Chương II Thông tư 04/2020/TT-BTP: Hướng dẫn đăng ký một số việc hộ tịch

Chapter II

GUIDELINES ON REGISTRATION OF SOME VITAL EVENTS

Section 1. BIRTH REGISTRATION

Article 6. Contents of birth registration

Contents of birth registration are provided for by regulations in Clause 1 Article 14 of the Law on Civil Status, Clause 1 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and the following guidelines:

1. The last name, ethnicity and full name of the child must be determined in compliance with regulations of laws and in a manner that honors national identity and fine traditions and customs of Vietnam; the name shall not be too long or hard to use.

2. In case the parents fail to reach an agreement on the last name, ethnicity and native place of their child upon birth registration, the last name, ethnicity and native place of the child shall be determined according to customs but the child must take on the last name, ethnicity and native place of the mother or the father.

Article 7. Birth registration involving foreign elements

1. The contents of a birth registration application for a child born overseas to a Vietnamese father or mother or to Vietnamese father and mother, having no overseas birth registration and residing in Vietnam is provided for by regulations in Article 29 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and the following guidelines:

a) Documentary evidences of the child’s lawful entry into Vietnam and residence in Vietnam per regulations in Clause 2 Article 29 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, including a documentary evidence of the child’s lawful entry into Vietnam (such as passport, documents enabling international travel bearing an entry stamp from an immigration authority) and a written confirmation from the competent public security authority that the child is living in Vietnam.

b) The child’s Vietnamese citizenship shall be determined as prescribed in Vietnam's laws on citizenship upon birth registration.

2. In case the child’s parent chooses a foreign citizenship for the child upon birth registration, besides the written consent to such choosing, a confirmation that such choosing conforms to the foreign country's law from the competent authority of the foreign country is required. If there is no confirmation from the competent foreign authority, the civil registration authority shall register the child’s birth but leave the nationality section in the birth certificate and birth register blank.

Article 8. Birth registration for persons possessing personal documents

1. Each commune-level People’s Committee shall handle birth registration of Vietnamese citizens living in its commune and born before January 01, 2016 with no birth registration but possessing personal documents (authentic copies or legitimate copies) such as identity documents provided for in Clause 1 Article 2 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP; family registry; temporary residence registry; other documents issued by competent Vietnamese authorities and organizations.

2. The People's Committee of the district where an overseas Vietnamese lives before they go abroad shall handle their birth registration if they have no birth registration and possess the personal documents mentioned in Clause 1 herein and stating their place of birth as Vietnam.

3. A birth registration application for the cases provided for in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall include a birth registration application, a confirmation that birth registration has not been done; and the documents listed in Points b and c Clause 1 Article 26 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP.

Birth registration procedure and contents are provided for in Clause 2, Clause 3 and Clause 5 Article 26 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and Clauses 3 and 4 Article 9 and Article 10 of this Circular.

Article 9. Documents providing bases for birth re-registration

Documents providing bases for birth re-registration mentioned in Point b Clause 1 Article 26 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP include:

1. A copy of the birth certificate lawfully issued by the competent Vietnamese authority.

2. The authentic copy or a copy of a replacement of the birth certificate issued before 1945 in the North and before 1975 in the South.

3. In case an applicant for birth re-registration does not have the documents mentioned in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article, the following documents, lawfully issued by competent Vietnamese authorities, may provide the bases for birth re-registration:

a) Identity card or passport;

b) Family registry, temporary residence registry, documentary evidences of place of residence;

c) Degrees, certificates, school report book, school records issued or confirmed by competent authorities;

d) Other documents containing full name and date of birth of the applicant.

The applicant shall submit copies of all of the abovementioned documents (if any) and a confirmation that they have submitted all available documents; and take responsibilities and consequences arising if the confirmation is untruthful as per regulations in Article 5 of this Circular.

4. If documents submitted by an applicant for birth re-registration do not contain proof of parent-child relationship, the civil registration authority shall request the competent public security authority to confirm in writing.

