Circular No. 10/2020/TT-BTP on issuing and guiding the recording, use, management, and storage of Adoption Books, forms, and files for adoption.

CIRCULAR

Issuing and guiding the recording, use, management, and storage of Adoption Registers, sample documents, and adoption files

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BASED ON Decree No. 19/2011/NĐ-CP dated March 21, 2011, of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Adoption Law; BASED ON Decree No. 24/2019/NĐ-CP dated March 5, 2019, of the Government amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree No. 19/2011/NĐ-CP dated March 21, 2011, of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Adoption Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 19/2011/NĐ-CP dated March 21, 2011 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Adoption; Pursuant to Decree No. 24/2019/NĐ-CP dated March 5, 2019 of the Government amending and supplementing certain provisions of Decree No. 19/2011/NĐ-CP dated March 21, 2011 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Adoption;

Pursuant to Decree No. 96/2017/NĐ-CP dated August 16, 2017, issued by the Government on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice;

The Minister of Justice issues this Circular on issuing and guiding the recording, use, management, and storage of Registers, forms, and files for adoption

The Minister of Justice promulgates this Circular, guiding the recording, use, management, and storage of Adoption Registers, sample documents, and adoption files.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular issues and guides the recording, use of sample Adoption Registers for domestic adoption, issuance, extension, amendment of Licenses for foreign adoption organizations operating in Vietnam, adoption documents; storage, management of Adoption Registers, adoption documents, domestic adoption registration files, international element adoption registration files, and issuance, extension, amendment of Licenses for foreign adoption organizations operating in Vietnam.

1. Vietnamese citizens, overseas Vietnamese, foreigners residing in Vietnam, and foreigners residing abroad who request resolution of matters related to adoption in Vietnam;

1. Vietnamese citizens, overseas Vietnamese, foreigners permanently residing in Vietnam, and foreigners permanently residing abroad who request resolution of adoption matters in Vietnam;

3. Departments of Justice of provinces and centrally governed cities (hereinafter referred to as Departments of Justice);

4. Vietnamese representative offices abroad;

Administrative Justice Bureau under the Ministry of Justice

7. Other individuals and organizations related as provided by the Adoption Law.

Article 3. Issuing Register and form models

a) Two sample Registers (Annex 1);

b) Seven sample documents for domestic adoption registration (Annex 2);

c) Fourteen sample documents for international element adoption registration (Annex 3);

d) Six sample documents commonly used for domestic adoption and international element adoption registration (Annex 4).

4. Signatories of the electronic versions of documents resulting from administrative procedure resolutions shall implement digital signing in accordance with the law.

Article 4. Printing and Issuing Sample Books and Paperwork

1. Sample Registers and adoption documents shall be posted on the Ministry of Justice's website (www.moj.gov.vn); adoption registration authorities may access and print them for use, except for the Registers and documents specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

Any Sample Books and paperwork for adoption printed by adoption registration agencies must be printed with good quality black ink that does not smudge, lose clarity, or fade.

Based on local needs, provincial Departments of Justice shall contact the Legal Publishing House, Ministry of Justice to register for purchasing sample Registers and adoption documents.

3. Where the adoption registration management software is used, the blank original of the Domestic Adoption Certificate (original - blank form without content) and blank forms of Decisions on International Element Adoptions (original-blank without content) may be directly printed with all registration information according to recognized standards by the Ministry of Justice.

4. Individuals and organizations requesting resolution of adoption matters (hereinafter referred to as the applicant) shall access the Ministry of Justice's website (www.moj.gov.vn) to print and use application forms, declaration forms, and reports.

If the person making the request cannot print the Application Forms, Declaration Forms, and Reports themselves, the adoption registration agency shall be responsible for printing and providing them free of charge to the person making the request.

The recording of the Issuance, Renewal, and Amendment of the Permit for Foreign Adoption Organizations to Operate in Vietnam shall be done using a computer.

2. The full name of adoptive parents and adopted children must be recorded in capital letters according to the Identity Card/Citizen Identification Card/Passport/Birth Certificate or other substitute documents with photographs and personal information issued by authorized agencies and still valid.

3. The Place of Birth field must be fully recorded according to the Birth Certificate of the child to be adopted.

4. The Personal Identification Documents field must clearly record the number, issuing authority, date of issue of the Identity Card/Citizen Identification Card/Passport or other substitute documents with photographs and personal information issued by authorized agencies and still valid.

Example: Identity Card No. 00108912345, issued by the Public Security Bureau of Hanoi City on October 20, 2014; Passport No. 503705379, issued by the United States Department of State on December 23, 2019.

5. The Place of Residence field shall be recorded as follows:

a) In cases where adoptive parents are Vietnamese citizens residing within the country or foreigners permanently residing in Vietnam, it shall be recorded according to the registered permanent address and include all three administrative levels (commune, district, province). In cases where a stepfather adopts his wife's child, a stepmother adopts her husband's child, or an aunt, uncle, or cousin adopts their nephew or niece, if there is no registered permanent address, it shall be recorded according to the temporary residence address; if there is neither a registered permanent address nor a temporary residence address, it shall be recorded according to the current place of residence.

b) In cases where adoptive parents are foreigners permanently residing abroad, it shall be recorded according to the permanent address abroad. If a foreigner has been working or studying in Vietnam for at least one year, both the permanent address abroad and the temporary residence address in Vietnam shall be recorded.

c) The Place of Residence of the adopted child shall be recorded according to the registered permanent address of the adopted child and include all three administrative levels (commune, district, province). If the adopted child lives in a care facility, the name and address of the care facility shall be recorded.

6. The Registration Authority for Adoption field shall be recorded as follows:

a) In cases where domestic adoption is registered domestically, it shall be recorded according to all three administrative levels (commune, district, province) of the registration location.

b) In cases where domestic adoption is registered at a Vietnamese representative office abroad, it shall be recorded according to the name of the Vietnamese representative office abroad (e.g., Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Berlin).

c) In cases where the adoption has already been resolved by a competent authority abroad, it shall be recorded according to two administrative levels (district, province).

d) In cases of international element adoption registration, it shall be recorded according to the name of the provincial Department of Justice where the registration takes place.

Article 6. Correcting errors when recording the Adoption Register and adoption documents

1. During the process of adoption registration, if errors occur in adoption documents, the civil status officer handling adoption registration must invalidate those documents and record new ones; they shall not provide the public with corrected adoption documents.

2. During the process of registering to adopt a child, if there is an error in recording the content in the Adoption Registration Book, the person responsible for adoption registration must draw a horizontal line through the incorrect part, write it beside or above, without overwriting the old characters, erasing, or writing over the erased place. In case of an empty page due to an error, the person responsible for adoption registration must draw a diagonal line across the blank page.

The note column of the Adoption Registration Book must clearly record the content of the correction; the date, month, year of the correction; the person responsible for adoption registration must sign, clearly stating their surname, middle name, and given name.

The person responsible for adoption registration has the duty to report to the head of the adoption registration agency about the correction of errors. The head of the adoption registration agency is responsible for checking and stamping confirmation on the corrected content.

The person responsible for adoption registration shall not arbitrarily erase, correct, or supplement the content already recorded in adoption documents and the Adoption Registration Book, causing distortion.

3. When the adoption registration process has ended but errors in information in the Adoption Registration Book or adoption documents are discovered later due to the fault of the person applying for adoption or the adoption registration agency, the correction procedure shall be carried out. The correction procedure shall be implemented according to the provisions of the law on correction of household registration.

Article 7. Storage and management of the Adoption Register and adoption files

1. The Adoption Register must be kept, preserved, and stored permanently by the adoption registration authority for use and to serve the needs of the public and state management activities.

2. Domestic adoption registration files, adoption registration files with foreign elements, files and books for issuing, extending, amending the license for operation of foreign adoption organizations in Vietnam shall be stored according to the regulations on archiving, which may be electronically stored from digitization.

