Law on Civil Status 2026, No. 03/2026/QH16

LAW ON CIVIL STATUS^[1]

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under Resolution No. 203/2025/QH15;

The National Assembly promulgates the Law on Civil Status.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Law provides for civil status, civil status registration, the Civil Status Database, and the state management of civil status.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

In this Law, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Civil status means events and information that determine an individual’s personal status from birth to death, as specified in Article 4 of this Law.

2. Civil status registration means the certification, recording and updating by a competent state agency of an individual’s civil status events and information in the civil status book and the Civil Status Database.

3. Civil status registration agency means a commune-level People’s Committee, or an overseas Vietnamese diplomatic mission or consulate (below referred to as representative mission).

4. Civil status management agencies include the central and local state management agencies in charge of civil status.

5. Civil status database means a collection of electronic civil status data of individuals arranged and organised for continuous access, exploitation, sharing, management and updating by electronic means.

6. Civil status book means a written or an electronic civil status book permanently archived for the certification, recording or updating of civil status events and information specified in Article 4 of this Law.

7. Civil status documents means legally valid documents issued by competent state agencies when settling administrative procedures relating to civil status, including birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate, and civil status certification document.

8. Birth certificate means the initial civil status document issued by a civil status registration agency upon the registration of an individual’s birth. A birth certificate contains the basic information specified in Clause 4, Article 15 of this Law.

9. Marriage certificate means a civil status document issued by a civil status registration agency to a male and a female upon the registration of their marriage. A marriage certificate contains the basic information specified in Clause 2, Article 16 of this Law.

10. Death certificate means a civil status document issued by a civil status registration agency upon the registration of an individual’s death. A death certificate contains the basic information specified in Clause 4, Article 20 of this Law.

11. Civil status certification document means a civil status document issued by a competent state agency to certify that an individual’s civil status events and information have been registered, except for the cases specified in Clauses 8, 9, and 10 of this Article.

12. Civil status workers include persons performing civil status work at commune-level People’s Committees; persons assigned to perform civil status work at provincial-level state management agencies in charge of civil status; and diplomatic and consular officers assigned to perform civil status tasks at representative missions.

Article 3. Principles of civil status registration, civil status data exploitation and sharing

1. Personal rights of individuals must be respected and guaranteed.

2. Every civil status event of an individual must be registered fully, promptly, truthfully, objectively and accurately. In case the law-specified conditions for civil status registration are not fully satisfied, heads of civil status registration agencies shall refuse the registration in writing, clearly stating the reason.

3. Civil status registration matters for which the law on civil status does not specify a time limit for settlement shall be settled within 24 hours from the time of receipt of a complete and valid application.

4. A civil status event or information of an individual shall be registered only once by a competent civil status registration agency of Vietnam, except for the re-registration of marriage. Civil status registration agencies shall ensure that an individual’s civil status events and information are not registered more than once.

5. Publicity and transparency of civil status registration procedures must be ensured.

6. Proactive civil status registration and the interconnection of civil status registration procedures with relevant procedures shall be enhanced, ensuring that citizens are required to provide information only once.

7. Civil status registration agencies shall proactively exploit electronic data and search for information from relevant databases in accordance with the databases’ capabilities; refrain from requiring the submission, presentation or uploading of documents that form part of the application dossier, unless the required information cannot be exploited or the exploited information is incomplete or inaccurate.

8. The collection, processing, storage, sharing and exploitation of civil status data shall be carried out in a secure and confidential manner, for proper purposes and in accordance with the law on data and the law on personal data protection.

Article 4. Contents of civil status registration

1. Certifying the following events and information:

a/ Birth;

b/ Marriage;

c/ Guardianship; supervision of guardianship;

d/ Recognition of father, mother, or child;

dd/ Change of civil status information;

e/ Marital status;

g/ Death.

