status registration, the recipient shall be responsible for checking and comparing with information in the declaration, photograph them or record such information in the dossier and return them to the requester. It is not allowed to request for copies or photocopies of such papers.

4. When returning civil status registration results, the person in charge of returning results shall be responsible for guiding the requester for civil status registration to check the civil status papers and civil status books.

If the contents recorded in civil status papers and civil status books are in compliance with the dossier of civil status registration, the requester for civil status registration shall sign with his/her full name in the civil status book according to the instruction of the person in charge of returning results.

5. Both partners must be present to receive the marriage registration or re-registration result; both parent and child must be present to receive the parent and child recognition registration result.

Article 4. Settlement of request for civil status registration in case of unable to receive the verification result

If the civil status registration case requires verification in accordance with Clause 4, Article 22; Clause 2, Article 26 and Clause 2, Article 27 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and Clause 4, Article 9; Clause 1, Article 12 of this Circular, past the time limit of 20 days from the day on which the written request for verification is sent, if receiving no reply, the civil status registration agency shall continue settling the dossier as prescribed. For the case of verifying the marital status, the requester for grant of a marital status certificate may have a written commitment about his/her marital status according to Article 5 of this Circular.

Article 5. Responsibility and consequence of the untruthful commitment

1. In case of allowing the requester for civil status registration to make a written commitment on civil status registration contents, the civil status registration agency must clearly explain to the commitment maker about the responsibility and legal consequences for untruthful commitment.

2. The civil status registration agency shall refuse to settle or request competent agencies to cancel civil status registration result if there is any ground to determine that the contents of the commitment are not true.

Chapter II

GUIDANCE ON REGISTRATION FOR SOME CIVIL STATUS MATTERS

Section 1. BIRTH REGISTRATION

Article 6. Contents of birth registration

Contents of birth registration shall be determined in accordance with Clause 1, Article 14 of the Law on Civil Status, Clause 1, Article 4 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and the following guidance:

1. The determination of a child’s family name, ethnicity and naming for a child must comply with the law and the requirement to preserve Vietnam’s national identity, fine cultural customs and traditions; the name must not be too long and difficult to use.

2. In case where the parent fails to reach an agreement on the child’s family name, ethnicity and native place when carrying out birth registration, the child’s family name, ethnicity and native place shall be determined according to customary practices, but must be the father s or mother s family name, ethnicity and native place.

Article 7. Birth registration involving foreign elements

1. A dossier of birth registration for a child born in another country without being registered for birth in that country and returns to reside in Vietnam, whose father or mother is Vietnamese citizen or both parents are Vietnamese citizens, shall comply with Article 29 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and the following guidance:

a) Papers proving that the child has legally entered Vietnam and is residing in Vietnam in accordance with Clause 2, Article 29 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, including: papers proving that the child has legally entered Vietnam (such as passport, international travel document with the entry certification seal of the immigration management agency) and the written document certifying that the child is residing in Vietnam of a competent public security agency.

b) The determination of Vietnamese citizenship for a child when registering for birth shall comply with Vietnamese law on citizenship.

2. If the parent selects foreign citizenship for their child when registering for birth, apart from the written agreement on selection of citizenship, there must be a certification of the competent agency of that foreign country that the child s citizenship is consistent with the laws of that country. If the foreign competent agency refuses to issue the certification, the civil status registration agency shall carry out the birth registration for that child, without recording the citizenship in the birth certificate and birth registration book.

Article 8. Birth registration for persons with personal dossiers and papers

1. Commune-level People’s Committees of the current places of residence shall carry out the birth registration for Vietnamese citizens who reside in Vietnam, born before January 01, 2016 and have not registered for birth but have had personal dossiers and papers (originals or valid copies) such as  personal papers in accordance with Clause 1, Article 2 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP; household registration books; temporary residence books; other papers granted by competent agencies and organizations of Vietnam.

2. The district-level People’s Committees of the place where a person resided before leaving the country shall carry out the birth registration for overseas Vietnamese who has not registered for birth and has personal dossiers and papers as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, and such dossiers and papers must record Vietnam as his/her place of birth.

3. A dossier of birth registration for the cases specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article includes: The birth registration declaration; a written commitment that the birth registration has not been made; papers as prescribed at Points b and c, Clause 1, Article 26 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP.

The order for settlement and contents of birth registration shall comply with Clauses 2, 3 and 5, Article 26 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, Clauses 3 and 4, Article 9 and Article 10 of this Circular.

Article 9. Papers and documents used as a ground for birth re-registration

Papers and documents used as a ground for birth re-registration as prescribed at Point b, Clause 1, Article 26 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP include:

1. A copy of the birth certificate legally granted by the Vietnamese competent agency.

2. The original or copy of the birth certificate substitute granted before 1954 in the North or before 1975 in the South.

3. If the requester for birth re-registration does not have papers specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the following papers that are legally granted by the Vietnamese competent agency shall be used as a ground for determining the contents of birth re-registration:

a) Identity card, citizen identification card or passport;

b) Household registration book, temporary residence book and papers proving the place of residence;

c) Diplomas, certifications, certificates, school report or study record granted or certified by the competent agency;

d) Other papers with information on an individual s family name, given name and date of birth.

The requester for birth re-registration shall be liable for submitting full copies of the above-mentioned papers (if any) and make a commitment on the full submission of such papers; and take responsibility for the consequence of the untruthful commitment as prescribed in Article 5 of this Circular.

4. If there is no information proving the parent and child relationship in the papers of the requester for birth re-registration, the civil status registration agency shall issue a written document requesting the competent public security agency to verify.

