How to Apply Birth Certificate in Vietnam?

For children of foreigner and Vietnamese born in Vietnam, the procedure to apply for birth certificate in Vietnam is carried out at the Vietnam’s provincial Department of Justice.  But it is not that simple in some situations and it might take huge amount of time from busy parents.  The differences in cultures, names order, languages, marriage status might add different levels of complexity.

1. Challenges in registering birth certificate in Vietnam?

In today’s globalized world, it has become more common that people from different cultural backgrounds travel, and meet their spouse. Their children were born with happiness however they would face difficulties when applying for birth certificate for the newborn in Vietnam.  

For the parents, the difficulties of registering birth certificate in Vietnam could range from the choice of name, nationality, or whether or not the child is born out of wedlock, if some papers needed notarization or legalization not not, would DNA tests would be required to confirm the father for the child in case of doubt.

2. What is the authority that issue birth certificate in Vietnam?

When a child between a foreigner and a Vietnamese is born in Vietnam, according to the regulation on the registration and management of civil status, the Department of Justice will be the Vietnam government agency issuing the birth certificate.

The parents need to fill in the standard forms and provide the birth documents from hospital, marriage status documents, personal identification papers and other supporting documents depending on various situations so as the government offices could check and validate.

In cases where parents choose foreign nationality for the child, they must obtain the agreement of the parents about the choice of nationality. The valid agreement of the parents about the choice of nationality shall be certified by the local authority.  

After receiving an application dossier for birth certificate for newborn in Vietnam, civil status officials of the Department of Justice records in the birth registration and original birth certificate. The director of the Department of Justice shall sign and issue an original birth certificate for the newborn.  Copies of birth certificates are issued at the request of the applicant.

For children born out of wedlock, if the father is not identified, the information about the father in the birth registration book and birth certificate are left blank. When the father officially agrees to recognize father for a child, he has to carry out the procedure at the Vietnam’s provincial Department of Justice.  The birth certificate could also be revised to reflect the father’s details into the new birth certificate.  This birth certificate will be very important when the father applies foreign citizenship for the child.

The child can be named according to parental choice to be recorded on the birth certificate in Vietnam.

How a law firm could help the client to get a birth certificate in Vietnam?

Most of the time, the application for birth certificate could be done by parents themselves.  But for children born out of cross marriage, there could be challenges as mentioned above.  The challenges arisen might be from the lacking of understanding or the unclear regulations or the difference of cultures, practices, languages.  The lawyers in Vietnam could evaluate the situations and assist the client to prepare the documents according to the requirements of law, go through the procedures of notarization and translation if needed, and assist the client in explaining the situation to the government officer.

About ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam

We help clients overcome cultural barriers and achieve their strategic and financial outcomes, while ensuring the best interest rate protection, risk mitigation and regulatory compliance. ANT lawyers has lawyers in Ho Chi Minh city, Hanoi,  and Danang, and will help customers in doing business in Vietnam.