Chương III Thông tư 04/2020/TT-BTP: Mẫu giấy tờ, sổ hộ tịch; hướng dẫn quản lý, sử dụng giấy tờ, sổ hộ tịch

Chapter III

SPECIMEN CIVIL STATUS DOCUMENTS AND CIVIL REGISTERS; GUIDELINES FOR MANAGEMENT AND USE OF CIVIL STATUS DOCUMENTS AND CIVIL REGISTERS

Section 1. SPECIMEN CIVIL STATUS DOCUMENTS AND CIVIL REGISTERS

Article 27. Specimen civil status documents and civil registers

1. Enclosed with this Circular are:

a) List of civil status documents printed and distributed by the Ministry of Justice (Appendix 1);

b) List of civil registers printed and distributed by the Ministry of Justice (Appendix 2);

c) List of civil status documents uploaded onto the web portal of the Ministry of Justice and permitted for print and use by civil registration authorities (Appendix 3);

d) List of civil registers uploaded onto the web portal of the Ministry of Justice and permitted for print and use by civil registration authorities (Appendix 4);

dd) List of civil registration application forms uploaded onto the web portal of the Ministry of Justice and permitted for print and use by civil registration authorities and citizens (Appendix 5);

2. Standards for size, colors and technical details of specimen civil status documents and civil registers are provided for in Appendixes enclosed with this Circular.

Article 28. Competence in printing and distribution of specimen civil status documents and civil registers

1. The Ministry of Justice has the power to print and distribute birth certificates (authentic copy and copy), marriage certificates (authentic copy), birth registers, marriage registers and death registers included in the lists provided for in Points a and b Clause 1 Article 27 of this Circular.

Departments of Justice shall contact the Ministry of Justice to obtain blank civil status documents and civil registers and take responsibility if affiliated civil registration authorities use specimen civil status documents and civil registers not distributed by the Ministry of Justice.

2. Civil registration authorities using the shared civil status registration and management software may be provided with specimen birth certificates (authentic copy and copy) and marriage certificates (authentic copy) included in the lists provided for in Point a Clause 1 Article 27 of this Circular.

3. Civil registration authorities may print and use specimen civil status extracts (authentic copy and copy) included in the list provided for in Point c Clause 1 Article 27 of this Circular; and specimen civil registration application forms included in the list provided for in Point dd Clause 1 Article 27 of this Circular, which are uploaded onto the web portal of the Ministry of Justice (at www.moj.gov.vn).

Civil registration applicants may print and use specimen civil registration application forms available on the web portal of the Ministry of Justice. If an applicant cannot print the necessary application form, the civil registration authority shall print and give the form to the applicant free of charge.

4. Civil registration authorities may print and use specimen civil registers included in the list provided for in Point d Clause 1 Article 27 of this Circular, which are uploaded onto the web portal of the Ministry of Justice (at www.moj.gov.vn).

If a domestic civil registration authority cannot print specimen civil registers, the supervisory Department of Justice shall print and distribute these specimens to the  civil registration authority  or contact the Ministry of Justice to obtain these specimens.

5. Civil registration authorities shall take responsibility for use of civil status documents and civil registers printed and/or distributed against the regulations in this Circular.

Section 2. GUIDELINES FOR FILLING IN CIVIL REGISTERS AND CIVIL STATUS DOCUMENTS; OPENING AND CLOSING CIVIL REGISTERS; AND ARCHIVING AND PRESERVATION OF CIVIL REGISTERS

Article 29. How to fill in civil registers and civil status documents

1. Commune-level officials in charge of justice - civil status affairs, officials in charge of civil status affairs of district-level justice authorities, and members of diplomatic missions and consular posts (hereinafter collectively referred to as “civil status officials”) shall accurately fill in civil registers and civil status documents themselves with clear handwriting, no acronyms or erasing; using quality ink of one color; and avoiding using different ink colors and red ink.

Civil status documents printed using information technology must be printed with quality black ink and ensure that the letters are not blurry, missing strokes or fading.

2. Every civil register must be fan stamped from the first page to the last page after it is opened. The register shall be filled in page after page, leaving no page blank.

3. Annual registers must be filled in continuously from entry number 01 to the end of the year. If a register is completely filled in before the year ends, start a new register and continue from the last entry number of the old register instead of starting from number 01.