If the public security agency replies that there was no information, the civil status registration agency shall allow the requester for birth re-registration to make a written commitment on the parent information in accordance with Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular and determine the contents of birth registration according to the written commitment.

Article 10. Determination of contents of birth re-registration

1. If the requester for birth re-registration has papers as prescribed in Clause 4, Article 26 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and Clauses 1 and 2, Article 9 of this Circular, the contents of birth re-registration shall be determined according to such papers.

2. At the time of birth re-registration, if the information about the parent and the requester for birth re-registration changed in comparison with contents of the papers specified in Clause 1 of this Article, such person shall be responsible for producing valid papers proving such changes. If the changes of information are in accordance with law regulations, the contents of birth re-registration shall be determined according to that changes; the previous information (before being changed) shall be recorded on the reverse side of the birth certificate and the item “Note” in the birth registration book.

If the parent of the requester for birth re-registration is dead, the word “Dead” shall be recorded in the item “Place of residence” of the birth registration book and the birth certificate.

If there are changes relating to administrative place in comparison with the administrative place recorded in papers that had been granted, the current administrative place shall be recorded; the previous administrative place must be recorded in the reverse side of the birth certificate and the item Note in the birth registration book.

Section 2. MARRIAGE REGISTRATION, GRANT OF MARITAL STATUS CERTIFICATES

Article 11. REGISTRATION OF INTER-COUNTRY MARRIAGES

1. The determination in the procedure for marriage registration according to Clause 2, Article 38 of the Law on Civil Status and Clause 1, Article 31 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP shall comply with the following guidance:

Within 10 working days after receiving a valid dossier, the district-level Justice Division shall be responsible for studying and verifying dossiers of marriage registration. In case there are complaints and denunciations about the marriage ineligible under the Law on Marriage and Family or if there is a problem that requires clarification about the identity of the male and female partners or papers in the marriage registration dossier, the district-level Justice Division shall coordinate with the concerned agency to verify and clarify.

During the verification and clarification of dossiers, if necessary, the district-level Justice Division shall directly work with both partners to verify their identities, voluntary and marriage purposes.

2. If Vietnamese citizens have been granted a permit for their residence by a foreign competent agency and wish to marry to each other or marry to another Vietnamese citizen who resides in Vietnam, the district-level People’s Committee shall be competent to carry out marriage registration in accordance with Article 37 of the Law on Civil Status.

3. Papers proving marital status of a foreigner are papers granted by the competent agency of which that person bears the citizenship.

Article 12. Grant of marital status certificates

The grant of marital status certificates shall comply with Articles 21, 22 and 23 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and the following guidance:

1. In case where the requester for re-grant of the marital status certificate for marriage registration fails to submit the marital status certificate that has been granted, such requester must give clear reason for not submitting the marital status certificate. Within 03 working days after receiving the dossier, the civil status registration agency shall exchange a written document with the authority of the place where such requester had early intended to register for marriage for verification. In case of unable to verify or unable to receive the verification result, the civil status registration agency shall permit the requester to make a written commitment on the marital status in accordance with Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular.

2. A marital status certificate shall be valid until the time of changing the marital status or valid for 06 months from the issuing date, depending on which time is coming first.

For example: A marital status certificate granted on February 03, 2020, but on February 10, 2020, the person who has been granted such marital status certificate registers for marriage, then such marital status certificate shall be valid until February 10, 2020.

3. In case of requesting for grant of marital status certificates for marriage registration, the civil status registration agency shall only grant one (01) copy for the requester. Full name, year of birth, citizenship and personal papers of the person intends to register for marriage and place to be carried out marriage registration should be clearly stated in the marital status certificate.

For example: This certificate is granted for the purpose of carrying out marriage registration procedure with Mr. Nguyen Viet K. born in 1962. Mr. K is Vietnamese citizen with the passport number: B123456 granted by the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the Federal Republic of Germany on February 01, 2020; at the People’s Committee of Hoai Duc District, Hanoi City.

This certificate is granted for the purpose of carrying out marriage registration with Mr. KIM JONG DOEK - Korean citizenship, born in 1970 with the passport number HQ12345 granted by the Korean competent agency on February 02, 2020; at the Korean competent agency in Korea.

4. In case of requesting for grant of marital status certificates for other purposes other than marriage registration, the requester is not required to satisfy conditions for marriage; and the use purpose other than marriage registration should be recorded in the marital status certificate. The number of marital status certificates shall be granted upon request.

For example: This certificate is granted for purchasing house, not for marriage registration.

5. In case of requesting for a marital status certificate for marriage registration for a person with the same gender or with a foreigner at a foreign representative mission in Vietnam, the civil status registration agency shall refuse to settle.

Section 3. DEATH REGISTRATION, PARENT AND CHILD RECOGNITION REGISTRATION

Article 13. Death registration

The death registration shall comply with Section 7, Chapter II of the Law on Civil Status and the following guidance:

1. In case of carrying out death registration for a person who died a long time ago without a death notice or the death notice substitute as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 4 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, the requester for death registration must provide papers, documents and evidences granted by the competent agencies and organizations or valid certification of the death.

2. If the requester for death registration does not have papers, documents and evidences as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article or papers, documents and evidences are invalid or not guaranteed, the civil status registration agency shall refuse to carry out death registration.

Article 14. Evidences proving the parent and child relationship

Evidence proving the parent and child relationship as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 25 and Clause 1, Article 44 of the Law on Civil Status includes one of the following documents and papers:

1. A written document on verifying the parent and child relationship issued by the health agency, examination agency or other competent agencies and organizations in the country or another country.

2. If evidence proving the parent and child relationship as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article is not available, parties in the parent and child recognition shall make a written commitment on the parent and child relationship in accordance with Article 5 of this Circular, with the witness about the parent and child relationship of at least two people.

