Decree 07/2025/ND-CP amend Decrees concerning civil status, citizenship and certification

DECREE

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decrees concerning civil status, citizenship and certification

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Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015, and the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Civil Code dated November 24, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Civil Status dated November 20, 2014;

Pursuant to the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship dated November 13, 2008, and the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship dated June 24, 2014;

At the proposal of the Minister of Justice;

The Government hereby promulgates the Decree amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decrees concerning civil status, citizenship and certification.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 23/2015/ND-CP dated February 16, 2015, on grant of duplicates from master registers, certification of copies from originals, certification of signatures and certification of contracts and transactions

1. To amend and supplement Point a Clause 2 Article 5 as follows:

“a) To certify copies from originals of papers and documents granted or certified by competent Vietnamese or foreign agencies or organizations; or jointly by competent Vietnamese and foreign agencies or organizations;”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 36 as follows:

“1. A certification requester shall produce an original or certified copy of his/her people’s identity card/citizen’s identity card/identity card/identity certificate, or passport, immigration paper/international travel document which remains valid, or produce an electronic identity card and submit 1 (one) set of dossier of request for certification, comprising the following papers:

a) The draft contract or transaction;

c) Copy of the ownership or use right certificate or copy of a substitute paper as prescribed by law, enclosed with the original for comparison, for the asset subject to ownership or use right registration under the law in case the contract or transaction is related to that asset; except in the case the life of the testament maker is being threatened.”.

3. To replace the phrase “the original or a certified copy of his/her valid identity card or passport” in Clause 1 Article 17, Clause 1 Article 24, Clause 2 Article 31, Clause 2 Article 40 with the phrase “the original or certified copy of his/her people’s identity card/citizen’s identity card/identity card/identity certificate/passport/immigration paper/international travel document which remains valid, or an electronic identity card”.

4. To replace the phrase “people’s identity card or passport” in Clause 2 Article 25, the phrase “people’s identity card/passport” in the Appendix on forms of certification statement, forms of certification register with the phrase “people’s identity card/citizen’s identity card/identity card/identity certificate or passport/immigration paper/international travel document.”.

Article 2. Amending and supplementing a number of articles and sections of 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

1. To amend and supplement Article 1 as follows:

“Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Decree details a number of articles of the Law on Civil Status regarding birth and marriage registration, management and use of civil status books in the period when the electronic civil status database and national population database have not yet operated synchronously nationwide (below referred to as the transitional period); birth registration for abandoned children, children whose parents remain unidentified, and children born by surrogate mothers; birth declaration, marriage registration, parent and child recognition, and death declaration in border areas; grant of marital status certificates; guardianship supervision registration, registration for termination of guardianship supervision; birth registration for children born abroad with their birth not yet registered abroad and taken to reside in Vietnam; registration of inter-country marriages at district-level People’s Committees; recording in the civil status book of marriages, divorces, cancellation of marriages of Vietnamese citizens which have been settled at competent foreign agencies; re-registration of birth, marriage and death; arrangement of justice and civil status officers to perform civil status work on a full-time basis; and a number of measures to implement the Law on Civil Status.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 2 Article 2 as follows:

“1. Civil status registrants or requesters for grant of civil status extract copies shall produce the original of one of the following papers: passport, people’s identity card, citizen identity card, identity card, electronic identity card, identity certificate or another paper affixed with a photo and containing personal information granted by a competent state agency, which is still valid, (below referred to as personal paper) to prove their personal identification.

2. Birth registrants shall submit the birth certification paper or a substitute paper as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 16 of the Law on Civil Status; death registrants shall submit the death notice or a substitute paper as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 34 of the Law on Civil Status, and in Clause 2 Article 4 of this Decree.

In case where the registrant has submitted the electronic birth certification paper, death notice or the civil status registration agency has exploited electronic data with digital signature of the birth certification paper or death notice, then the paper one is not required.”.