2. Updating the following changes in an individual’s information in civil status books and the Civil Status Database according to legally effective court judgements or rulings, or civil status decisions or documents issued or certified by competent state agencies:

a/ Civil status information, nationality;

b/ Determination of father, mother, or child;

c/ Re-determination of gender;

d/ Child adoption, termination of child adoption;

dd/ Divorce, cancellation of illegal marriage, recognition of marriage;

e/ Recognition of guardianship;

g/ Declaration of a person as missing or dead, or declaration of a person as having lost civil capacity, having restricted civil capacity, or having difficulties in cognition or behaviour control, or the revocation of such declaration decision.

3. Recording civil status events and information of Vietnamese citizens which have been settled by competent foreign agencies into civil status books.

4. Certifying or recording other civil status events and information into civil status books in accordance with law.

Article 5. Civil status registration rights and obligations of individuals

1. Vietnamese citizens, persons of Vietnamese origin with unidentified nationality residing in Vietnam, stateless persons, and foreigners have the right and obligation to register their civil status in accordance with this Law, unless otherwise provided by a treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

2. Vietnamese citizens shall carry out procedures for recording in civil status books civil status events and information which have been settled by competent foreign agencies.

3. Minors, adults who have lost their civil act capacity, and persons with difficulties in cognition or behaviour control shall carry out civil status registration through their legal representatives.

Article 6. State policies on civil status registration and management

1. The State shall adopt comprehensive policies and measures to create favourable conditions for individuals to exercise their rights and perform their obligations regarding civil status registration.

2. The State shall ensure budget funds and physical facilities, invest in digital transformation, and develop information technology for civil status registration and management activities.

3. The State shall prioritise the development of human resources, guarantee the stability of working positions, provide training, retraining and upskilling courses, and offer appropriate remuneration policies for civil status workers in order to improve the professionalism, stability and quality of civil status registration and management.

Article 7. Responsibilities of state agencies in charge of civil status

1. The Government shall perform the unified state management of civil status nationwide.

2. The Ministry of Justice shall act as the focal point, assisting the Government in performing the unified state management of civil status.

3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall perform the state management of civil status at representative missions.

4. The Supreme People’s Court shall update and share information on individuals’ civil status changes with the Civil Status Database; and coordinate the performance of other tasks related to civil status work.

5. Related ministries and sectors shall ensure the connection and sharing of data under their management with the Civil Status Database in accordance with law; ensure security and safety for information in the Civil Status Database; and coordinate the performance of other civil status-related tasks.

6. People’s Committees at all levels shall perform the state management of civil status in their respective localities under regulations.

Article 8. Competence for civil status registration

1. Commune-level People’s Committees shall register civil status events and information of individuals under Article 4 of this Law, irrespective of places of residence of such individuals.

2. Chairpersons of commune-level People’s Committees are competent to sign civil status documents. Based on practical local conditions, chairpersons of commune-level People’s Committees may be authorised to sign civil status documents under regulations, except the following civil status documents:

a/ Birth certificates;

b/ Marriage certificates;

c/ Civil status documents in cases of civil status registration involving foreign elements.

3. Representative missions shall register civil status events and information specified in Article 4 of this Law for Vietnamese citizens residing abroad.

4. Civil status registration agencies and civil status management agencies currently archiving written civil status books shall update changes in individuals’ information specified in Clause 2, Article 4 of this Law in such books.

Article 9. Legal validity of civil status documents, civil status information, and electronic civil status data

1. Civil status documents and civil status information in civil status books and the Civil Status Database serve as a basis for modification of information in other documents, records and databases of individuals.

2. Birth registration information is original civil status information of an individual. All information in other records, documents and databases of an individual on his/her family name, middle name and given name; day, month and year of birth; place of birth; gender; ethnicity; nationality; personal identification number; native place; and parental and filial relationships must be consistent with his/her birth registration information.