Article 15. Coordination in settling birth registration and parent and child recognition

1. During the birth registration for a child, if there is a request for parent and child recognition registration, the People’s Committee of commune where the father or mother resides shall coordinate in settling the procedures for birth registration and parent and child recognition registration.

In case of birth registration in combination with parent and child recognition registration, if one party is a foreigner or oversea Vietnamese, the People’s Committee of district where the Vietnamese citizen being father or mother resides shall have competence to settle.

2. A dossier for birth registration in combination with parent and child recognition registration includes:

a) A birth registration declaration and a parent and child recognition registration declaration made according to the prescribed forms;

b) A birth certification paper or a substitute paper as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 16 of the Law on Civil Status;

c) Evidences proving the parent and child relationship as prescribed in Article 14 of this Circular.

3. The order and procedure for settling the birth registration in combination with parent and child recognition registration shall comply with Clauses 1 and 2, Article 16 and Article 25 of the Law on Civil Status, if the case falls within the commune-level People’s Committee s competence; or Clauses 1 and 2, Article 36 and Article 44 of the Law on Civil Status, if the case falls within the district-level People’s Committee s competence.

Contents of birth registration shall be determined according to Clause 1, Article 4 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and Article 6 of this Circular. The birth certificate and the parent and the child recognition registration extract shall be grant for the requester at the same time.

Article 16. Parent and child recognition registration and civil status supplementation in special cases

1. In case where the male and female partners cohabited as husband and wife without marriage registration, then gave birth and the child is living with the father, when the father carries out parent and child recognition registration but fails to contact the mother, the mother’s opinion shall not be required in the parent and child recognition registration declaration.

If the birth certification paper and the mother’s personal papers are available, the declaration item relating to the mother shall comply with the birth certification paper and the mother s personal papers. If the birth certification paper and the mother’s personal papers are not available, such declaration shall comply with the information provided by the father, and he shall be liable for such information.

2. In case where the child was born before the time of marriage registration, and has been registered for birth without any information about the father, then the child’s parent has made a written commitment that he/she is their common child, the parent and child recognition registration procedure shall not be required, but they have to carry out procedures for civil status supplementation to add father information in the birth registration book and the child s birth certificate.

3. In case where the child was born before the time of marriage registration without being registered for birth, when carrying out procedure for birth registration, if the parent makes a written commitment that such child is their common child, the father information shall be immediately recorded in the child’s birth certificate without carrying out procedure for parent and child recognition registration.

Responsibility and legal consequences of the provision of false information about the mother and untruthful commitment on common child recognition as prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall comply with Article 5 of this Circular.

4. In case the child is born or conceived by the wife during the marriage period, but the wife or husband refuses to recognize the child as their common child or another person wishes to recognize the child, the people’s court shall determine in accordance with law provisions.

In case where the people’s court refuses to settle, the civil status registration agency shall receive and settle the request for birth registration for the child whose father has not been determined or the request for parent and child recognition registration; in the dossier of settlement, there should be a written document of refusing to settle of the people’s court and evidences proving parent and child relationship as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 14 of this Circular.

Section 4. CIVIL STATUS CHANGE, CORRECTION AND SUPPLEMENTATION

Article 17. Civil status correction

1. The civil status correction shall only be settled after determining that there are errors in the civil status registration; contents in the civil status papers that are legally granted shall not be corrected for the purpose of regularizing information recorded in other dossiers or personal papers.

2. Errors in the civil status registration shall be considered as faults of the registrant or the civil status registration agency.

3. The correction of contents of death registration shall carried out by the agency where the death registration has been carried out, upon request of the person in charge of death registration as prescribed in Article 33 of the Law on Civil Status.

Article 18. Civil status supplementation

1. Civil status papers specified in Clause 2, Article 75 of the Law on Civil Status shall be used without supplementing civil status information insufficient compared to the current civil status forms.

2. Civil status papers that are legally granted since January 01, 2016 with insufficient civil status information shall be supplemented, in case where proving papers and documents legally granted by competent agencies and organizations are available.

The request for Vietnamese citizenship supplementation shall only apply to the case where civil status papers are granted since January 01, 2016, after determining that the requester has Vietnamese citizenship in accordance with the Law on Vietnamese Nationality.

3. If a person has already been registered for birth before January 01, 2016 but there is no date and month of birth in the birth certificate and birth registration book, the date and month of birth shall be supplemented in accordance with the birth certification paper or written certification of the health establishment where that person was born.

If the birth certification paper or the written certification of the health establishment is not available, the date and month of birth shall be determined as follows:

a) For a person whose personal dossier and papers are consistent in term of date and month of birth, then such date and month shall be used.

If the date and month of birth in the personal dossier and papers is inconsistent, the date and month of birth record in the very first granted or certified dossier or papers.

b) For a person who does not have any personal dossier, papers or whose personal dossier, papers do not record his/her date and month of birth, the requester may make a commitment on his/her date and month of birth in accordance with Article 5 of this Circular.

c) In case of failing to determine date and month of birth according to Points a and b of this Clause, the date and month of birth shall be January 01 of the year when such person was born. In case of determining the month of birth, the date of birth shall be the first day of the month of birth.

4. If the agency carry out the civil status supplementation is not the previous civil status registration agency, after settling the civil status supplementation, such agency must notify in writing and enclose with the civil status extract copy to the previous civil status registration agency for recording into the civil status book; if the previous civil status registration agency concurrently is the representative mission, a notice shall be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Article 19. Change and supplementation of civil status for adopted children

1. After being settled for being an adopted child at the request of the adoptive parent, the People’s Committee of locality where the child has been registered for birth or where the child resides shall carry out the civil status change in accordance with Articles 26, 27, 28 and 46 of the Law on Civil Status.

