Decree No. 97/2014/ND-CP dated October 17, 2014 of the Government amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 78/2009/ND-CP of September 22, 2009, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality

DECREE

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 78/2009/ND-CP of September 22, 2009, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality[1]

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the November 13, 2008 Law on Vietnamese Nationality;

Pursuant to the June 24, 2014 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality;

At the proposal of the Minister of Justice,

The Government promulgates the Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 78/2009/ND-CP of September 22, 2009, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality.

Article 1.To amend and supplement Articles 4, 18, 19 and 20 and Clause 2, Article 30 of the Government’s Decree No. 78/2009/ND-CP of September 22, 2009, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality.

1. To amend and supplement Article 4 as follows:

“Article 4. Fees for settlement of nationality-related matters

1. Applicants for naturalization in Vietnam, restoration or renunciation of Vietnamese nationality and registrants for determination of Vietnamese nationality and grant of Vietnamese passports shall pay fees, except for cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

The rates and the collection, payment, management and use of fees shall be prescribed by the Minister of Finance.

2. The following cases are exempted from fees for naturalization in Vietnam, restoration of Vietnamese nationality and registration for determination of Vietnamese nationality:

a/ Those who have made special meritorious contributions to Vietnam’s national construction and defense and now apply for naturalization in Vietnam or restoration of Vietnamese nationality;

b/ Those who are categorized as poor under law;

c/ Stateless persons who apply for naturalization in Vietnam under Article 22 of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality;

d/ Registrants for determination of Vietnamese nationality without grant of Vietnamese passports.

3. Agencies receiving dossiers of application for naturalization in Vietnam or restoration of Vietnamese nationality and registration for determination of Vietnamese nationality shall base themselves on the Finance Ministry’s regulations to decide on fee exemption for the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article.”

2. To amend and supplement Article 18 as follows:

“Article 18. Registration for determinations of Vietnamese nationality and grant of Vietnamese passports

1. Overseas Vietnamese who have not yet lost their Vietnamese nationality as prescribed by Vietnamese law before July 1, 2009, but have no papers proving their Vietnamese nationality according to Article 11 of the 2008 Law on Vietnamese Nationality and wish to have their Vietnamese nationality determined and to be granted Vietnamese passports shall make registration therefor with overseas Vietnamese representative missions according to the order and procedures specified in this Decree (below referred to as registrants for nationality determination).

2. Overseas Vietnamese diplomatic missions, consulates or other agencies authorized to perform the consular function (below referred to as representative missions) in the countries where registrants for nationality determination permanently reside shall receive and settle requests for determination of Vietnamese nationality and grant of Vietnamese passports.

A registrant for nationality determination who resides in a country or territory where no representative mission has been opened yet shall submit the dossier to a representative mission in charge of such country or territory, or any representative mission that is most convenient to him/her.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice shall publish a list of representative missions prescribed in this Clause on their portals.”

3. To amend and supplement Article 19 as follows:

“Article 19. Legal documents and papers used for determination of Vietnamese nationality of registrants for nationality determination

1. Overseas Vietnamese representative missions shall apply legal documents concerning Vietnamese nationality which were promulgated from 1945 to before July 1, 2009, to determine Vietnamese nationality of registrants at the time of registration. These documents include:

a/ Decree No. 53/SL of October 20, 1945, providing for Vietnamese nationality;

b/ Decree No. 73/SL of December 7, 1945, providing for naturalization in Vietnam;

c/ Decree No. 25/SL of February 25, 1946, amending Decree No. 53/SL of October 20,1945, providing for Vietnamese nationality;

d/ Decree No. 215/SL of August 20, 1948, providing special interests for foreigners who render assistance to Vietnam’s resistance war;

dd/ Decree No. 51/SL of December 14, 1959, annulling Articles 5 and 6 of Decree No. 53/SL of October 20, 1945, providing for Vietnamese nationality;

e/ Resolution No. 1043/NQ-TVQHK6 of February 8, 1971, of the National Assembly Standing Committee on the renunciation of Vietnamese nationality or naturalization in Vietnam;

g/ Decision No. 268/TTg of September 12, 1980, of the Prime Minister on the policies to permit the renunciation and restoration of Vietnamese nationality for overseas Vietnamese;

h/ The 1988 Law on Vietnamese Nationality and guiding documents;

i/ The 1998 Law on Vietnamese Nationality and guiding documents;

k/ Nationality-related treaties to which Vietnam is a contracting party.

2. Papers used as grounds for determination of Vietnamese nationality include:

a/ Papers on civil status, nationality, household membership registration, identity or other papers granted by competent Vietnamese agencies to Vietnamese citizens through different periods from 1945 to before July 1, 2009, which clearly indicate Vietnamese nationality or Vietnamese nationality-related information.

b/ Papers on civil status, nationality, household membership registration, identity or other papers granted by the former regime in the South of Vietnam before April 30, 1975, or by foreign competent authorities, which contain Vietnamese nationality-related information. These papers may also be used as references to consider and determine Vietnamese nationality.

3. When applying Vietnamese legal documents on nationality or examining papers mentioned in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article to determine Vietnamese nationality, if meeting any problems in specific cases, representative missions shall report them to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for coordination with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Security to provide timely guidance.”