In case information in other records, documents and databases of an individual does not match his/her birth registration information, the head of the agency or organisation managing such records and databases or issuing such documents shall proactively coordinate with the civil status registration agency or civil status management agency in verifying and modifying it, ensuring its accuracy.

3. Electronic civil status data, including electronic civil status documents and data contained in the Civil Status Database, which comply with the provisions of the law on electronic transactions, have the same validity as written civil status documents for carying out administrative procedures and other transactions.

Article 10. Methods of requesting and notifying civil status registration results

1. Persons requesting civil status registration have the right to choose to submit their dossiers of request online, send them by post, or submit them in person to competent civil status registration agencies or civil status management agencies.

2. The results of procedures for birth registration, marriage registration and death registration shall be notified to registrants in both paper and electronic forms.

The results of other civil status registration procedures shall be notified in electronic form; paper copies shall be provided only at the request of registrants.

3. Civil status registrants may choose to receive written results by post or in person at civil status registration agencies or civil status management agencies, except cases of marriage registration in which they may receive marriage certificates in person at civil status registration agencies.

Article 11. Consular legalisation and translation into Vietnamese of documents issued, notarised or certified by competent foreign agencies

1. Documents issued, notarised or certified by competent foreign agencies for use in the civil status registration in Vietnam must be consularly legalised, unless they are exempted from consular legalisation under treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party or in accordance with law.

2. Foreign-language documents used for civil status registration in Vietnam must be translated into Vietnamese with translators’ signatures certified in accordance with law.

3. Documents issued, notarised or certified by competent agencies of neighbouring countries in the border areas are exempted from consular legalisation when used for civil status registration in such border areas.

Article 12. Civil status charge and fee

1. Civil status registration applicants shall pay a civil status fee in accordance with the law on charges and fees.

2. Agencies, organisations and individuals that exploit and use the Civil Status Database shall pay a charge in accordance with the law on charges and fees.

Article 13. Prohibited acts

1. Providing untruthful information or documents; preparing or using forged papers, or using another person’s papers to register civil status.

2. Threatening, coercing or obstructing the exercise of rights and performance of obligations regarding civil status registration.

3. Taking advantage of one’s position or powers to harass or delay civil status registration; refusing to register civil status without a plausible reason; unlawfully interfering with civil status registration activities.

4. Making false undertakings or false witness statements for civil status registration.

5. Forging, unlawfully modifying or falsifying contents of civil status documents.

6. Giving bribes to, or buying off, civil status officers, or promising to provide material or non-material benefits to civil status officers in order to obtain civil status registration.

7. Taking advantage of civil status registration or evading the obligation to register civil status for self-seeking purposes, to enjoy the State’s preferential policies, or to seek illicit profits in any form.

8. Persons competent to decide on civil status registration performing civil status registration for themselves.

9. Accessing, altering, deleting, destroying, distributing or otherwise illegally processing data in civil status books or the Civil Status Database; taking advantage of data processing or data governance to exploit, share, buy, sell, exchange, appropriate, intentionally disclose, or cause the loss of, personal data in civil status books or the Civil Status Database; using another person’s personal data or allowing another person to use one’s own personal data to commit illegal acts.

Article 14. Handling of violations in civil status registration and management activities

Agencies, organisations or individuals committing acts that violate the law on civil status shall, depending on the nature and severity of their violations, be administratively handled, disciplined or examined for penal liability in accordance with law.

Civil status documents and civil status registration contents issued, registered or certified as a result of acts violating the law on civil status shall be corrected, remedied, or recalled and cancelled.

Chapter II

CIVIL STATUS REGISTRATION

Section 1

CIVIL STATUS REGISTRATION AT COMMUNE-LEVEL PEOPLE’S COMMITTEES

Article 15. Birth registration

1. Commune-level People’s Committees shall carry out birth registration for the following cases:

a/ Children born in Vietnam;

b/ Children born abroad whose birth has not yet been registered, who return to reside in Vietnam, and at least either of whose parents is a Vietnamese citizen;

c/ Vietnamese citizens, Vietnamese permanently residing abroad, or persons of Vietnamese origin with unidentified nationality currently residing in Vietnam, who were born in Vietnam but whose birth has not yet been registered and who possess records or documents issued or certified by competent Vietnamese agencies.