If the public security authority has no information to provide, the civil registration authority shall request the applicant to draw up a written confirmation of accuracy of information on their parents according to regulations in Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular and determine the birth registration contents based on such confirmation.

Article 10. Determination of birth re-registration contents

1. In case an applicant for birth re-registration has the documents required according to Clause 4 Article 26 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and Clauses 1 and 2 Article 9 of this Circular, the birth re-registration contents shall be determined based on such documents.

2. At the time of birth re-registration, if there is any change to information on the applicant’s parent or the applicant themselves contained in the documents mentioned in Clause 1 herein, the applicant shall present valid documentary evidences of such change. If such change complies with regulations of laws, birth re-registration contents shall be determined based on the new information; and the outdated information shall be written on the back of the birth certificate and in the Remark section in the birth register.

If the mother or father of the applicant has passed away, “Deceased” shall be written in the Place of residence field in the birth register and birth certificate.

If the name of an administrative location written in issued documents has changed, the current name shall be used and the previous name shall be written on the back of the birth certificate and in the Remark section of the birth register.

Section 2. MARRIAGE REGISTRATION AND ISSUANCE OF MARITAL STATUS CERTIFICATE

Article 11. Marriage registration involving foreign elements

1. Applications for marriage registration shall be verified as per regulations in Clause 2 Article 38 of the Law on Civil Status and Clause 1 Article 31 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP as follows:

Within 10 working days starting from the date of receipt of the adequate application, the district-level justice authority shall review and appraise the application for marriage registration. If there is any complaint or denunciation that the marriage conditions have not been fulfilled according to regulations in the Law on Marriage and Family or it is deemed that some issue concerning the record of the male or female partner or a document in the application needs to be clarified, the district-level justice authority shall cooperate with relevant authorities in verification.

During the investigation and verification process, if necessary, the district-level justice authority may meet the parties in person to clarify their records, whether they enter into the marriage voluntarily and the marriage purpose.

2. In case Vietnamese citizens granted a residence permit by the competent foreign authority wish to marry each other or marry Vietnamese citizens living in Vietnam, district-level People's Committees have the competence in handling their marriage registration as per Article 37 of the Law on Civil Status.

3. Documentary evidences of marital status of foreigners must be issued by competent authorities of their home countries.

Article 12. Issuance of marital status certificate

Issuance of the marital status certificate is provided for by regulations in Articles 21, 22 and 23 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and the following guidelines:

1. If an applicant wishes to be reissued with the marital status certificate to get married but could not submit the old marital status certificate, the applicant shall provide the reason they could not submit it. Within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the application, the civil registration authority shall verify with the authority of the locality where the applicant planned to register their marriage in writing. If the civil registration authority could not verify or receive the verification result, the civil registration authority shall allow the applicant to draw up a confirmation of their marital status according to regulations in Articles 4 and 5 herein.

2. The marital status certificate shall remain valid until the time at which the marital status is changed or for 06 months starting from the date of issuance, whichever comes first.

Example: a marital status certificate was issued on February 03, 2020 but, on February 10, 2020, the certificate holder registered their marriage, so the certificate was only valid until February 10, 2020.

3. In case an applicant wishes to use the marital status certificate for marriage purpose, the civil registration authority shall issue only one copy to the applicant. The marital status certificate shall contain the full name, year of birth, nationality and identity documents of the applicant, and the locality where the applicant plans to register their marriage.

Example: this certificate is issued for getting married to Mr. Nguyen Viet K, born in 1962, Vietnamese citizen, passport No. B123456 issued by Embassy of Vietnam in Germany on February 01, 2020; by the People’s Committee of Hoai Duc district, Hanoi.

This certificate is issued for getting married to Mr. KIM JONG DOEK, born in 1970, South Korean citizen, passport No. HQ12345 issued by the competent South Korean authority on February 02, 2020; at the premises of the competent South Korean authority in South Korea.