3. To amend and supplement Article 3 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement the title of Article 3 as follows: Methods of submission and receipt of civil status registration dossiers, verification upon processing civil status registration dossiers.

b) To amend and supplement Clause 1 Article 3 as follows:

“1. Civil status registrants may submit dossiers directly at the civil status registration agency or send dossiers by postal system or register online in accordance with the law on online civil status registration.

Civil status registration dossier shall be made into 1 (one) set.”.

c) To add Clause 5 Article 3 as follows:

“5. For birth registration requests where the child's parents have registered their marriage, based on the information on the marriage certificate provided in the birth registration form, the civil status registration agency shall be responsible for looking up information on the child's parents' marital status on the provincial administrative procedure settlement information system through connection with the electronic civil status database and the national population database.

For marriage registration requests, the civil status registration agency shall look up information on the marital status of the marriage registrants on the provincial administrative procedure settlement information system through connection with the electronic civil status database and the national population database.

The search results shall be stored in electronic or paper form, fully and accurately reflecting the information at the time of search and attached to the registrant's dossier.

In case the marital status cannot be looked up because there is no information in the electronic civil status database or the national population database, the civil status registration agency shall request the commune-level People's Committee of where the registrant permanently resides/where the marriage was registered to verify and provide information. Within 3 working days from the date of receipt of the verification request, the commune-level People's Committee where the verification request is received shall be responsible for checking, verifying and sending the results on the marital status of that person.”.

4. To amend Point c Clause 1 Article 4 as follows:

“c) The personal identification number of the person whose birth is registered shall be granted upon birth declaration. The grant of personal identification numbers must comply with the Law on Citizen Identification and its detailing documents, ensuring conformity with the Law on Civil Status and this Decree;”.

5. To amend Clause 2 Article 9 as follows:

“2. Birth registrants shall produce the papers prescribed in Clause 1 Article 2 of this Decree.”.

6. To amend and supplement Clause 4 Article 22 as follows:

“4. If the requester for marital status certification has registered his/her permanent residence in different places, he/she shall provide paper proving his/her marital status at the previous permanent residence (if any). Based on the provided information, the civil status registration agency shall look up information on the marital status of the requester for marital status certification on the provincial administrative procedure settlement information system through connection with the electronic civil status database and the national population database. In case of failure to look up due to the lack of information in the database, the civil status registration agency shall coordinate with relevant agencies to carry out the verification. The procedures for grant of export licenses comply with Clause 5 Article 3 of this Decree.”.

7. To amend Clause 2 Article 23 as follows:

“2. The marital status certificate may be used for marriage at an overseas representative mission or at a competent foreign agency, or for another purpose.”.

8. To add Section 5 to Chapter 3 as follows:

“Section 5

GUARDIANSHIP SUPERVISION REGISTRATION AND REGISTRATION FOR TERMINATION OF GUARDIANSHIP SUPERVISION REGISTRATION

Article 28a. Competence to register the guardianship supervision and register for termination of guardianship supervision registration

1. The commune-level People's Committee where the ward resides shall register to supervise the guardianship.

2. The commune-level People's Committee registered the guardianship supervision shall register for termination of guardianship supervision.

Article 28b. Procedures for guardianship supervision registration

1. Guardianship supervision registrant shall submit the guardianship supervision registration declaration made according to the prescribed form, and document which serves as a basis for proving the agreement on appointment/selection of the guardianship supervisor under the Civil Code to the competent civil status registration agency.

2. Within 3 working days from the receipt of the dossiers, if all the conditions are satisfied as prescribed by law, the justice and civil status officer shall record on the civil status book, and report to the commune-level People’s Committee to grant the extract for the registrant.

In case where verification is required, the time limit for settlement shall be extended but not exceeding 5 working days from the date of receipt of the dossier.

Article 28c. Procedures for registration for guardianship supervision termination

1. Requester for guardianship supervision termination shall submit the guardianship supervision termination declaration made according to the prescribed form, and document which serves as a basis for termination of the guardianship supervisor to the competent civil status registration agency.