2. Commune-level People’s Committees, upon the choice of birth registration applicants, shall proactively register the birth for children when data from medical examination and treatment establishments are automatically connected to and shared with the electronic civil status registration and management system, and when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

a/ The children were born at such medical examination and treatment establishments;

b/ The birth registration applicants have provided all required birth registration contents under regulations.

3. In case a child born in Vietnam has not had his/her birth registered under Clause 2 of this Article, within 60 days from the birthdate of the child, his/her father or mother shall register his/her birth. In case neither the father nor the mother is able to register the child’s birth, the paternal grandfather, paternal grandmother, maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, biological brother, biological sister, paternal uncle, paternal aunt, maternal uncle, or maternal aunt, or the individual or organisation currently nurturing the child shall register the child’s birth.

4. Birth registration contents include:

a/ Information of the person whose birth is registered: family name, middle name (if any) and given name; gender; day, month and year of birth; personal identification number; place of birth; native place; ethnicity; and nationality.

The determination of the family name, middle name (if any), given name, ethnicity, and nationality of the person whose birth is registered must comply with the civil law and the law on Vietnamese nationality.

The native place of an individual shall be determined according to the native place of the father or the native place of the mother as agreed upon by the father and mother at the time of birth registration. In case the father and mother cannot reach agreement, the native place of the child shall be determined according to local custom;

b/ Information on the father and mother of the person whose birth is registered: family name, middle name (if any) and given name; day, month and year of birth; personal identification number (if any); ethnicity; nationality; place of residence. In case the father or mother of the person whose birth is registered has not yet been identified, the section of information on the father or mother shall be left blank.

Article 16. Marriage registration

1. A commune-level People’s Committee shall make marriage registration for the following cases:

a/ Marriage registration between Vietnamese citizens residing in the country;

b/ Marriage registration between a Vietnamese citizen residing in the country and a foreigner, a Vietnamese citizen residing abroad or a person of Vietnamese origin with unidentified nationality residing in Vietnam;

c/ Marriage registration for persons of Vietnamese origin with unidentified nationality residing in Vietnam, or foreigners permanently residing in Vietnam.

2. Marriage registration contents include:

a/ Family name, middle name (if any) and given name; day, month and year of birth; ethnicity; nationality; place of residence; personal identification number; information on personal identification documents of the male and female partners;

b/ Day, month and year of marriage registration; day, month and year of establishment of the matrimonial relationship.

3. Both the male and female partners must be present at the civil status registration agency to sign the marriage register and the marriage certificate.

Article 17. Registration of guardianship, termination of guardianship, change of guardianship, supervision of guardianship, and termination of supervision of guardianship

1. A commune-level People’s Committee shall register guardianship, termination of guardianship, and change of guardianship for the following cases:

a/ Between Vietnamese citizens residing in the country;

b/ Between a Vietnamese citizen residing in the country and a foreigner residing in Vietnam;

c/ Between a Vietnamese citizen residing in the country and a person of Vietnamese origin with unidentified nationality residing in Vietnam;

d/ Between persons of Vietnamese origin with unidentified nationality residing in Vietnam;

dd/ Between a legal person and a Vietnamese citizen residing in the country, a foreigner residing in Vietnam or a person of Vietnamese origin with unidentified nationality residing in Vietnam.

2. Commune-level People’s Committees shall register the supervision of guardianship or terminate the supervision of guardianship related to the asset management of the ward.

3. Contents of the registration of guardianship and supervision of guardianship include:

a/ Information of the ward: family name, middle name (if any) and given name; day, month and year of birth; gender; ethnicity; nationality; place of residence; personal identification number (if any);

b/ Information of the guardian and the supervisor of guardianship: family name, middle name (if any) and given name; day, month and year of birth; gender; ethnicity; nationality; place of residence; and information on personal identification documents.