4. In case an applicant wishes to use the marital status certificate for a purpose besides marriage, the applicant is not required to meet the marriage conditions; the marital status certificate shall specify its use and that it may not be used for getting married. The certificate shall be issued in the amount requested by the applicant.

Example: this certificate is issued for house selling procedures and may not be used for marriage registration.

5. Civil registration authorities may reject applications for marital status certificates that are to be used for same-sex marriage or marriage to a foreigner on the premises of a foreign representative mission in Vietnam.

Section 3. DEATH REGISTRATION AND PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP RECOGNITION

Article 13. Death registration

Death registration is provided for by Section 7 Chapter II of the Law on Civil Status and the following guidelines:

1. The applicant for registration of a death that happened a long time ago without a death notice or an equivalent document per regulations in Clause 2 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP shall provide documents/evidences issued by the competent authority or a valid confirmation of the death.

2. The civil registration authority may reject death registration applications that do not include any document or evidence required by Clause 1 of this Article or sufficient documents or evidences.

Article 14. Proof of parent-child relationship

Proof of parent-child relationship according to regulations in Clause 1 Article 25 and Clause 1 Article 44 of the Law on Civil Status includes one of the following documents:

1. Written confirmation of the father-child or mother-child relationship from a competent domestic or foreign regulatory body, organization, health authority or testing authority.

2. In case there is no proof of the parent-child relationship per regulations in Clause 1 herein, the parent and child shall draw up a confirmation of their parent-child relationship according to regulations in Article 5 herein with at least 2 witness of their parent-child relationship.

Article 15. Birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition

1. If a birth registration is combined with parent-child relationship recognition, the People’s Committee of the commune where the mother or father lives shall handle the application.

In case a birth registration is combined with parent-child relationship recognition where one parent is a foreigner or an overseas Vietnamese, the People's Committee of the district where the Vietnamese parent lives shall handle the application.

2. An application for birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition consists of:

a) A birth registration application and an application for parent-child relationship recognition made using the prescribed forms;

b) A certificate of live birth or an equivalent document per regulations in Clause 1 Article 16 of the Law on Civil Status;

c) Proof of parent-child relationship according to regulations in Article 14 of this Circular.

3. Commune-level People’s Committees shall handle applications for birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition following the procedures prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 Article 16 and Article 25 of the Law on Civil Status; and district-level People’s Committees shall handle applications for birth registration in combination with parent-child relationship recognition following the procedures prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 Article 36 and Article 44 of the Law on Civil Status.

Contents of birth registration shall be determined according to regulations in Clause 1 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and Article 6 of this Circular. The birth certificate and extract of the parent-child relationship recognition document shall be issued to the applicant concurrently.

Article 16. Parent-child relationship recognition and civil status revision in some special cases

1. In case a man and a woman cohabit and have a child without marriage registration and the child lives with the father, if the father cannot contact the mother upon application for father-child relationship recognition, the mother’s opinion may be excluded from the application for father-child relationship recognition.

If the certificate of live birth and personal documents of the mother are available, the mother field shall be filled out based on the certificate of live birth and personal documents of the mother. Otherwise, this field shall be filled out based on information provided by the father; and the father shall take responsibility for such information.

2. In case the wife gives birth to a child before marriage registration, the birth is registered without the father’s information and the couple have a document recognizing the child as their common child, an application for civil status revision shall be submitted instead of an application for father-child relationship recognition to add the father’s information to the birth register and birth certificate of the child.

3. In case the wife gives birth to a child before marriage registration without birth registration and, upon birth registration, the couple has a document recognizing the child as their common child, the father’s information shall be added to the child’s birth certificate immediately without applying for father-child relationship recognition.

Legal consequences and liabilities arising from provision of untruthful information on the mother and common child recognition document per Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article are provided for in Article 5 of this Circular.

4. People’s Courts shall decide cases where the wife gives birth or is pregnant during the marriage period but the wife or husband does not recognize the child as their common child or another person wishes to recognize the child as their own as per the law.