2. Procedures for registration for guardianship supervision termination shall be similar to those specified in Clause 2 Article 28b of this Decree.

3. Declaration forms, book forms, and household registration extracts related to registration of guardianship supervision and registration of termination of guardianship supervision are issued in the Appendix to this Decree.”.

9. To amend Clause 3 Article 30 as follows:

“3. In addition to the papers specified in Clause 1 of this Article, if a partner is a Vietnamese citizen who has divorced or canceled his/her marriage at a competent foreign agency, but through lookup of information in the electronic civil status database, through connection between the provincial administrative procedure settlement information system and the electronic civil status database and the national population database, no information on the divorce or cancellation of marriage is shown, the civil status registration agency shall guide the citizen to record his/her divorce or marriage cancellation at the competent state agency before settling the marriage registration; in case of a partner who is a civil servant or public employee or is serving in the armed forces, he/she shall also submit his/her managing agency’s written certification that his/her marriage with a foreigners does not contravene the regulations of its sector.”.

10. To annul Clause 1 Article 10 of 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.

Article 3. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 87/2020/ND-CP dated July 28, 2020, providing regulations on electronic civil status database and online civil status registration

1. To amend and supplement Clause 2 Article 2 as follows:

“2. Shared electronic civil status registration and management software is a platform of the electronic civil status database, including civil status registration and management software, service and application software created, designed and provided by the Ministry of Justice for civil status registration or management agencies to register civil status, create, update, digitize, standardize and manage civil status data, exploit and use the electronic civil status database.

The shared electronic civil status registration and management software is connected and integrated with the national public service portal, information system for settling administrative procedures of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and provincial-level administrative procedure settlement information system to support the receipt and settlement, follow the receipt, settlement and processing result of administrative procedures in civil status sector.”.

2. To amend Clause 2 Article 8 as follows:

“2. The Ministry of Justice shall connect and share data between the electronic civil status database and other databases of the ministries, sectors and localities; use the electronic civil status database to carry out other state management activities in the field of civil status in accordance with law.”.

3. To amend Point c Clause 3 Article 12 as follows:

“c) The dossier of civil status registration shall only be officially received for processing on the shared online civil status registration and management software after it is completed, supplemented to ensure completeness and validity according to law regulations.

Time limit to processing an administrative procedure starts from the time of official receipt of the dossier;”.

4. To amend Clauses 1 and 2 Article 13 as follows:

“1. Competent agencies specified in Clauses 1, 3 and 4 Article 8 of this Decree shall grant the civil status extract copies upon requests of individuals, regardless of the places where the civil status registration is carried out or the places of residence of the requesters.

2. Competent agencies specified in Clauses 3 and 4 Article 8 of this Decree shall grant the certification of civil status information for those who request for exploiting information from their multiple civil status registrations or certification of various civil status information; agencies and organizations requesting for exploiting many civil status information of a person or civil status information of many persons.”.

5. To amend Clause 7 Article 19 as follows:

“7. To promulgate documents directing, administering and guiding the timely handling of problems related to the exploitation and use of the electronic civil status database for civil status registration nationwide.”.

Article 4. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 16/2020/ND-CP dated February 3, 2020, detailing a number of articles of, and providing measures to implement, the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship

1. To amend and supplement a number of clauses and points of Article 10 as follows:

a) To amend the title of Clause 1 Article 10 as follows:

“1. The papers specified at Points b, d, dd, e and g, Clause 1 Article 20 of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship are the following:”.

b) To amend and supplement Point c Clause 1 Article 10 as follows:

c) A copy of the birth certificate of a minor child who is naturalized in Vietnam together with his/her parent or another valid paper proving the father-child or mother-child relationship, in case the receiving agency cannot exploit the information proving the father-child or mother-child relationship in the electronic civil status database or national population database.