If a register is not completely filled in by the end of the year, the civil registration authority may continue using this register for the following year after register closing per regulations.

4. The number written on a civil status document of an individual must be consistent with the number written in the corresponding civil register according to regulations in Clause 3 herein.

5. Columns and sections in civil registers and civil status documents must be fully and accurately filled in according to guidelines in the civil registers and in this Circular; the Gregorian calendar shall be used.

6. Civil status changes per judgments and decisions of competent authorities shall be recorded in civil registers as follows:

a) Citizenship change shall be recorded in the Remark section of birth registers; such change shall also be recorded in the Remark section of other civil registers containing vital records of individuals undergoing such change;

b) Parent-child identification shall be recorded in the Remark section of the birth register of the child;

c) Sex re-assignment shall be recorded in the Remark section of the birth register of the person undergoing sex re-assignment;

d) Adoption and termination of adoption shall be recorded in adoption registers and in the Remark section of birth registers;

dd) Divorces, annulment of unlawful marriages and marriage recognition shall be recorded in the Remark section of marriage registers;

e) Guardianship recognition shall be recorded in guardianship registers;

g) Missing person declarations and declarations of a legally incapacitated person or person with limited capacity of exercise or cancellation of such declarations shall be recorded in the Remark section of birth registers;

h) Declarations and cancellation of declarations of death shall be recorded in death registers.

7. Vital events of Vietnamese citizens resolved by competent foreign authorities shall be recorded in civil registers as follows:

a) Births shall be recorded in birth registers;

b) Marriages shall be recorded in marriage registers;

c) Guardianships shall be recorded in guardianship registers;

d) Recognition of parent-child relationships and parent-child identification shall be recorded in parent-child relationship recognition registers. If the child's birth has been registered in Vietnam, the district-level People’s Committee shall request the authority registering the birth to add a remark to the birth register;

dd) Adoptions shall be recorded in adoption registers;

e) Civil status changes shall be recorded in registers of civil status information change, correction and revision and ethnicity re-determination with remarks added to registers of other vital events;

g) Divorces and marriage annulments shall be recorded in divorce remark registers. If a previous marriage remark or marriage registration is done by a competent Vietnamese authority, the district-level People’s Committee shall request the authority registering the marriage or making the marriage remark to add another remark to the marriage register;

h) Deaths shall be recorded in death registers.

8. Civil status registration and management authorities archiving civil registers shall fill in civil registers according to regulations in Clause 6 of this Article immediately upon receipt of judgments and decisions.

If a civil register is archived at 2 levels, the civil status registration and management authority receiving the judgment or decision shall fill in the civil register and then notify the other authority where the civil register is archived to have the civil register updated, ensuring consistency.

9. Civil registers must be filled in based on civil status documents and applications for registration of vital events of Vietnamese citizens resolved by competent foreign authorities; if a field in a civil register lacks information from civil status documents, it shall be left blank; and information available in civil status documents without a corresponding field in the civil register shall be added to the Remark section of the civil register.

If a field in a civil status documents or civil register is to be filled with unconfirmed civil status information, it shall be left blank without any crossing out or mark.

Article 30. How to fill in names of administrative locations in civil status documents and civil registers upon changes

1. Upon change to the name of an administrative location, the administrative location field in civil status documents and civil registers shall contain the name used at the time of application.

2. Civil status extract copies shall contain the administrative location names written in civil registers.

Article 31. How to fill in birth certificates and birth registers

1. Last name, middle name and first name of the person whose birth is registered must be capitalized with all tone marks.

2. Date of birth of the person whose birth is registered must be written in both numbers and words.

3. The Place of birth field shall be filled in as follows:

a) If the child is born in a hospital, maternity ward, healthcare station or healthcare establishment (hereinafter collectively referred to as “health facility”), the name of the health facility and address of the premises of the health facility shall be filled in.

b) If the child is not born in a health facility i.e., at home, on a vehicle, on the road, in a detention center or prison or at another location, the name of the administrative location where the child is born shall be filled in (fill in all 3 administrative levels).

c) If the child is born overseas, the place of birth shall be the city and country where the child is born; if the child is born in a federal state, the names of the city, state and country shall be filled in.

d) In case of birth re-registration without sufficient information on the place of birth, the name of the Vietnamese province or name of the foreign country shall be filled in (e.g., Vinh Phuc or United States).

