Where do you need to go for civil status registration?
Which agency has the authority to register civil status? The responsibilities for civil status registration of each agency are specified by law as follows:
Civil status registration agencies
Civil status registration means that a competent state agency confirms or records in the civil status book the civil status events of an individual, which creates a legal basis for the State to protect the legitimate rights and interests of individuals and to perform the management of the population.
The civil status registration agencies are the People’s Committee at the commune level, the People’s Committee at the district level, Diplomatic missions, and consular missions of Vietnam in foreign countries (called representative offices)
Competence to register the civil status of the commune-level People’s Committee
According to Clause 1, Article 7 of the 2014 Law on Civil Status, the commune-level People’s Committees have the authority to register civil status in the following cases:
Registration of civil status events: Birth registration; marriage registration; Guardian registration; parent-child relationship registration; Death declaration for Vietnamese citizens residing in the country;
Registration of civil status changes and corrections for persons under 14 years old; supplementing civil status information for Vietnamese citizens residing in the country;
Record in the civil status book the change of civil status of an individual according to a judgment and decision of a competent state agency: Nationality change; parent-child relationship change; Gender reassignment; Adoption, termination of adoption; Divorce, annulment of illegal marriage, marital recognition; Guardianship recognition; Declare or cancel the declaration of a person missing, dead, lost or restricted in capacity for civil acts;
– To certify or record another civil status as required by law
– Birth registration for children born in Vietnam whose father or mother is a Vietnamese citizen permanently residing in the border area and the other is a citizen of a neighboring country living in the border area with Vietnam; marriage registration; parent-child registration for Vietnamese citizen permanently residing in the border area with a citizen of a neighboring country permanently residing in the border area with Vietnam; Death declaration for foreigners perpetually living in the border areas of Vietnam.
Competence to register the civil status of the district-level People’s Committees
According to Clause 2, Article 7 of the 2014 Law on Civil Status, district-level People’s Committees have the authority to register civil status in the following cases, except for birth registration for children born in Vietnam whose father or mother is a Vietnamese citizen permanently residing in the border area, and the other being a citizen of a neighboring country permanently domiciled in the border area with Vietnam; marriage registration or parent-child relationship registration of a Vietnamese citizen permanently residing in the border area with a citizen of a neighboring country permanently residing in the border area with Vietnam; Death declaration for foreigners permanently domiciled in the border areas of Vietnam.
Registration of civil status events: Birth registration; marriage registration; Guardian registration; parent-child relationship registration; Civil status change and correction, ethnicity re-determination, civil status information supplementation; Death declaration have foreign elements.
– Registration of civil status changes and corrections for Vietnamese citizens aged 14 years or older residing in the country; redefine ethnicity;
– Record in the civil status book the birth; marriage; divorce; annulment of marriage; Guardian; parent-child relationship; adoption; change of civil status; death of Vietnamese citizens which have been resolved and recoded by overseas competent institutions.
Competence to register the civil status of representative offices
According to the Article 2 of the Circular 02/2016/TTLT-BNG-BTP directs the registration and administration of civil status at Vietnam’s diplomatic and consular missions overseas, representative agencies are competent to register civil status in the following cases:
Representative agencies shall register civil status according to the provisions of Article 3 of the Law on civil status 2014, re-register births, marriages and deaths according to the requirements of the law; issue a copy of the civil status extract from the civil status book; issue certificates of marital status to Vietnamese citizens residing abroad.