2. If the adopted person is abandoned child or a child whose parent has not been determined, the People’s Committee of locality where the child’s birth registration has been carried out or where the child resides shall, at the request of the adoptive parent, supplement the adoptive parent information into the parent item in the birth certificate and birth registration book; and the Note item of the birth registration book must clearly state the phrase “adoptive parent”.

3. If the step child is adopted by the step mother or father, if there is no information on the child’s parent in such child’s birth certificate and birth registration book, the People’s Committee of locality where the child’s birth registration has been carried out or where the child resides shall supplement the adoptive parent information into the parent item in the birth certificate and birth registration book; and the Note item of the birth registration book must clearly state the phrase “adoptive father” or “adoptive mother”.

If there is full declaration about the parent in the birth certificate and birth registration book, the People’s Committee of locality where the child’s birth registration has been carried out or where the child resides shall, at the request of the adoptive father or mother, change the declaration about the step father or mother in the parent item in the birth certificate and birth registration book; and the Note item of the birth registration book must clearly state the phrase “adoptive father” or “adoptive mother”.

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

1. In case of civil status change, correction and supplementation, ethnicity re-determination, if the civil status matters are registered at the provincial-level Justice Department, the competence to settle shall be determined as follows:

a) If the requester is Vietnamese citizen who is residing in other country, the People’s Committee of the district where such requester resided before leaving Vietnam shall carry out the civil status change, correction and supplementation, ethnicity re-determination;

b) If the requester is a foreigner residing in Vietnam, the People’s Committee of the district where such requester resides shall carry out the civil status correction and supplementation;

c) If the requester is a foreigner who does not reside in Vietnam, the People’s Committee of the district where the head office of the provincial-level Justice Department registering the previous civil status matters is located shall carry out the civil status correction and supplementation.

After carrying out the civil status change, correction and supplementation, ethnicity re-determination, the district-level People’s Committee shall send a notice and a civil status extract to the provincial-level Justice Department for recording into the civil status book as prescribed.

2. For the case of civil status change, correction and supplementation, ethnicity re-determination, if the requester no longer possesses the original civil status papers or the civil status registration agency no longer keeps the civil status book, the civil status registration agency shall receive and settle as prescribed.

After granting the civil status change, correction and supplementation, ethnicity re-determination extracts for the requester, the civil status officer shall record such civil status change, correction and supplementation, ethnicity re-determination on the Note item of the civil status book or the reverse side of the original civil status papers as prescribed.

Section 5. RECORDING IN THE CIVIL STATUS BOOK CIVIL STATUS CHANGES ACCORDING TO JUDGMENTS AND DECISIONS OF COMPETENT STATE AGENCIES; RECORDING IN THE CIVIL STATUS BOOK CIVIL STATUS MATTERS OF VIETNAMESE CITIZENS WHICH HAVE BEEN SETTLED AT FOREIGN COMPETENT AGENCIES; GRANT OF CIVIL STATUS EXTRACT COPIES

Article 21. Recording in the civil status book civil status changes according to judgments and decisions of competent state agencies

1. The civil status registration agency receiving a notice and an extract of a court’s judgment, copy of the decision related to the civil status change of an individual shall be responsible for recording such change into the civil status book in accordance with Clause 1, Article 30 of the Law on Civil Status. In case where the civil status book has been transferred to and kept by the higher-level civil status registration agency, a notice and a photocopy of an extract of a court’s judgment, and a decision copy shall be sent to the agency keeping the civil status book for recording into the civil status book.

2. If the civil status registration agency has not received the notice, an extract of a court’s judgment and a decision copy yet, and the person whose civil status information changed has provided the extract of a court’s judgment and the valid decision copy, the civil status registration agency shall record in the civil status book in accordance with Clause 1 of this Article, at the same time, note such change in the reverse side of the original civil status papers. If the agency noted such change is not the previous civil status registration agency, it shall note the change into the reverse side of the original civil status papers, at the same time, send the photocopy of the extract of a court’s judgment and the decision copy to the previous civil status registration agency for recording into the civil status book.

Article 22. Recording in the civil status book civil status matters of Vietnamese citizens which have been settled at foreign competent agencies

1. If a Vietnamese citizen who is born abroad, already registered for birth in the foreign competent agency, wishes to record into the civil status book his/her birth, the civil status registration agency shall record into the civil status book and grant the extract of the recording such birth into the civil status book and the birth certificate copy to the requester.

2. If a Vietnamese citizen who does not reside in Vietnam wishes to record into the civil status book his/her divorce in order to carry out a new marriage registration at Vietnamese competent agency, such recording shall be carried out at the People’s Committee of the district where he/she has carried out the previous marriage registration or where he/she intends to carry out the new marriage registration.

Article 23. Grant of civil status extract copies

1. The agency in charge of civil status registration and management that is keeping the civil status book or managing the electronic database on civil status shall have competence to grant civil status extract copies. Contents of the civil status extract copy shall be recorded in accordance with information recorded in the civil status book and electronic database on civil status. Information required in the form of civil status extract copy that is not recorded in the civil status book and electronic database on civil status shall be left blank.

2. If the previous civil status book recorded the age, the civil status registration agency shall determine the corresponding year of birth and record into the Note item of the civil status book and grant the civil status extract copy.

For example: The birth registration book recorded in 1975 with the father’s age and mother’s age is 25 and 23, respectively, then the year of birth of the father shall be 1950, and the year of birth of the mother shall be 1952.