4. The Place of residence field shall be filled in as follows:

a) If the person whose birth is registered is a Vietnamese citizen residing in Vietnam, the permanent address shall be filled in; if there is no permanent address, the temporary address shall be filled in; if there is no permanent or temporary address, the current address shall be filled in.

b) If the person whose birth is registered is a Vietnamese citizen living abroad, the permanent or temporary address in the foreign country shall be filled in.

5. The Personal documents of the person registering the birth field must include the type, number, issuer and date of issuance of each document.

6. The Place of birth registration shall include the exact name of the authority with competence in birth registration according to regulations of the Law on Civil Status. To be specific:

a) If the birth is registered at a commune-level People’s Committee, names of 3 administrative levels must be filled in (commune, district and province).

b) If the birth is registered at a district-level People’s Committee, names of 2 administrative levels must be filled in (district and province).

c) If the birth is registered at a representative mission of Vietnam in a foreign country, the name of the representative mission shall be filled in.

7. If the father or mother of the person whose birth is registered is a foreigner, their name shall be filled in as written in their passport or an equivalent document.

8. Foreign location and country names shall be translated into Vietnamese (e.g., “Cộng hòa Pháp” (“French Republic”), “Cộng hòa Liên bang Đức” (“Federal Republic of Germany”), “Hoa Kỳ” (“America”), etc.); if no Vietnamese translation is available, these names shall be romanized (e.g., Osaka, New York, etc.).

9. The Remark section on the back of the birth certificate  shall be used to record civil status information changes, correction and revision, ethnicity re-determination; civil status information changes per judgments and decisions of competent authorities, including the date, month and year of recording, changed civil status information and type, number, issuer and date of issuance of documents providing the basis for such recording.

10. Guidelines for filling in last name, middle name and first name, date, month and year, place of residence, personal documents, place of registration, location and country names and remarks of changes herein are also applicable to other types of civil registers and civil status documents to ensure consistency.

Article 32. How to fill in marriage certificates and marriage registers

1. The date, month and year of marriage registration shall be the date on which both the male and female partners are present to sign the marriage register and marriage certificate at the civil registration authority.

The marriage relationship shall be established at the time of marriage registration unless otherwise provided for in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. In case of marriage re-registration and registration of marriages of couples cohabiting before January 03, 1987 per regulations in Clause 2 Article 44 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, recognition of marriage relationship per regulations in Clause 2 Article 11 of the Law on Marriage and Family, and marriage registration per regulations in Article 13 of the Law on Marriage and Family, the date, month and year of marriage relationship establishment shall be written on the back of the marriage certificate.

In case of marriage re-registration and registration of marriages of couples cohabiting before January 03, 1987 with unknown date of previous marriage registration or date of establishment of cohabiting relationship, the first date of the month of the year of marriage registration or establishment of cohabiting relationship shall be chosen; in case of unknown date and month, January 01 of the year of previous marriage registration or establishment of cohabiting relationship shall be chosen.

Article 33. How to fill in marital status certificates and marital status certificate issuance registers

1. The Marital status field shall contain the applicant’s current marital status, which must be written in an honest manner. To be specific:

- If the applicant has never married, specify that the applicant is currently not married to anyone.

- If the applicant is married, specify that the applicant is currently married to Mrs./Mr. … (Marriage Certificate No. … issued by [name of issue] on [date of issuance]).

- If the applicant cohabited with another before January 03, 1987 and has not divorced or the spouse is not deceased or declared deceased, specify that the applicant is currently married to Mrs./Mr. …

- If the applicant had a marriage registered or cohabited with another before January 03, 1987 but has divorced and has not remarried, specify that the applicant had a marriage registered or was married but has divorced per Judgment/Decision No. … dated [date of issuance] by the People’s Court of …; and is currently not registering a marriage with anyone.

- If the applicant had a marriage registered or cohabited with another before January 03, 1987 but the spouse is deceased and has not remarried, specify that the applicant had a marriage registered or was married but the spouse is deceased (Death Certificate/Death Certificate Extract/Judgment No. … issued by [name of issuer] dated [date of issuance]); and is currently not registering a marriage with anyone.