4. The guardian must be present at the civil status registration agency to sign the guardianship register.

Article 18. Registration of recognition of parents and children

A commune-level People’s Committee shall register the recognition of father/mother and a child for the following cases:

1. Between Vietnamese citizens, at least either of whom is residing in the country;

2. Between a Vietnamese citizen and a foreigner, at least either of whom is residing in Vietnam;

3. Between a Vietnamese citizen and a person of Vietnamese origin with unidentified nationality residing in Vietnam;

4. Between persons of Vietnamese origin with unidentified nationality residing in Vietnam;

5. Between a person of Vietnamese origin with unidentified nationality residing in Vietnam and a foreigner;

6. Between foreigners, at least either of whom is permanently residing in Vietnam.

Article 19. Change of civil status information

1. Change of civil status information means the recording by a competent civil status registration agency of a change in an individual’s personal identification information when there are plausible reasons and all the conditions specified by this Law, the civil law, and other relevant laws are satisfied.

2. Changes in civil status information include:

a/ Change in the family name, middle name or given name of an individual in his/her birth registration contents when there are sufficient grounds and conditions specified by the civil law;

b/ Change in information on the native place in the birth registration contents of an adult at his/her request, or in the birth registration contents of a minor child at the request of his/her biological father or biological mother;

c/ Change in information on the father, mother, ethnicity or native place in the birth registration contents of an individual upon being adopted or after the termination of the child adoption;

d/ Re-determination of ethnicity in accordance with the civil law; re-determination of ethnicity of an abandoned child after his/her biological father or biological mother is identified;

dd/ Correction of registered civil status information due to errors or discrepancies between the registered information and reality;

e/ Addition of missing civil status information in the original civil status documents, the written civil status book or the Civil Status Database;

g/ Modification of registered civil status information of an individual due to a change in his/her civil status information, or in the civil status information of his/her father, mother or spouse;

h/ Other cases as specified by law.

3. Commune-level People’s Committees shall change civil status information for the following cases:

a/ Registration of changes in civil status information of Vietnamese citizens whose civil status has been registered in Vietnam, or Vietnamese citizens residing abroad whose civil status has been registered in Vietnam, provided that the original civil status documents are available or relevant information is recorded written civil status books or contained in the Civil Status Database;

b/ Registration of changes in civil status information specified in Points b, c, dd, e and g, Clause 2 of this Article for foreigners and persons of Vietnamese origin with unidentified nationality who are residing in Vietnam and whose civil status has been registered at competent Vietnamese agencies, provided that the original civil status documents are available or relevant information is recorded in written civil status books or contained in the Civil Status Database.

Article 20. Death registration

1. Commune-level People’s Committees shall make death registration for the following cases:

a/ Individuals who have died in the country;

b/ Vietnamese citizens who died abroad and whose bodies, remains or ashes have been brought back to Vietnam but whose death has not yet been registered at a representative mission or competent foreign agency.

2. The commune-level People’s Committee of the last place of residence of the deceased shall proactively make a death registration when data from a medical examination and treatment establishment is automatically connected to and shared with the electronic civil status registration and management system, and when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

a/ The individual has died at the medical examination and treatment establishment;

b/ The registration applicant has provided all required death registration contents under regulations.

3. In case the death registration is not made under Clause 2 of this Article for an individual who has died in the country, within 15 days from the date of his/her death, his/her spourse, child, father, mother or another relative as specified by the law on marriage and family shall carry out the death registration. In case the deceased has no relative, a representative of the related agency, organisation or individual shall carry out the death registration.

4. Death registration contents include:

a/ Information of the deceased: family name, middle name (if any) and given name; day, month and year of birth; gender; personal identification number or information on personal identification documents; ethnicity; nationality; last place of residence (if any);

b/ Information on the event of death: time of death; place of death; cause of death; and documents proving the event of death (if any).