If only one parent is naturalized in Vietnam and the minor child who is living with that parent is also naturalized in Vietnam, written consent with full signatures of both parents on the naturalization in Vietnam of their child are also required. It is not required to authenticate the signatures of the written consent. The parent who makes the application for naturalization in Vietnam for his/her child shall be responsible for the accuracy of the other signature.

In case the parent is dead, lost civil act capacity or limited civil act capacity, the written consent shall be replaced with papers proving that the parent is dead, lost or limited civil act capacity;”.

c) To add Point e Clause 1 Article 10 as follows:

“e) The provincial-level Department of Justice shall actively request the agency managing judicial record database to grant judicial record to the applicant for naturalization in Vietnam during his/her stay in Vietnam to complete the dossier of application for naturalization in Vietnam, except for the case where the applicant for naturalization in Vietnam has the judicial record at the time of dossier submission.

These regulations are applied to dossiers of application for restoration of Vietnamese citizenship and dossiers of application for renunciation of Vietnamese citizenship submitted at the provincial-level Departments of Justice.”.

d) To amend and supplement Point a Clause 2 Article 10 as follows:

a) A copy of his/her marriage certificate or written certification of marital status, for those whose spouses are Vietnamese citizens; a copy of his/her birth certificate or another valid paper proving parent-child relationship, for those whose parents or children are Vietnamese citizens, in case the receiving agency cannot exploit the information proving the marital relationship, father-child or mother-child relationship in the electronic civil status database or national population database;”.

2. To amend and supplement Clauses 1 and 4 Article 15 as follows:

“1. Paper evidencing that the applicant is a former Vietnamese national as prescribed at Point dd Clause 1 Article 24 of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship is either of the following papers:

a) Paper proving that the applicant has been permitted by the President to renounce Vietnamese citizenship or deprived of Vietnamese citizenship;

b) Paper issued or certified by a Vietnamese competent agency or organization which indicates Vietnamese citizenship or paper that can be used to prove Vietnamese citizenship of the applicant in the past.

In case information about the previous Vietnamese citizenship status of the applicant for renunciation of Vietnamese citizenship can be exploited in the electronic civil status database or the national population database, the receiving agency does not require the applicant for renunciation of Vietnamese citizenship to submit the above documents.”.

“4. For a minor child who applies for restoration of Vietnamese citizenship together with his/her parents, there must be a copy of his/her birth certificate or another valid paper proving the father-child or mother-child relationship, in case the receiving agency cannot exploit the information proving the father-child or mother-child relationship in the electronic civil status database or national population database. In case only one parent applies for restoration of Vietnamese citizenship together with the minor child who is living with him/her, he/she shall submit a written agreement with the other parent on application for restoration of Vietnamese citizenship for their child. Such a written agreement must bear signatures of both parents which are not required to be certified but the person who undersigns the application for restoration of Vietnamese citizenship for the child shall be held responsible for authenticity of the signature of the other.

In case one parent is dead, has lost civil act capacity or has restricted civil act capacity, such a written agreement may be replaced with a paper proving that such person is dead, has lost civil act capacity or has restricted civil act capacity.”.

3. To amend Clause 1 Article 16 as follows:

“1. When necessary to verify personal identity of an applicant for restoration of Vietnamese citizenship under Clause 3, Article 25 of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship, the Ministry of Justice shall send to the Ministry of Public Security a request clearly stating to-be-verified contents.”.