3. If the civil status change, correction and supplementation, ethnicity re-determination; recording in the civil status book civil status changes according to judgments and decisions of competent state agencies; recording in the civil status book civil status matters of Vietnamese citizens which have been settled at foreign competent agencies of a person have been carried out, the information recorded in the birth certificate copy, civil status extract copy shall be the information updated according to the contents recorded in the Note item of the civil status book.

In case of requesting for grant of marriage registration extract copy, but the change of civil status according to the effective divorce judgment or decision has been recorded in the marriage registration book and the divorce already settled at the foreign competent agency has been recorded in the civil status book, then, in the Note item of the marriage registration extract copy must clearly state: Divorced according to the Judgment/Decision No. ... date ... month .... year ... of the People’s court ....

Section 6. MOBILE REGISTRATION FOR BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS

Article 24. Cases eligible for mobile registration for births, marriages and deaths

1. If the parent is disable, sick or unable to go the competent agency to register for birth for their newborn; or the parent is arrested, subject to temporary detention or is executing a imprisonment sentence and have no grandmother or grandfather and other relatives, or such persons are unable to go to the competent agency to register for birth for that child, the commune-level People’s Committee shall carry out the mobile birth registration.

In case where the dead has no relatives, or his/her relatives do not reside in the same commune with the dead, or the relatives are the elderly, weakness or disable and unable to go the competent agency for death registration, the commune-level People’s Committee shall carry out the mobile death registration.

If the permanent residence of the male and female partners is in the same commune and one of them or both of them are disable, sick and unable to go the competent agency for marriage registration, the commune-level People’s Committee shall carry out the mobile marriage registration.

2. In addition to the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the commune-level People’s Committee shall base on the actual condition of the locality to organize the mobile registration for births, marriages and deaths.

3. The commune-level People’s Committee shall be responsible for arranging time, funding and human resources to carry out the mobile civil status registration in accordance with Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, with the appropriate form to ensure all events related to death, birth and marriage of the people shall be fully registered.

Article 25. Procedures for mobile registration for births and deaths

1. Justice and civil status officers at commune-level who are assigned the tasks of mobile registration for births and deaths shall be responsible for preparing adequate declaration forms, civil status paper and necessary conditions for mobile registration at home or place of mobile registration, ensuring convenience for the people.

At the place of mobile civil status registration, justice and civil status officers shall guide the requester to fill all information in the declaration; check papers serving as a ground for the birth or death registration according to the Law on Civil Status, the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and this Circular; to write the dossier receipt form. The time limit for return of mobile birth and death registration results is within 05 working days from the date of receipt.

2. Within 02 working days from the date on which the dossier is received according to Clause 1 of this Article, the justice and civil status officer shall submit civil status papers to the Chairperson of the commune-level People’s Committee to sign and record the registration contents into the corresponding civil status book.

3. Within 05 days as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the justice and civil status officer shall return civil status papers and civil status books for the requesters at the place of mobile registration; guide the people to sign with their full name in the civil status book as prescribed; and clearly record the phrase “Mobile registration” in the Note item of the civil status book.

4. If the requester is unable to write and read, the justice and civil status officer shall directly fill in the declaration, then read such declaration for the requester and guide such requester to seal his/her finger print in the declaration. When returning the civil status registration results, the justice and civil status officer must read the contents in the civil status papers for the requester and guide him/her to seal the finger print in the civil status book.

This provisions also apply to the procedure for mobile marriage registration specified in Article 26 of this Circular.

Article 26. Procedures for mobile marriage registration

1. Justice and civil status officers who are assigned the tasks of mobile registration for marriages shall be responsible for preparing adequate declaration forms, civil status papers and necessary conditions for carrying out mobile registration.  At the place of mobile registration, justice and civil status officers shall be responsible for checking and verifying conditions for marriage registration of both partners; guiding the people to fill all information in the marriage registration declaration; and issuing the dossier receipt form. The time limit for return of mobile marriage registration results is within 05 working days from the date of receipt.

2. Within 05 days as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, if it is found that both partners are eligible for marriage in accordance with the Law on Marriage and Family, justice and civil status officers shall submit the marriage certificates to the Chairperson of the commune-level People’s Committee to sign, then grant the marriage certificates for the partners at the place of mobile registration.

Chapter III

FORMS OF CIVIL STATUS PAPERS AND BOOKS; GUIDANCE ON MANAGEMENT AND USE OF CIVIL STATUS PAPERS AND BOOKS

Section 1. FORMS OF CIVIL STATUS PAPERS AND BOOKS

Article 27. Forms of civil status papers and books

1. To promulgate together with this Circular:

a) The list of civil status papers printed and issued by the Ministry of Justice (Appendix 1);

b) The list of civil status books printed and issued by the Ministry of Justice (Appendix 2);

c) The list of civil status papers posted on the Portal of the Ministry of Justice, printed and used by the civil status registration agency (Appendix 3);

d) The list of civil status books posted on the Portal of the Ministry of Justice, printed and used by the civil status registration agency (Appendix 4);

dd) The list of civil status registration declarations posted on the Portal of the Ministry of Justice, printed and used by the civil status registration agency and the people (Appendix 5);

2. The standard in term of size, color and technical details of civil status papers and books shall be specified in Appendices attached to this Circular.

Article 28. Competence to print, issue paper forms and civil status books

1. The Ministry of Justice shall print and issue birth certificate (original and copy), marriage certificate (original), birth registration book, marriage registration book, death registration book promulgated according to the List specified at Points a and b, Clause 1, Article 27 of this Circular.