If the People’s Court rejects such a case, the civil registration authority shall receive and handle the application for registration of the birth of a child with unknown father or application for father-child relationship recognition, which shall include a written rejection from the Court and proof of the father-child relationship mentioned in Clause 1 Article 14 of this Circular.

Section 4. CIVIL STATUS INFORMATION REVISION, CORRECTION AND CHANGE

Article 17. Civil status correction

1. Civil status shall be changed only upon detection of a mistake in civil registration; contents of a civil status document lawfully issued to officialize contents of another personal document  shall not be corrected.

2. A mistake in civil registration must be attributed to the civil registration applicant or the civil registration authority.

3. The regulatory body where a death is registered has the power to correct death registration contents at the request of the person responsible for registering the death according to regulations in Article 33 of the Law on Civil Status.

Article 18. Civil status information revision

1. Civil status documents mentioned in Clause 2 Article 75 of the Law on Civil Status remain valid and do not need to be revised based on the existing civil status forms.

2. Civil status documents lawfully issued from January 01, 2016 may add missing civil status information if there are proofs lawfully issued by competent authorities/organizations.

Vietnamese citizenship shall be added to civil status documents issued from January 01, 2016 after it has been confirmed that the applicant has Vietnamese citizenship as per regulations of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship.

3. In case a birth registered before January 01, 2016 lacks a date/month of birth in the birth certificate/birth register, the date/month of birth may be added based on the certificate of live birth or written confirmation of the healthcare establishment where the birth took place.

If there is no certificate of live birth or written confirmation of the healthcare establishment, the date/ month of birth shall be determined as follows:

a) If the individual’s personal documents have a consistent date/month of birth, this date/month shall be used.

If the individual’s personal documents have no consistent date/month of birth, the date/month on the document confirmed to be valid or issued first shall be chosen.

b) If the individual have no personal document or their personal documents contain no date/month of birth, they may draw up a confirmation of their date/month of birth according to regulations in Article 5 of this Circular.

c) If the date and month of birth could not be determined following the guidelines in Points a and b herein, January 01 of the birth year shall be chosen; if the birth month could be determined but not the birth date, the first of the birth month shall be chosen as the birth date.

4. In case the authority revising the civil status information is not the original civil registration authority, after revision is completed, a written notification and a copy of the civil status extract shall be sent to the original civil registration authority to have the new information added to the civil register; if the original civil registration authority is a representative mission, the notification shall be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Article 19. Change and revision of civil status information of adopted children

1. After the child is adopted, at the request of the adoptive parent(s), the People's Committee of the locality where the child’s birth was registered or where the child lives shall change the child’s civil status according to regulations in Articles 26, 27, 28 and 46 of the Law on Civil Status.

2. If the adopted child is an abandoned child or a child with unknown biological parents, at the request of the adoptive parent(s), the People's Committee of the locality where the child’s birth was registered or where the child lives shall add information of the adoptive parent(s) to the father/mother field in the birth certificate and birth register; and “adoptive parent(s)" must be included in the Remark section of the birth register.

3. If a step-child is adopted by the step-father or step-mother and the father/mother field in the birth certificate and birth register is empty, the People's Committee of the locality where the child’s birth was registered or where the child lives shall add information of the step-father or step-mother to the father/mother field in the birth certificate and birth register; and “adoptive father" or “adoptive mother” must be included in the Remark section of the birth register.

If the father and mother fields in the birth certificate and birth register are filled out, at the request of the adoptive father or mother, the People's Committee of the locality where the child’s birth was registered or where the adopted child lives shall replace the father or mother’s information in the birth certificate and birth register with information on the step-father or step-mother; and “adoptive father" or “adoptive mother” must be included in the Remark section of the birth register.

Article 20. Civil status information revision, correction and change and ethnicity re-determination in some special cases

1. Competence in civil status information revision, correction and change and ethnicity re-determination for vital events registered at Departments of Justice:

a) If the applicant is an overseas Vietnamese, the People's Committee of the district where the applicant lives before going abroad has the power to change, correct and revise their civil status information and redetermine their ethnicity;

b) If the applicant is a foreigner residing in Vietnam, the People's Committee of the district where the applicant lives has the power to correct and revise their civil status information.

c) If the applicant is a foreigner not residing in Vietnam, the People's Committee of the district where the Department of Justice that registered the applicant’s civil events is located has the power to correct and revise civil status information.

After civil status information revision, correction or change or ethnicity re-determination is completed, the district-level People's Committee shall send a notification and a copy of the civil status extract to the Department of Justice for noting in the civil register as regulated.

2. In case an applicant for civil status information revision, correction or change or ethnicity re-determination no longer has the authentic copies of civil status documents or the civil registration authority no longer keeps the civil register, the civil registration authority may receive and handle the application as per regulations.

After issuing the extract of civil status information revision, correction or change or ethnicity re-determination to the applicant, the official in-charge of civil status  tasks shall record the changed, corrected or revised civil status information or re-determined ethnicity in the Remark section of the civil register or on the back of the authentic copy of the civil status document as regulated.

Section 5. RECORDING CIVIL STATUS CHANGES PER JUDGMENTS AND DECISIONS OF COMPETENT AUTHORITIES IN CIVIL REGISTERS; RECORDING VITAL EVENTS OF VIETNAMESE CITIZENS RESOLVED BY COMPETENT FOREIGN AUTHORITIES IN CIVIL REGISTERS; AND ISSUANCE OF CIVIL STATUS EXTRACT COPIES

Article 21. Recording civil status changes per judgments and decisions of competent authorities in civil registers

1. Upon receipt of a notification and enclosed judgment extract or decision copy concerning change of civil status of an individual, the civil registration authority  shall record such change in the civil register according to regulations in Clause 1 Article 30 of the Law on Civil Status; if the civil register is retained by the superior civil status managing authority, send a notification and a photocopy of the judgment extract or decision copy to this managing authority to have such change recorded in the civil register.

2. In case the civil registration authority has not received a notification and enclosed judgment extract or decision copy but is provided with a valid and effective judgment extract or decision copy by the individual whose civil status information is subject to change, the civil registration authority shall record such change in the civil register according to regulations in Clause 1 herein, and note such change on the back of the authentic copy of the civil status document. In case the authority making the note is not the one registering the individual’s civil status, the former shall note such change on the back of the authentic copy of the civil status document and send a photocopy of the judgment extract or decision copy to the latter have such change recorded in the civil register.

Article 22. Recording vital events of Vietnamese citizens resolved by competent foreign authorities in civil registers

1. If a Vietnamese citizen born overseas and having their birth registered at the competent foreign authority wishes to have their birth recorded in the civil registers, the civil registration authority shall record their birth in the civil register and issue an extract of the birth registration recorded in the civil register and a copy of the birth certificate to the applicant.

2. If a Vietnamese citizen not residing in Vietnam wishes to have their divorce recorded in the civil register so as to register their new marriage at the competent Vietnamese authority, they shall submit an application to the People's Committee of the district where they registered their previous marriage or where they register their new marriage.

Article 23. Issuance of civil status extract copies

1. A civil status registration and management authority that keeps civil registers or manages the electronic civil status database has the power to issue civil status extract copies. Contents of civil status extract copies must be consistent with information in civil registers. Any field in the form of the civil status extract copy that has no information available in civil registers or the electronic civil status database shall be left blank.

2. If the old civil register records age, the civil registration authority shall determine and record the corresponding birth year in the Remark section of the civil register and issue the civil status extract copy.

Example: The 1975 birth register record the father’s age as 25 years old and the mother’s age as 23 years old, which means the father’s birth year is 1950 and the mother’s birth year is 1952.

