Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 38/CP of June 4, 1993 on the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 104/1998/ND-CP of December 31, 1998 detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality;

The Ministry of Justice hereby guides the granting of non-Vietnamese nationality certificates as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The non-Vietnamese nationality certificates shall be granted to foreigners permanently residing in Vietnam and those temporarily residing in Vietnam for 6 months or more (hereafter referred to as the foreigners residing in Vietnam) upon their applications in order to certify that such persons have never held Vietnamese nationality.

2. The People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities (hereafter referred to as the provincial/municipal People’s Committees) where the concerned foreigners reside are competent to grant non-Vietnamese nationality certificates.

3. When filing the application for a non-Vietnamese nationality certificate, the applicant shall have to pay a fee. The fee collection and payment level, the management and use of the fee for granting of non-Vietnamese nationality certificates shall comply with provisions of Joint Circular No. 08/1998/TTLT/BTC-BTP-BNG of December 31, 1998 of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

II. PROCEDURES AND ORDER FOR GRANTING NON-VIETNAMESE NATIONALITY CERTIFICATES

1. The applicants for non-Vietnamese nationality certificates shall have to make applications according to the form set by the Ministry of Justice, in which the purpose(s) of application for non-Vietnamese nationality certificate must be clearly stated.

An application for non-Vietnamese nationality certificate must be enclosed with the following papers:

a) A certified photocopy of the applicant’s passport or other valid papers of substitute value;

b) A certified duplicate or photocopy of the applicant’s birth certificate or other papers certifying his/her date of birth;

c) Papers certifying the nationality(ies) of the applicant’s parents if the papers specified in Points a and b above do not contain such information;

d) The applicant’s affirmation that he/she has not been naturalized in Vietnam.

The above-said papers, if granted by competent agencies of a foreign country, must be consularly legalized and translated into Vietnamese, and such translations must be legally certified.

2. In cases where parents file an application for non-Vietnamese nationality certificate for their under-15 child, the papers specified in Section II.1.a and c of this Circular and the lawfully certified duplicate or photocopy of the child’s birth certificate are required.

3. The application and enclosed papers specified in Section II.1 and 2 of this Circular must be made in two (02) dossier sets and submitted to the Justice Service of the province or city where the applicant resides. Upon filing his/her application, the applicant shall have to produce the originals of the papers specified in Section II.1.a and b of this Circular for checking.

4. The order for granting a non-Vietnamese nationality certificate shall be effected as follows:

a) Within 30 days after receiving the complete and valid dossiers and collecting the fee, the provincial/municipal Justice Service shall have to verify such dossiers and, in case of necessity, check the list of persons who have been naturalized in Vietnam. If it deems that the dossiers are complete, the applicants’ declarations, certifications and papers are truthful and the applicants have never held Vietnamese nationality, the provincial/municipal Justice Service shall request in writing the president of the provincial/municipal People’s Committee to consider and grant non-Vietnamese nationality certificates to the applicants.

Right after the president of the provincial/municipal People’s Committee signs the non-Vietnamese nationality certificates, the provincial/municipal Justice Service shall hand or send such certificates to the applicants.

In cases where an applicant’s personal status and nationality(ies) involve complicated factors which must be further verified and clarified, the provincial/municipal Justice Service shall send to the provincial Police one (01) dossier set together with a written request for the latter’s coordination in the verification. In these cases, the above-said time limit shall be 60 days.

b) In cases where the president of the provincial/municipal People’s Committee decides not to grant non-Vietnamese nationality certificate to the applicant, the provincial/municipal People’s Committee shall have to notify it to the applicant in writing; if the applicant disagrees with such decision, he/she may file a complaint thereabout according to the provisions of the legislation on complaints.

c) Once every 3 months, the provincial/municipal Justice Service shall report to the Ministry of Justice on the situation of granting non-Vietnamese nationality certificates (together with the granting of certificates of Vietnamese nationality and certificates of Vietnamese nationality loss).

III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

1. This Circular takes effect 15 days after its signing.

2. Any problems arising in the course of implementation of this Circular shall be reported by the provincial/municipal Justice Services to the Ministry of Justice for further guidance.

Minister of Justice