The Departments of Justice of provinces and central affiliated cities shall contact the Ministry of Justice for paper forms, civil status books and take responsibilities for the use of paper forms, civil status books not issued by the Ministry of Justice of the civil status registration agencies at their locals.

2. In case the civil status registration agencies did use the shared civil status registration and management software, they shall be provided blank birth certificates (original and copy), marriage certificates (original) according to the List specified at Point a, Clause 1, Article 27 of this Circular to use.

3. Civil status extract form (original and copy) promulgated according to the List specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 27 of this Circular; civil status registration declaration form promulgated according to the List specified at Point dd, Clause 1, Article 27 of this Circular shall be posted at the Portal of the Ministry of Justice (at the website: www.moj.gov.vn), civil status registration agencies may access the Portal and print them for use.

Civil status registrants shall access the Portal of the Ministry of Justice for printing on their own and using civil status registration declaration form. In case civil status registrants cannot print them on their own, the civil status registration agencies shall be responsible for printing and distributing them free to civil status registrants.

4. Civil status book form promulgated according to the List specified at Point d, Clause 1, Article 27 of the Circular shall be posted at the Portal of the Ministry of Justice (at the website: www.moj.gov.vn), civil status registration agencies may access the Portal and print them for use.

In case the domestic civil status registration agencies cannot print them on their own, the Departments of Justice of provinces and central affiliated cities shall be responsible for printing and issuing them to civil status registration agencies at their localities or contacting the Ministry of Justice for them.

5. Civil status registration agencies shall take responsibilities for the use of papers, civil status books that are printed or issued at variance with this Circular.

Section 2. GUIDANCE OF RECORDING INFORMATION IN BOOKS, PAPERS OF CIVIL STATUS, OPENING AND CLOSING OF CIVIL STATUS BOOKS, ARCHIVING AND PRESERVING CIVIL STATUS BOOKS

Article 29. Recording information in books, papers of civil status

1. Commune-level justice and civil status officers, officers performing civil status work of the district-level Justice Division, diplomatic, consular staffs (hereinafter referred to as civil status officers) must record information in civil status books and civil status papers on their own. Recorded information must be exact; the handwriting must be legible, full, not abbreviated, not erased; to write in fine ink, of the same color; do not use different ink colors or red ink.

In case of applying information technology to print civil status papers, the printing ink must be the fine one, in black color, printed letter must not be blur, lost strokes or faded.

2. A civil status book must be stamped on adjoining edges of pages, from first to last page of the book at the time of book open. Those books shall be written continuously in page order and must not be vacated.

3. Registration number in a year must be written continuously in order, beginning from 01 until the end of the year. If the year is not over but a book has been used up, to use the new one and its registration number shall begin at the consecutive number of the last ordinal number of the previous book, not to record from 01.

If the year is over but a book has not been yet used up, the civil status registration agency shall continue to use the book for the next year after completing the book close according to regulations.

4. The number written in a civil status paper of the individual must coincide with the ordinal number recorded in the civil status book according to Clause 3 of this Article,

5. Columns and items in civil status books and civil status papers must be fully and accurately completed according to the instructions in civil status books and this Circular; day, month and year are recorded according to the calendar year.

6. Civil status changes of individuals according to judgments and decisions of competent state agencies shall be recorded in civil status books as follows:

a) The citizenship change shall be recorded at the note item in the birth registration book; this change shall be also recorded at the note item in other civil status books recording information of civil status registration of persons changing their citizenship.

b) The determination of father, mother or child shall be recorded at the note item in the book recording birth registration of the child;

c) The re-determination of gender shall be recorded at the note item in the book recording birth registration of the person whose gender has been re-determined;

d) The adoption and termination of adoption shall be recorded in the adoption registration book and at the note item in the birth registration book;

dd) The divorce, cancellation of illegal marriage and recognition of marriage shall be recorded at the note item in the marriage registration book;

e) The recognition of guardianship shall be recorded in the guardianship registration book;

g) The declaration or cancellation of declaration of a person to be missing, or have civil act capacity lost or restricted shall be recorded at the note item in the birth registration book;

h) The declaration or cancellation of declaration of a person to be dead shall be recorded in the death registration book.

7. Civil status matters that are already settled at foreign competent agencies shall be recorded in the civil status books as follows:

a) The birth shall be recorded in the birth registration book;

b) The marriage shall be recorded in the marriage registration book;

c) The guardianship shall be recorded in the guardianship registration book;

d) The parent and child recognition; parent and child identification shall be recorded in the parent and child recognition registration book. In case the child has been registered for his/her birth and the birth registration in Vietnam has been recorded in the civil status book, the district-level People s Committee shall notify the birth-registering agency, record such information in the civil status book and further record notes in the birth registration book;

dd) The adoption shall be recorded in the adoption registration book;

e) The civil status changes shall be recorded in the civil status change, correction and supplementation, ethnicity re-determination registration book and further recorded in the registration book for other civil status matters.

g) The divorce, cancellation of marriage shall be recorded in the divorce-recording book. If the previous marriage registration or the recording of the divorce is performed in a Vietnam’s competent agency, the district-level People’s Committee shall notify the marriage-registering or divorce-recording agency for further recording such information in the marriage registration book;

h) The death shall be recorded in the death registration book.

8. The civil status registration and management agency that is archiving the civil status books shall record information in the civil status books in accordance with Clause 6 of this Article right after receiving the judgment or decision.

If a civil status book is archived at 02 levels, after recording information in its civil status book, the civil status registration and management agency receiving the judgment or decision shall notify the other for recording information in its civil status book, ensuring synchronous update.

