Restoration of Vietnamese nationality

Persons of Vietnamese origin who are being permitted to renounce Vietnamese nationality, being deprived of Vietnamese nationality, failing to register for retention of Vietnamese nationality… may restore his/her Vietnamese nationality, if he/she falls into any of the following cases:

a)     Having applied for permission to return to Vietnam;

b)     His/her spouse, a natural parent or a natural offspring is a Vietnamese citizen;

c)     Having made meritorious contributions to Viet Nam’s national construction and defense

d)     Being helpful to the State of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam;

e)     Conducting investment activities in Viet Nam

f)      Having renounced Vietnamese nationality for acquisition of a foreign nationality but failing to obtain permission to acquire the foreign nationality.

Persons who wants to restore Vietnamese Nationality need to meet some conditions as follows:

a)     A person who has been deprived of his/her Vietnamese nationality may only be considered for restoration of Vietnamese nationality for at least 5 years after the date he/she is deprived of Vietnamese nationality;

b)     Persons applying for restoration of Vietnamese nationality shall use their previous Vietnamese names, which must be written in the decisions permitting the restoration of Vietnamese nationality;

c)     Persons permitted to restore Vietnamese nationality shall renounce their foreign nationality, except for the following persons in special cases, if so permitted by the President, who:

+ Are spouses, natural parents or natural off springs of Vietnamese citizens;

+ Have made meritorious contributions to Viet Nam’s national construction and defense;

+ Being helpful to the State of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

A. DOSSIERS OF APPLICATION FOR RESTORATION OF VIETNAMESE NATIONALITY

a)     An application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality;

b)     A copy of the birth certificate, passport or other valid substitute papers;

c)     A curriculum vitae;

d)     A judicial record, issued by a competent Vietnamese authority for the period the applicant resides in Viet Nam, or a judicial record, issued by a competent foreign authority for the period the applicant resides in the foreign country. Judicial records must be issued within 90 days before the day of submission of the dossier;;

e)     Papers proving that the applicant is a former Vietnamese national, includes:

+ Persons whose spouses are Vietnamese citizens shall submit copies of marriage certificates to evidence their marriage relations;

+ A person who is a natural parent or a natural offspring of Vietnamese citizen shall submit a copy of the birth certificate or other valid papers to evidence their father/mother-child relations;

+ Persons who have made special meritorious contributions to Vietnam’s national construction and defense shall submit copies of their orders, medals, certificates of other honorable titles or written certification issued by competent Vietnamese agencies or organizations;

+ Persons whose naturalization in Vietnam is helpful to the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam shall submit written certifications made by their employing agencies or organizations and written certification of their contribution to the development of any of the domains mentioned in Clause 2, Article 6 of this Decree, made by a ministerial-level state People’s Committee.

Note: For minor children who restore their Vietnamese nationality together with their parents, copies of their birth certificates or other papers evidencing their father/mother-child relations are required. If only one parent restores Vietnamese nationality and the minor child who is living with that parent also restores Vietnamese nationality, written consent of both parents on their child’s restoration of Vietnamese nationality is required.

B. ORDER OF AND PROCEDURES FOR PROCESSING DOSSIERS OF APPLICATION FOR RESTORATION OF VIETNAMESE NATIONALITY

1. A dossier of application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality shall be made in three sets;

2. Receiving Agency:

+ If the person applying for restoration of Vietnamese nationality resides in Viet Nam: filling the dossier to the provincial-level Justice Department in the locality where he/she resides.

+ if residing abroad, he/she shall file the dossier to the overseas Vietnamese representative mission in the host country.

Please contact us for advice and specific details in each case.

Legal documents:

+ Law on Vietnamese Nationality No. 24/2008/QH12 dated October 13, 2008.

+ Decree No. 78/2009/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2009 by The Government detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality.

+ Joint Circular No. 05/2010/TTLT-BTP-BNG-BCA detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality