Minister of Justice, Ha Hung Cuong, cleared up some questions about the application process for Vietnamese citizenship during an online forum.
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| Minister of Justice, Ha Hung Cuong (R) |
Below are some frequently-asked-questions:
What does the application process for Vietnamese citizenship entail for stateless people that have been living and working in the country for a long time?
Stateless people who have been living in Vietnam for at least 20 years, by July 1, 2009, will be given preferential status that includes a streamlined procedure to citizenship. This policy was laid out in the Laws on Vietnamese Nationality issued in 2008.
The procedure is simple: the provincial authorities direct local authorities to review, list and assist people in order to get proper documentation. At that point, the cases will be presented directly to the president for a final decision. The simplified application process does not require any fees to be paid as long as the deadline is met on December 31, 2012.
Up until now 3,170 cases have been approved, mostly people living along the border. The Ministry of Justice has also received around 4,000 dossiers, of which 3,440 have been sent to the president, and we continue to receive more.
If somebody is eligible for the simplified process, they should register with their local People's Committee before the deadline.
I married a Russian man and lived in that country, but kept my Vietnamese nationality. Are there any legal procedures I have to go through to keep my Vietnamese nationality?
The Laws on Vietnamese Nationality of 2008 approved allowing Vietnamese people settle in foreign countries while maintaining their Vietnamese citizenship. But you must register with the proper legal agencies to keep your citizenship on a five-year basis. After the five yours you have to register again.
You can contact legal representative in Russia or go to the Ministry of Justice's website for more details.
I married a South Korean husband and had a child. I registered my child's birth in Korea, but we later divorced and I brought my child back to Vietnam. We've had some administrative problems because the document is written in Korean. Is it now possible to register my child in Vietnam and have a birth registration written in Vietnamese? How can I do so?
If your child already has Vietnamese citizenship and lives in the country, you only need to bring the birth certificate for registration to the local Department of Justice. The certificate must be notarised and translated into Vietnamese. They will record your child as having been born overseas with Vietnamese citizenship. After that, they'll give you a Vietnamese birth registration. There is no need to go through this procedure again.