4. To amend and supplement Article 20 as follows:

“Article 20. Order and procedures for registration for determination of Vietnamese nationality and grant of Vietnamese passports

1. An overseas Vietnamese who wishes to have his/her Vietnamese nationality determined and to be granted a Vietnamese passport shall submit a declaration of registration for determination of Vietnamese nationality and grant of Vietnamese passport, made according to the form promulgated together with this Decree(not translated), enclosed with 4 photos (size 4 cm x 6 cm) and the copies of the two following papers:

a/ Any of the following papers proving his/her personal identification: personal identification paper, identity card, residence card, temporary residence card, laissez passer, paper valid for international travel, or other valid papers for proving personal identification;

b/ Any of the papers specified in Clause 2, Article 19 of this Decree.

2. In case a registrant for nationality determination submits his/her dossier directly to a competent representative mission specified in Clause 2, Article 18 of this Decree, he/she is only required to submit the copies of the papers specified Clause 1 of this Article, and produce the originals for comparison. If sending his/her dossier by post, the registrant shall send the certified copies of the papers specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Upon receiving a dossier, a representative mission shall issue to the registrant a receipt specifying the place and time of receipt of the dossier, enclosed papers and the time of response. For a dossier sent by post, a representative mission shall send the receipt by post to the registrant.

Within 5 working days after receiving a dossier, a representative mission shall check and compare information stated in the dossier with the declaration. If there are sufficient grounds to determine Vietnamese nationality of the registrant, the representative missionshall record his/her Vietnamese nationality in the Vietnamese nationality determination register, made according to the form promulgated together with this Decree (not translated). In case the registrant requests to be granted a Vietnamese passport, the representative mission shall carry out procedures to grant the Vietnamese passport to the registrant or notify him/her to come to the representative mission for carrying out such procedures, for registrants who send their dossiers by post.

For a registrant requesting determination of Vietnamese nationality without grant of Vietnamese passports, after recording his/her Vietnamese nationality in the register, the representative mission shall grant a copy of the registration, made according to the form promulgated together with this Decree(not translated),which confirms that his/her Vietnamese nationality has been determined and states the use purpose and validity time of the copy.

If the registrant later requests to be granted a Vietnamese passport, the representative mission shall, based on information recorded in the register, send a written proposal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for requesting the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Security to check, verify and give opinions.

4. In case representative missions consider that there are not sufficient reliable grounds for determination of Vietnamese nationality:

a/  For a registrant who was born in Vietnam and used to permanently reside there:

The representative mission shall check and compare information in the declaration against personal identification papers and other enclosed related papers. If there is information for determining the Vietnamese nationality of the registrant (such as a paper showing his/her Vietnamese full name, place of birth, place of civil status registration in Vietnam; education and training institutions, employing agencies and organizations, residence places before leaving Vietnam; full names and addresses of relatives living in Vietnam), the representative mission shall send a written proposal enclosed with the above papers to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for requesting the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice to verify according to Clause 5 of this Article.

After receiving the verification results and if considering that there are sufficient grounds for determination of Vietnamese nationality, the representative mission shall record the registrant’s Vietnamese nationality in the register. The grant of a passport or a copy of the registration confirming the Vietnamese nationality determination must comply with Clause 3 of this Article.

In case domestic agencies have no grounds for nationality determination, the representative mission shall notify in writing the registrant thereof.

b/ For a registrant who was born overseas and has never lived in Vietnam:

The representative mission shall check his/her personal identification papers and other enclosed related papers. If there is information for determining his/her Vietnamese nationality, the representative mission shall interview, examine or verify such information for clarification. Based on the dossier and the results of interview and verification, if seeing that there are sufficient grounds for nationality determination, the representative mission shall record the registrant’s Vietnamese nationality in the register. The grant of a passport or a copy of the registration confirming the Vietnamese nationality determination must comply with Clause 3 of this Article.

If there are no grounds for determination of Vietnamese nationality, the representative mission shall notify in writing the registrant thereof.

5. Within 5 working days after receiving a request for nationality determination according to Point a, Clause 4 of this Article, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall send to the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of Justice a written request for verification.

6. Within 45 days after receiving a written request, the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of Justice shall conduct the verification and notify the result to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After receiving the Public Security Ministry’s or the Justice Ministry’s written reply on the verification result, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall send the verification result to the representative mission for completion of determination of Vietnamese nationality.”

5. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 30 as follows:

“Article 30. Responsibilities of overseas Vietnamese representative missions

… 2. To receive and settle overseas Vietnamese’s registration requests for determination of Vietnamese nationality and grant of Vietnamese passports.”

Article 2.To annul Clause 12, Article 26; Clauses 6 and 7, Article 27; and Clauses 6 and 7, Article 30, of the Government’s Decree No. 78/2009/ND-CP of September 22, 2009, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality.

Article 3.Effect

1. This Decree takes effect on December 1, 2014.

2. The Minister of Justice, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Public Security shall coordinate with one another in organizing the implementation of this Decree.

3. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall implement this Decree.-

On behalf of the Government
Prime Minister
NGUYEN TAN DUNG