Circular No. 02/2011/TT-BNG guiding procedures for registering Vietnamese citizens residing abroad

CIRCULAR

Guidelines for Procedures for Registering Vietnamese Citizens Abroad

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Pursuant to the Law on Diplomatic Missions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Abroad dated June 18, 2009;

Pursuant to Decree No. 15/2008/NĐ-CP dated February 4, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

Implementing Resolution No. 50/NQ-CP dated December 10, 2010 of the Government regarding the simplification of administrative procedures within the scope of management functions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides guidelines for procedures for registering citizens abroad as follows:

Article 1. Content and purpose of registration

1. Registration of citizens is the act of diplomatic missions, consular offices, or other entities authorized to perform consular functions of Vietnam abroad (hereinafter referred to collectively as Diplomatic Missions) recording into the Citizen Registration Book the personal details of Vietnamese citizens residing abroad.

2. The registration of citizens aims to assist Diplomatic Missions in performing their functions of protecting citizens and other consular functions for Vietnamese citizens abroad, while serving statistical work on Vietnamese citizens abroad.

Article 2. Subjects of citizen registration

The subjects of citizen registration include:

1. Persons holding a Vietnamese passport or other documents with equivalent validity to a Vietnamese passport that are still valid for use;

2. Persons who do not hold any of the documents mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article but hold one of the documents proving they have Vietnamese nationality.

Article 3. Authorities responsible for citizen registration

The authorities responsible for citizen registration include:

1. The agency located in the country where the person applying for registration resides or the agency concurrently representing that country.

2. The agency located in the most convenient place for the person applying for registration, if there is no agency in the country where the person resides.

Article 4. Procedures for citizen registration

- One fully completed Citizen Registration Form (which may be submitted online via the website of the Diplomatic Mission);

- One copy of the Vietnamese passport or other documents with equivalent value to a Vietnamese passport for the case mentioned in Clause 1 of Article 2 of this Circular;

- One copy of identity documents and one copy of documents proving Vietnamese citizenship as stipulated in Article 11 of the Vietnamese Nationality Law 2008 (Birth Certificate; Identity Card; Decision on Granting Vietnamese Citizenship, Decision on Reinstatement of Vietnamese Citizenship, Decision Recognizing Adoption of Foreign Children, Decision on Adoption of Vietnamese Children by Foreigners) for cases specified in Clause 2, Article 2 of this Circular.

- One envelope with prepaid postage and the recipient's address in cases where the applicant wishes to receive the result via postal service.

3. Based on checking and comparing information in the Citizen Registration Form with other documents in the file, the Diplomatic Mission processes and notifies the result in writing to the applicant within one working day from the date of receipt of complete and valid application files.

4. In cases where the person requesting citizen registration does not have one of the types of documents proving Vietnamese citizenship or requires verification of the authenticity of such documents, the Diplomatic Mission guides the applicant to follow the procedures for verifying Vietnamese citizenship according to the relevant laws on nationality. Upon receiving the verification results from the competent authority, the Diplomatic Mission processes and notifies the result in writing to the applicant.

Article 5. Updating citizen registration information

1. Citizens who have registered are responsible for notifying the Diplomatic Mission within ninety days from the date of any changes to the personal details declared in the Citizen Registration Form so that the Diplomatic Mission can update the Citizen Registration Book.

2. The person requesting to update citizen registration information shall submit one set of documents including:

- One fully completed Citizen Registration Form, which may be submitted online via the Representative Authority's electronic website.

- One envelope with prepaid postage and the recipient's address in cases where the applicant wishes to receive the result via postal service.

3. The application for updating citizen registration information shall be submitted directly to the Representative Authority or sent through postal service.

4. The Representative Authority shall process and notify the result in writing to the applicant within one working day from the date of receipt of complete and valid documents.

Article 6. Archiving citizen registration files

1. The citizen registration file includes the Citizen Registration Form (including updates to the registration information), copies of documents and materials submitted by the applicant to the Diplomatic Mission, verification documents, and related documents and materials.

2. The citizen registration file is numbered in chronological order consistent with the records in the Citizen Registration Book. The Citizen Registration Book is established in printed form and stored using management software on computers.

3. The Diplomatic Mission is responsible for implementing measures to preserve the citizen registration files and store them for the following periods: - Five years for citizen registration files; - Permanent storage for the Citizen Registration Book.

Article 7. Implementation Organization

1. The registration of citizens for persons having Vietnamese nationality but enjoying refugee status under the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees dated July 28, 1951 and the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees dated January 31, 1967 or under foreign law, and for persons simultaneously holding Vietnamese and foreign nationalities shall be carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

2. This Circular annexes the forms of the Citizen Registration Form (Form No. 01/NG-ĐKCD), the confirmation of citizen registration (Form No. 02/NG-ĐKCD), and the Citizen Registration Book (Form No. 03/NG-ĐKCD) to replace Forms No. 01/NG-LS and 02/NG-LS issued together with Decision No. 05/2002/QĐ-BNG dated July 30, 2002 of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on regulations concerning the organization of consular affairs.

3. This Circular takes effect forty-five days from the date of signature and replaces Decision No. 713/NG-QĐ dated May 17, 1997 of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on temporary regulations on procedures for registering Vietnamese citizens abroad. Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for consideration and resolution./.