Article 21. Recording in civil status books of civil status events and information of Vietnamese citizens settled by competent foreign agencies

1. Civil status events and information of a Vietnamese citizen that have been registered or certified by a competent foreign agency not in contravention of Vietnamese law, and are eligible for recording in a civil status book include:

a/ Birth registration of Vietnamese citizens;

b/ Birth of a child whose father or mother is a Vietnamese citizen and the other parent is a foreigner, where the father and mother agree to choose Vietnamese nationality for the cild at the time of recording his/her birth in the civil status book in accordance with the law on Vietnamese nationality;

c/ Marriage; death; guardianship; determination of father, mother or child; child adoption; change of civil status information;

d/ Divorce; cancellation of illegal marriage; cancellation of registration or certification contents specified in Points a, b and c of this Clause.

2. Commune-level People’s Committees shall record civil status events and information specified in Clause 1 of this Article in civil status books upon receiving valid papers and documents issued or certified by competent foreign agencies.

Section 2

CIVIL STATUS REGISTRATION AT REPRESENTATIVE MISSIONS

Article 22. Civil status registration for Vietnamese citizens residing abroad

1. Representative missions are competent to register civil status events and information specified in Article 4 of this Law for Vietnamese citizens residing abroad, provided that such registration is not contrary to the laws of the host countries and treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

2. The Minister of Foreign Affairs shall provide guidance on civil status registration and management at representative missions.

Article 23. Civil status officers at representative missions

1. Representative missions shall appoint their diplomatic or consular officers to carry out civil status registration for Vietnamese citizens residing abroad.

2. Diplomatic and consular officers shall receive professional training in civil status before performing civil status registration tasks.

Chapter III

CIVIL STATUS DATABASE

Article 24. Building and management of the Civil Status Database

1. The Civil Status Database is a national database built in a centralised and unified manner from the central to local levels and managed by the Ministry of Justice.

2. The building of the Civil Status Database must ensure its expandability, upgradability, development, connection, and sharing with other databases; guarantee the right of agencies, organisations and individuals to exploit information in accordance with law; and ensure the storage of sufficient civil status information of individuals through the process of collection, updating and modification in the database.

3. The Civil Status Database’s information security and safety and personal data protection shall be ensured; only competent agencies, organisations and individuals may access and exploit it in accordance with law.

Article 25. Information in the Civil Status Database

1. Information in the Civil Status Database includes scanned or photocopied copies of pages of written civil status books and relevant civil status documents for civil status information that has been digitised, standardised and collected under regulations, and civil status information of individuals that is established or updated upon civil status registration, including the following fields:

a/ Family name, middle name and given name;

b/ Day, month and year of birth;

c/ Place of birth;

d/ Gender;

dd/ Personal identification number;

e/ Ethnicity;

g/ Nationality;

h/ Native place;

i/ Place of residence;

k/ Information on personal identification documents (type, serial number, issuing agency, date of issuance);

l/ Time of death, place of death, cause of death for death registration;

m/ Changed information relating to personal status (missing, deceased, lost or restricted civil act capacity, difficulties in cognition or behaviour control);

n/ Family name, middle name and given name; day, month, and year of birth; personal identification number; ethnicity; nationality; place of residence; and information on personal identification documents (type, serial number, issuing agency, date of issuance) of the father, mother, spouse, guardian, ward, supervisor of guardianship, or civil status registration applicant;

o/ Information on the registration agency, time of registration and registration number; family name, middle name and given name, and title of the person carrying out the registration and the person signing the civil status document.

2. Information in the Civil Status Database specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be established from the following sources:

a/ Registered civil status information of individuals and electronic versions of civil status documents;

b/ Civil status information digitised or standardised from written civil status books;

c/ Civil status information collected from valid issued civil status documents;

d/ Information connected to and shared from the national database and other specialised databases;

dd/ Civil status information shared, converted or standardised from previously established civil status software.