3. In case an individual has their civil status information changed, corrected or revised, their ethnicity re-determined, a civil status change per a judgment or decision of the competent authority recorded in a civil register, or a vital event of Vietnamese citizens resolved by the competent foreign authority recorded in a civil register, information in the birth certificate copy and civil status extract copy shall be revised based on the information written in the Remark section of the civil register.

If an applicant applies for issuance of a marriage records extract copy but a civil status change per an effective divorce decision or judgment is recorded in the marriage register or a divorce resolved by a competent foreign authority is recorded in a civil register, the Remark section of the marriage records extract copy shall state: divorced per Judgment/Decision No. [judgment/decision number] dated [date] by the Court of [name of court].

Section 6. MOBILE BIRTH REGISTRATION, DEATH REGISTRATION AND MARRIAGE REGISTRATION

Article 24. Cases of mobile birth registration, death registration and marriage registration

1. In case a child is born to parents with a physical disability or illness that renders them unable to register the child’s birth or to parents in temporary detention or in prison and the child has no maternal or paternal grandparents or other relatives or these persons cannot register the child’s birth, the commune-level People’s Committee shall register the birth in a mobile manner.

In case a deceased person does not have any relatives or their relatives do not live in the same commune, or are old or weak, or have physical disabilities and cannot register their death, the commune-level People’s Committee shall register their death in a mobile manner.

In case both the male and female partners live in the same commune but one or both of them have a physical disability or illness that renders them unable to register their marriage, the People’s Committee of their commune shall register their marriage in a mobile manner.

2. Besides the cases provided for in Clause 1 of this Article, depending on the actual situation of each commune, commune-level People’s Committee shall decide to register births, deaths and  marriages in a mobile manner.

3. Commune-level People’s Committees shall allocate time, funding and work force for mobile civil registration according to regulations in Clauses 1 and 2 herein in a suitable way, ensuring all births, deaths and marriages are registered.

Article 25. Mobile birth registration and death registration procedures

1. The commune-level official in charge of justice - civil status affairs assigned the task of mobile birth registration and death registration shall prepare all necessary application forms and specimen civil status documents and ensure conditions for mobile registration at people’s houses or a mobile registration point, ensuring people’s convenience.

At the mobile civil registration point, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall instruct applicants to fill out application forms; check documents acting as the bases for birth registration and death registration per the Law on Civil Status, Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP and this Circular; and draw up application receipt confirmations. The result of a mobile birth/death registration application shall be announced no later than 05 working days from the date of receipt.

2. Within 02 working days from the date of receipt of an application according to Clause 1 herein, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall submit the civil status documents to the Chairperson of the commune-level People’s Committee for signature and record registration contents in the appropriate civil register.

3. Within 05 working days per regulations in Clause 1 herein, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall bring the civil status documents and civil register to announce the result to the applicant at the mobile registration point; instruct people to put their signatures and full names to the civil register as regulated; and write "Mobile registration" in the Remark section of the civil register.

4. If the applicant is illiterate, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall fill out the application form directly and then read it aloud to the applicant and instruct the applicant to append their fingerprints to the application form. When announcing the civil registration result, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall read the civil status documents to the applicant and instruct them to append their fingerprints to the civil register.

These regulations are also applicable to the mobile marriage registration procedure provided for in Article 26 of this Circular.

Article 26. Mobile marriage registration procedure

1. The commune-level official in charge of justice - civil status affairs assigned the task of mobile marriage registration and death registration shall prepare all necessary application forms and specimen civil status documents and ensure conditions for mobile registration. At the mobile civil registration point, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall inspect and verify the marriage conditions of all parties; instruct people to fill out marriage registration application forms; and draw up application receipt confirmations. The result of a mobile marriage registration application shall be announced no later than 05 working days from the date of receipt.

2. Within 05 working days per regulations in Clause 1 herein, if all parties meet the marriage conditions according to regulations in the Law on Marriage and Family, the official in charge of justice - civil status affairs shall submit the marriage certificate to the Chairperson of the Commune-level People’s Committee for signature and then give the marriage certificate to the parties at the mobile registration point.