9. When recording in civil status books, the contents of civil status papers and the dossiers recording Vietnamese citizens’ civil status matters that have been settled at a foreign competent agency in the civil status books must be exactly recorded. If the items are present in the civil status books but not in the civil status papers or dossiers, they shall be left blank; the contents that exist in civil status papers but not in the civil status book shall be recorded in the note item of the civil status books.

In case civil status information in civil status papers or civil status books has not been determined, it must be left blank, not crossed out or marked.

Article 30. Recording information in the civil status papers, civil status books in case of change of administrative place

1. In case of changed administrative place, the administrative place item in civil status papers and civil status books shall be recorded with the administrative place used at the registration time.

2. When granting copy of civil status extracts, the administrative place item in such papers shall be recorded with the administrative place recorded in the civil status books.

Article 31. Recording information in birth certificates, birth registration books

1. Family name, middle name and first name of a person whose birth is registered must be recorded in upper-case letters with accents.

2. Date, month and year of the child must be recorded in figures and words.

3. The item of place of birth shall be recorded as follows:

a) If the child was born at a hospital, maternity home, health station or medical treatment and examination establishment (hereinafter referred to as health establishment), to record the name and address of office of such health establishment.

b) In case the child was born at a place not being health establishment, including at home, on a vehicle, on a road, at a prison, at a detention camp or at another place, to record the actual administrative place where the child was born (with 03 levels of administrative unit).

c) In case the child is born abroad, the place of birth shall include the name of the city and the country where the child was born; If the child was born in a federal country, to record the name of the city, state and such country.

d) In case of re-registration of birth registration but the place of birth cannot be fully determined, to record the province-level place name, for a child born in Vietnam or the country name, for a child born abroad in the item of place of birth (for example: Vinh Phuc province or the United States).

4. The item of place of birth shall be recorded as follows:

a) In case a Vietnamese citizen reside in the country, to record his/her place of permanent residence registration; in case he/she has not the place of permanent residence registration, to record his/her place of temporary residence registration; In case he/she has neither the place of permanent residence registration nor the place of temporary residence registration, to record the place where he/she is currently living.

b) In case a Vietnamese citizen reside abroad, to record his/her overseas permanent or temporary residence place.

5. In the item of personal paper of the birth registrant, to clearly recorded: type of paper, number, issuing authority, date of issue of such paper.

6. In the item of place of birth registration, to exactly record name of the agency being competent to settle the birth registration according to the Law on Civil Status as follows:

a) In case the birth registration falls under the authority of a commune-level People s Committee, to record the administrative place with 03 levels (commune, district and province levels).

b) In case the birth registration falls under the authority of a district-level People s Committee, to record the administrative place with 02 levels (district and province levels).

c) In case the birth registration falls under the authority of an overseas representative mission of Vietnam, to record the name of the representative mission.

7. In case the father or mother of a person whose birth is registered a foreigner, to record such foreign person s name according to the passport or other paper of equivalent validity.

8. To record the name of a foreign place or country with its name pronounced in Vietnamese (for example: Cong hoa Phap (for the Republic of France), Cong hoa Lien bang Duc (for the Federal Republic of Germany), Hoa Ky (for the United States), etc.; if there is no the name pronounced in Vietnamese, its name pronounced in Latin shall be used for the recording (for example: Osaka; New York....).

9. The item of note of later changed information at the reverse side of the birth certificate is used for recording the content of civil status information changes, corrections or supplementations, ethnicity re-determination; civil status information changed according to judgments or decisions of competent state agencies. The clearly recording of the date, month and year of taking note, changed civil status information, type of paper, number and name of paper-granting agency, paper-granting date of such paper is required.

10. The guidance on recording of the family name, middle name and first name, date, month, year, place of residence, personal paper, registration place, place, country, note of later changed information specified in this Article shall be applied for consistent recording in civil status books and other civil status papers.

Article 32. Recording information in marriage certificates, marriage registration books

1. The date, month, year of marriage is the date when two partners in a marriage are present and sign in the marriage registration book and marriage certificate at a civil status registration agency.

The marriage relation shall be established from the time of marriage registration, except for cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. For cases of marriage re-registration, actual marriage registration according to Clause 2, Article 44 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, recognition of their marriage relation according to Clause 2, Article 11 of the Law on Marriage and Family, re-performance of marriage registration according to Article 13 of the Law on Marriage and Family, the date of established marriage relation shall be recorded in the reverse side of the marriage certificate.

For cases of marriage re-registration, actual marriage registration, if the date of the previous marriage registration or the date of beginning cohabiting as husband and wife, to record the first day of the month, year of marriage registration, establishment of cohabitation; in case the date and month cannot be determined, to record January 01 of the year of the previous marriage registration and the year of establishment of the cohabitation relationship.

Article 33. Recording information in marital status certificates, marital status certificate grant books

1. The item “Marital status” must state truthfully the marital status of the person requesting such certificate, to be specific:

- If a person has not got married, to clearly state that he/she has not currently registered to marry anyone.

- If a person has currently married, to clearly state that he/she currently has a spouse being Mr/Mrs... (The marriage certificate No. ...., issued by... On... (date)).

- If cohabiting as husband and wife before January 03, 1987 without divorce or there is no event that the husband (wife) dies or is declared to be dead, to clearly state that he/she currently has a spouse being Mr/Mrs...

- If performing marriage registration or cohabiting as husband and wife before January 03, 1987, but he/she has been divorced and currently has not got married, to clearly state that he/she has already registered the marriage or has a spouse, but has been divorced according to the Judgment/Decision of divorce No. ... dated.... of the Court....; has not currently registered to marry anyone.