3. Information in the Civil Status Database, written civil status books and civil status documents must be consistent with one another. Individuals may request competent agencies to modify civil status information upon detecting errors in registered contents.

In case information in the Civil Status Database differs from information in written civil status books, such information shall be modified to match the latter.

In case information in civil status documents differs from information in the Civil Status Database and written civil status books, such information shall be modified to match the latter, unless it is determined that the data contain errors and have not yet been updated.

Article 26. Exploitation of information in the Civil Status Database

1. Individuals may exploit their own information in the Civil Status Database.

2. Competent state agencies may exploit information in the Civil Status Database within the ambit of their functions and tasks.

3. When exploiting information in the Civil Status Database, agencies, organisations and individuals other than those specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall obtain the consent of individuals who are owners of to-be-exploited information, unless otherwise provided by law.

In case of exploitation of information of minors, persons who have lost their civil act capacity or persons with difficulties in cognition or behaviour control, the consent of their legal representatives must be obtained.

In case of exploitation of information of persons declared missing or deceased persons, the consent of their spouses or adult children must be obtained. If such persons are unavailable, the exploiters of information must obtain the consent of parents of the persons declared missing or of the deceased persons.

4. Persons who have lost their civil act capacity, persons with difficulties in cognition or behaviour control, and persons aged under full 15 years may exploit their own information through their legal representatives.

5. The exploitation of information in the Civil Status Database must ensure personal data protection in accordance with the law on personal data protection.

Article 27. Protection of the Civil Status Database

The agency managing the Civil Status Database, civil status registration agencies and civil status management agencies have the following responsibilities within the ambit of their respective functions and tasks:

1. To ensure the safety of equipment used for collecting, storing, transmitting, processing, and exchanging civil status information;

2. To protect personal data and civil status information security on computer networks; to ensure the safety of information stored in the Database; and to prevent and combat acts of making unauthorised access to, using or causing damage to, the Civil Status Database.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 28. Validity of written civil status books compiled and civil status documents issued before the effective date of this Law

1. Written civil status books compiled before the effective date of this Law may be used as a basis for proving civil status events and information of individuals, and shall be used for reference and issuance of civil status documents, and updated in accordance with Clause 4, Article 8 of this Law.

2. Civil status documents issued to individuals in accordance with the law on civil status before the effective date of this Law remain valid for use.

Article 29. Effect

1. This Law takes effect on March 1, 2027. From January 1, 2031, proactive birth registration and death registration shall be carried out in a uniform manner nationwide and under a roadmap set by the Government.

2. Law No. 60/2014/QH13 on Civil Status shall cease to be effective on the effective date of this Law.

3. In case a law or resolution of the National Assembly contains a provision on civil status or civil status registration that is different from the provisions of this Law, the provisions of this Law shall prevail.

4. The Government shall detail and provide measures to implement the provisions on:

a/ Review and strengthening of the contingent of civil status officers; conditions and standards of civil status officers to ensure their capability to perform their assigned tasks and exercise their vested powers in accordance with this Law;

b/ The provisions of Articles 7, 8, 9 and 10; Clause 3, Article 11; Article 14, and Articles 15 through 27 of this Law;

c/ Updating, collection and cleaning of historical civil status data and previously digitised civil status data; methods, order and procedures for exploiting and using information in the Civil Status Database to issue copies of civil status documents, certify civil status information and marital status, and re-register marriages;

d/ Specific measures to organise and guide the implementation of this Law.

Article 30. Transitional provisions

Civil status registration dossiers received before the effective date of this Law which have not yet been completely processed may continue to be processed in accordance with the law on civil status effective at the time of receipt.

This Law was passed on April 23, 2026, by the 16^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its first session.-

Chairman of the National Assembly
TRAN THANH MAN