4. To amend and supplement Article 18 as follows:

a) To add Clause 1a after Clause 1 Article 18 as follows:

“1a. Papers proving that an applicant for renunciation of Vietnamese citizenship used to hold Vietnamese citizenship are copies of Vietnamese passport, citizen’s identity card, identity card, electronic identity card, people’s identity card or other papers as specified in Article 11 of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship, in case the receiving agency cannot exploit the information proving the Vietnamese citizenship of the applicant for renunciation of citizenship in the electronic civil status database or national population database.”.

b) To amend and supplement Clause 3 Article 18 as follows:

“3. A copy of the birth certificate of a minor child who renounces Vietnamese citizenship together with his/her parents or another valid paper proving the father-child or mother-child relationship, in case the receiving agency cannot exploit the information proving the father-child or mother-child relationship in the electronic civil status database or national population database. If only one parent applies for renunciation of Vietnamese citizenship and the minor child who is living with that parent also proposes for renunciation of Vietnamese citizenship, written consent of both parents on the renunciation of Vietnamese citizenship of their child also required. Such a written agreement must bear signatures of both parents which are not required to be certified, but the person who undersigns the application for renunciation of Vietnamese citizenship for the child shall be held responsible for authenticity of the signature of the other.

In case one parent is dead, has lost civil act capacity or has restricted civil act capacity, such a written agreement may be replaced with a paper proving that such person is dead, has lost civil act capacity or has restricted civil act capacity.”.

5. To amend Article 30 as follows:

“Article 30. Competence to grant certificates of holding of Vietnamese citizenship

An applicant for a certificate of holding of Vietnamese citizenship shall submit his/her dossier to the provincial-level Justice Department or the representative mission where he/she resides at the time of dossier submission.”.

6. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 1 Article 31 as follows:

“b) Papers proving Vietnamese citizenship specified in Article 11 of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship or papers of equivalent value granted by the former administration, including also birth certificates that contain no section for citizenship or with such a section left blank but indicate full names in Vietnamese of the applicant and his/her parents, in case the receiving agency cannot exploit the information proving the Vietnamese citizenship of the applicant for a certificate of holding of Vietnamese citizenship in the electronic civil status database or national population database;”.

7. To amend Article 32 as follows:

“Article 32. Competence to grant certificates of Vietnamese origin

An applicant for a certificate of Vietnamese origin shall submit his/her dossier to the provincial-level Justice Department or the representative mission where he/she resides at the time of dossier submission.”.

8. To amend and supplement Point b Clause 1 Article 33 as follows:

“b) Previously granted papers proving that he/she used to hold Vietnamese citizenship and at birth his/her citizenship was determined according to the principle of bloodline or papers proving that his/her parents, paternal grandparents or maternal grandparents used to hold Vietnamese citizenship, in case the receiving agency cannot exploit the information in the electronic civil status database or national population database.

If an applicant has none of these above-said papers, depending on specific circumstances, he/she may submit copies of personal identification papers or citizenship or civil status papers granted by the former regime in southern Vietnam before April 30, 1975; papers granted by the former administration in Hanoi in the period from 1911 to 1956; a letter of guarantee of the Association of Overseas Vietnamese in the foreign country where he/she resides certifying his/her Vietnamese origin; a letter of guarantee of a Vietnamese citizenship holder certifying  his/her Vietnamese origin; papers granted by foreign authorities which clearly indicate Vietnamese citizenship or Vietnamese-origin citizenship.”.

9. To add the phrase “identity card, electronic identity card” after the phrase “citizen’s identity card” in Clause 2 Article 4, Clauses 2, 3 and 4 Article 4, Clauses 1 and 2 Article 26, Point a Clause 1 Article 29, Point a Clause 1 Article 31, Point a Clause 1 Article 33, Point e Clause 1 Article 35 and Clause 3 Article 36.

Article 5. Effect

1. This Decree takes effect from the date of its signing.

2. Dossiers of certification, civil status and citizenship received before the effective date of this Decree, which have not yet been processed shall continue to be processed under Decree No. 23/2015/ND-CP, Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, Decree No. 87/2020/ND-CP, and Decree No. 16/2020/ND-CP.

3. The Minister of Justice shall guide the implementation of this Decree.

4. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, Chairpersons of People’s Committees at all levels, and other related organizations, agencies and individuals shall implement this Decree./.

* All Appendices are not translated herein.