- If there is marriage registration or cohabiting as husband and wife before January 03, 1987, but the spouse is dead and has not currently got married, to clearly state that he/she has performed the marriage registration or has the spouse, but the spouse did die (Death certificate/Death extract/Judgment No. ... issued by ....on... (Date)); has not currently registered to marry anyone.

- If the person who has the spouse requests to confirm the marital status during the period prior to the marriage registration, to clearly state that during the period from date… month… .year… to date… .month… ..year … he/she has not registered to marry anyone; Currently, he/she is has the spouse being Mr/Mrs ... (Marriage certificate No…, issued by… on (date)).

2. A Vietnamese citizen residing abroad who requests a confirmation of marital status during his/her stay in Vietnam, before leaving; a person who has passed many different places of permanent residence and requests for certification of marital status in the previous place of residence, to clearly state that such person s marital status corresponding to the period of residence.

For example: He/she has not registered to marry anyone in the period of residence in Bong Lai Commune, Que Vo District, Bac Ninh Province from November 20, 1996 to March 04, 1998.

3. In case the representative mission issues the marital status certificate to a Vietnamese citizen during the period of residing abroad, the item of place of residence must be written according to the requester s current address of residence. The marital status of such person is determined on the basis of the results of checking the civil status book, the electronic civil status database managed by the representative mission and are recorded with the same content specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 34. Recording death certificate extract, death registration book

1. The item "Dead at" is recorded according to the death notice or a substitute paper specified in Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, in which to clearly state the hour, minute, day, month, year of death in figures and words; In case the hour or minute is not clear, it should be left blank.

2. In the item "Place of death", to clearly state the name of the health establishment and the administrative place where the health establishment is located, in case a person died at the health establishment.

In case of death on a vehicle, death due to accident, death at a prison, a detention camp, place of death sentence execution, at an office of an agency or organization, or the place of death cannot be determined, to state the administrative place with 03 levels (commune, district, province) where the person died or where the dead body was found.

3. The item of cause of death in the death registration book is recorded according to the death notice or a substitute paper specified in Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP; in case such document is unavailable or has not been determined, it should be left blank.

4. In the item of death notice or substitute paper, to clearly state the type of the paper; number, date, month and year of grant; granting agency, organization. In case the commune-level People s Committee has the competence to register the death and is also responsible for granting the death notice, not to grant the death notice; the items of death notice in death extract and death registration book are blank.

Article 35. Correction of errors upon recording in civil status books, civil status papers

1. During the course of civil status registration, if errors arise upon recording in civil status books, civil status officers shall strike through wrong contents, record near or above such contents. Overwriting wrong words or erasing and overwriting erased positions shall be not allowed.

In cases there are omitted blank pages in books, these pages must be crossed out by civil status officers.

In the note item of civil status books, civil status officers shall clearly record correcting contents, correcting date and sign with their full name.

Civil status officers shall report on such corrections to the heads of their civil status registration agencies. The heads of such civil status registration agencies shall affix to correcting contents with seals.

Civil status officers are not allowed to arbitrarily erase, modify or supplement the content recorded in the civil status books.

2. During the course of civil status registration, if there are errors in civil status papers, civil status officers shall destroy such papers and record information in new papers, do not grant people the corrected civil status papers.

3. In case errors are detected after the course of civil status registration specified by law, to implement the civil status correction according to regulations.

Article 36. Opening and closing of civil status books

Opening and closing of civil status books at the civil status registration agencies shall be comply with the following regulations:

1. Civil status books shall be numbered and recorded according to the use order of each type of book in a year, beginning at 01.

For example:

- The guardianship registration book No. 01-TP/HT-2020-GH

- The father, mother or child recognition registration book No. 01-TP/HT-2020-CMC.

The opening date of a book shall be the registration date of the first civil status event in such book.

The closing date of a book in case the book has been used up but the year is not over is the date of registration of the last civil status event of the book; if the year is over but the book has not been yet used up, the closing date of the book shall be December 31 of such year.

2. Civil status officers shall clearly make statistics of the total number of civil status events registered in a book, the number of cases with errors where correction has been made according to Clause 1, Article 35 of this Circular, the number of blank pages (if any).

3. After making statistics according to Clause 2 of this Article, civil status officers shall sign with the full name and report the heads of civil status registration agencies for confirmation with their full name, position and seals.

Article 37. Archive of civil status books and civil status registration dossiers

1. Civil status books and civil status registration dossiers shall be preserved and archived permanently for use and needs of people and state management activities.

2. The Consular Department, Representative Missions, commune-level and district-level People’s Committees and provincial-level Departments of Justice shall archive, preserve and use civil status books in accordance with law; perform measures for prevention of storms, floods, fire, humidity, termites to ensure the safety.

The heads of agencies shall be responsible for losing, damaging or using civil status books in contravention of law.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 38. Transitional provisions

1. Dossiers of request for civil status registration which are received by the civil status registration agencies before the effective date of this Circular, and remain unsettled shall be further settled under the Circular No. 15/2015/TT-BTP dated November 16, 2015 of the Ministry of Justice on detailing 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 detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on Civil Status (hereinafter referred to as the Circular No. 15/2015/TT-BTP).

2. Birth certificates, marriage certificates and civil status books according to forms promulgated together with the Circular No. 15/2015/TT-BTP that are being used at civil status registration agencies shall be used until the end of December 31, 2020.

Other cases of civil status registration received from the effective date of this Circular shall be granted civil status papers according to forms in this Circular.

Article 39. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect on July 16, 2020 and replaces the Circular No. 15/2015/TT-BTP.

2. Any problem arising in the course of implementation should be promptly reported by People’s Committees of provinces and central affiliated cities and provincial-level Departments of Justice to the Ministry of Finance for guidance./.

* All Appendices are not translated herein.