Procedures for Recording a marriage for Vietnamese citizens married abroad

I. LEGAL REGULATIONS:  

  • Law on marriage and family 2014; 
  • Law on civil status 2014; 
  • Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP; 
  • Decree No. 120/2025/ND-CP; 
  • Circular No. 04/2020/TT-BTP; 
  • Circular No. 07/2023/TT-BNG. 

II. CONTENTS: 

Mr. A is a Vietnamese citizen residing overseas. Mr. A registered his marriage with Ms. B, a foreign national, at a foreign competent authority abroad. Accordingly, in order for the marital status between Mr. A and Ms. B to be recognized in Vietnam, pursuant to applicable laws, Mr. A and Ms. B are required to carry out the procedure for requesting the competent authority to document in the vital records the marriage of a Vietnamese citizen that has been settled at a foreign competent authority (hereinafter referred to as the “marriage record”).  

II.1. Definition: 

Pursuant to Clause 2 Article 2 of the Law on Civil Status 2014, recording civil status events of an individual in the civil status register is one form of civil status registration carried out by a competent state authority, for the purpose of creating a legal basis for the State to protect the lawful rights and interests of individuals and to manage the population. In the above-mentioned case, this may be understood as the activity of the competent state authority to record the marriage event between Mr. A and Ms. B into Vietnam’s civil status management system.   

Accordingly, how may Mr. A carry out the procedure for submitting such a request?  

II.1.1. Case 1. Mr. A returns to Vietnam to carry out the procedure in Vietnam: 

Mr. A may carry out the procedure for requesting for marriage record at a competent authority in Vietnam if he satisfies one of the following two conditions:  

  • The marriage between Vietnamese citizens or a Vietnamese citizen and a foreigner that has been settled at a foreign competent authority shall be permitted to be documented in the vital records provided that both partners, at the time of marriage, meet all conditions for marriage and do not commit violations against the Law on marriage and family of Vietnam. 
  • If the partners, at the time of marriage registration at the foreign competent authority do not meet conditions for marriage but do not commit any violation against the Law on marriage and family, and consequences has been remedied or the marriage record is made for the purpose of protecting interests of Vietnamese citizen and children, at the time of requesting documenting in vital records, the marriage will be permitted to be documented in the vital records.4 

a. Competent authority: the People’s Committee at the commune level, as prescribed under Decree No. 120/2025/ND-CP 

b. Dossier for carrying out the procedure: 

The dossier for marriage record shall be submitted by either of the spouses to the competent authority as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 48 of the Law on Civil Status, and shall comprise the following documents: 

  1. An application form made in accordance with the prescribed form; 
  2. A copy of the marriage certificate issued by the competent foreign authority; 
  3. In addition to the documents specified in items (i) and (ii) above, where the dossier is submitted via postal services, copies of personal identification documents of both spouses, as defined under the Law on Civil Status, shall also be required for identity verification purposes. In case the Vietnamese citizen has obtained a divorce or marriage annulment from a competent foreign authority, an extract evidencing the recording of such divorce or marriage annulment in the civil status register, as prescribed by law, must also be submitted. 

c. Time limit for processing: The time limit for documenting the marriage in the civil status register is 05 working days from the date on which the Division of Justice receives a complete and valid dossier. In case verification is required, the processing time limit shall not exceed 10 working days. 

d. Order and procedures: 

The procedure for documenting the marriage in the civil status register shall be carried out in accordance with Clause 2 Article 50 of the Law on Civil Status and the following provisions: 

  1. Where the request for marriage record is deemed satisfactory and meets the prescribed conditions, the Head of the Division of Justice shall record the marriage in the civil status register and report to the Chairperson of the People’s Committee at the commune level for signing and issuance of the original extract of the civil status record to the applicant.
  2. Where the request for marriage record falls under any case subject to refusal in accordance with applicable laws, the Head of the Division of Justice shall report to the Chairperson of the People’s Committee at the commune level for refusal.

*Note: Documents prepared, issued, or certified by a competent foreign authority for use in resolving marriage and family matters must be consularly legalized and translated into Vietnamese with notarization in order to be used in Vietnam.5  

e. Cases of refusal:  

The marriage event shall be refused to be documented in the civil status register if it falls under one of the following cases:  

  1. The marriage violates the prohibitions prescribed under the Law on marriage and family; 
  2. The Vietnamese citizen enters into marriage with a foreigner at a foreign diplomatic mission or a foreign consular authority in Vietnam.

II.1.2. Case 2. Mr. A is residing overseas:  

In this case, Circular No. 07/2023/TT-BNG allows Vietnamese citizens to carry out the procedure for requesting a marriage note at the representative mission in the consular region where the Vietnamese citizen resides, with the following specific provisions: 6 

a. Conditions for marriage note:

The conditions for recording in the civil status register the marriage of a Vietnamese citizen that has been handled by a competent foreign authority abroad shall be governed by Article 34 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, namely the same two conditions as analyzed under Case 1. 

b. Competent authority: The representative mission in the consular region where the Vietnamese citizen resides shall be competent to record the marriage note. 

c. Dossier for marriage note: 

The dossier for marriage note shall comprise:  

  1. An application form for marriage note (using the prescribed form); 
  2. A copy of the document certifying the marriage issued by a competent foreign authority; 
  3. In case the Vietnamese citizen has obtained a divorce or had the marriage annulled by a competent foreign authority, an extract of the divorce note shall be submitted. 

d. Processing time limit:

The time limit for handling the marriage note shall be 05 working days from the date of receipt of a complete dossier; where verification is required, the processing time limit shall not exceed 10 working days.  

Where the request for marriage note satisfies the conditions prescribed in Article 34 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, the consular officer shall record the marriage in the civil status register. The Head of the representative mission shall sign and issue the original extract of the marriage note to the applicant. 

Where the marriage falls under any of the cases subject to refusal, the Head of the representative mission shall refuse to record the marriage in the civil status register and issue a written notice specifying the reasons to the applicant. 

II.1.3. Where the marriage record has been completed at an overseas diplomatic mission, is it necessary to repeat the procedure at the commune-level People’s Committee in Vietnam? 

No. In such case, it is not necessary to carry out the marriage note procedure again at the commune-level People’s Committee in Vietnam. However, when returning to Vietnam, the citizen should bring the original extract of the marriage note or a certified true copy thereof (subject to the practice of the receiving authority), together with other relevant documents, to be presented to the commune-level People’s Committee where the Vietnamese citizen resides or to the ward police authority (depending on the local allocation of administrative responsibilities) for the purpose of updating the marital status information, rather than performing the marriage note procedure again. 

The above opinion reflects the legal advice as of the time this article was prepared. Applicable laws and regulations may change from time to time. Readers are advised to verify the current legal provisions and consult the competent authorities for guidance prior to carrying out the relevant procedures. 

(4) Article 34 Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP 

(5) Article 124 Law on Civil status 2014 

(6) Article 25 Circular 07/2023/TT-BNG

Date written: 20/12/2025



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