- If a married applicant wishes to have the marital status prior to marriage registration certified, specify that from [date] to [date], the applicant was not married to anyone; and is currently married to Mrs./Mr. … (Marriage Certificate No. … issued by [name of issuer] on [date]).

2. For overseas Vietnamese who wish to have the marital status during their stay in Vietnam prior to traveling abroad certified, and persons with multiple past places of residence who wish to have the marital status during the time they lived in a place of residence certified, their marital status during such periods shall be specified.

Example: not married to anyone while living in Bong Lai commune, Que Vo district, Bac Ninh province from November 20, 1996 to March 04, 1998.

3. In case a Vietnamese applicant is issued with a marital status certificate by a representative mission while they reside overseas, the Place of residence field shall contain the applicant’s current address. The applicant’s marital status shall be determined based on civil registers and the electronic civil status database managed by the representative mission and written as prescribed in Clause 2 herein.

Article 34. How to fill in death certificate extracts and death registers

1. The Time of death field shall be filled in based on the death notice or an equivalent document mentioned in Clause 2 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, which must specify the hour, minute, date, month and year of death in numbers and in words; the hour and minute fields shall be left blank if they are unclear.

2. The Place of death shall contain the names of the health facility and administrative location where the premises of the health facility are located in case of death in health facility.

In case of death on vehicle, death due to accident, death in detention center, in prison, at execution location or on premises of a regulatory body or organization or unknown place of death, 3 administrative levels (commune, district and province) of the location where the decedent passes away or is found deceased shall be filled in.

3. The Cause of death section in the death register  shall be filled in based on the death notice or an equivalent document mentioned in Clause 2 Article 4 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP; this section shall be left blank if such document is unavailable or the cause of death is unclear.

4. The section about the death notice or an equivalent document must include its name; number and date of issuance and name of its issuer. If the commune-level People’s Committee with competence in registration of a death also takes responsibility for issuance of the death notice, the death notice is not required; and the section about the death notice in the death registration extract and death register shall be left blank.

Article 35. Correction when filling in civil registers and vital status documents

1. During civil registration, if there is any mistake in filling in a civil register, the civil status official shall cross out the wrong part and write the correct information above or next to it, and must not write over or erase the wrong part or write on an erased part.

If a mistake renders a page unusable, the civil status official shall cross out the page.

The Remark column of the civil register must contain the corrected contents; date of correction and signature and full name of the civil status official.

The civil status official shall report the correction to the head of the civil registration authority, who shall inspect and put a seal to the corrected contents for confirmation.

Civil status officials shall not erase, correct or revise contents written in civil registers without permission.

2. During civil registration, if there is any mistake in a civil status document, the civil status official shall discard such document and fill in a new one, and shall not issue any civil status document that has been corrected to people.

3. If a mistake is found after civil registration is completed as per the law, civil status shall be corrected as regulated.

Article 36. Opening and closing civil registers

Civil registers shall be opened and closed as follows:

1. Registers recording one type of vital event shall be numbered in the order in which they are used in a year starting from number 01.

Example: - Guardianship register, No. 01-TP/HT-2020-GH

- Parent-child relationship recognition register, No. 01-TP/HT-2020-CMC. Register opening date shall be the first date on which a vital event is recorded in the register.

Register closing date in case the register is used up before the year ends shall be the last date on which a vital event is recorded in the register; if the year ends and the register is not yet used up, the register closing date shall be December 31 of that year.

2. Civil status officials shall enumerate total number of vital events recorded in civil registers and number of corrections made according to regulations in Clause 1 Article 35 of this Circular and number of pages left blank (if any).

3. After enumeration per Clause 2 herein, civil status officials shall leave their full name and signature; and report to heads of their civil registration authorities for countersignature, full name and seal.

Article 37. Archiving of civil registers and civil registration applications

1. Civil registers and civil registration applications shall be permanently preserved and archived for people’s use and state management purpose.

2. Consular Departments, representative missions, commune-level People’s Committees, district-level People’s Committees and Departments of Justice shall archive, preserve and use civil registers as per the law; and take measures against storms, floods, humidity and termites to ensure safety.

Heads of civil registration authorities shall take responsibility for loss or misuse of or damage to civil registers.