Article 8. Transitional Provisions

1. Domestic adoption registration files, foreign adoption registration files, files for issuing, extending, amending the license for operation of foreign adoption organizations in Vietnam received by competent state agencies before this Circular takes effect and have not been resolved yet, the adoption documents already in the files still continue to have legal validity according to Circular No. 12/2011/TT-BTP dated June 27, 2011 of the Ministry of Justice on the issuance and guidance on recording, storing, and using adoption forms and Circular No. 24/2014/TT-BTP dated December 29, 2014 of the Ministry of Justice amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 12/2011/TT-BTP dated June 27, 2011 of the Ministry of Justice on the issuance and guidance on recording, storing, and using adoption forms.

2. The Certificate of Adoption, Decision on allowing Vietnamese children to be adopted abroad, and the Adoption Registration Book according to the model issued together with Circular No. 24/2014/TT-BTP dated December 29, 2014 of the Ministry of Justice currently in use at competent state agencies shall continue to be used until June 30, 2021.

Article 9. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from February 26, 2021 and replaces Circular No. 12/2011/TT-BTP dated June 27, 2011 of the Ministry of Justice on the issuance and guidance on recording, storing, and using adoption forms and Circular No. 24/2014/TT-BTP dated December 29, 2014 of the Ministry of Justice amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 12/2011/TT-BTP dated June 27, 2011 of the Ministry of Justice on the issuance and guidance on recording, storing, and using adoption forms.

2. Abolish Model No. 01/BC/PTTE stipulated at point a Clause 2 Article 9 and Model No. 02/BC/VPCNNNg stipulated at Clause 1 Article 10 of Circular No. 21/2011/TT-BTP dated November 21, 2011 of the Ministry of Justice on the management of Foreign Adoption Offices in Vietnam.

3. During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, the People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities, Departments of Justice, Vietnamese representative offices abroad are requested to promptly reflect to the Ministry of Justice for guidance.

ANNEX 1

LIST OF REGISTERS
(Attached to Circular No. 10/2020/TT-BTP dated December 28, 2020 of the Minister of Justice)

Adoption Registration Bookincludes the following technical and artistic details:

The book has dimensions equivalent to A4 paper size (210 x 297mm), printed with 100 pages.

The book has a hard cover, matte finish, designed with a dominant green color, featuring the pattern of the Ngoc Lu drum. At the top is the national emblem "SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM,"Independence - Freedom - Happiness". Below that is the image of the national emblem of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam above the phrase "MINISTRY OF JUSTICE,"measuring 24 x 24mm. The form name is bold uppercase letters, red color, font size 35pt.The pages inside the book are printed on white A4 paper, with a weight of 70gsm or more, using Times New Roman font, Unicode encoding, font size 12pt, printed in one color.

Requirements for the Book for Issuing, Extending, Amending the License for Operation of Foreign Adoption Organizations in Vietnam:

The book must be printed and bound securely, ensuring long-term usability, without spine loosening or page separation.

At the top is the national emblem "Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Independence - Freedom - Happiness". Below that is the phrase "MINISTRY OF JUSTICE"

. The form name is bold uppercase letters, black color, font size 35pt.Domestic Adoption Certificate (original - with content)Domestic Adoption Certificate (original - blank, without content)

ANNEX 2

LIST OF FORMS USED FOR DOMESTIC ADOPTION REGISTRATION AT THE PEOPLE'S COMMITTEES AND VIETNAMESE REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES ABROAD
(Attached to Circular No. 10/2020/TT-BTP dated December 28, 2020 of the Minister of Justice)

Certificate of Adoption domestic (original - with content) includes the following technical and artistic details:

Printed on white paper with a weight of 120gsm, size A4 (210 x 297mm), using offset printing with four colors. The main content is printed on the front side, with embossed patterns, featuring the Ngọc Lũ Bronze Drum in the center of the pattern, with a map of Vietnam and the Spratly and Paracel Islands, as well as other small islands depicted on the drum surface. The position of the star represents Hanoi. Surrounding the drum is an ornamental patterned background framed by decorative borders. The ornamental background uses appropriate colors.

The main content is drafted in Times New Roman font, Unicode encoding, font size 13pt, line spacing 21.5pt, with the text content margin from both sides being 23mm, top margin 12.8mm, and bottom margin 18mm. At the very top is the national emblem "SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM,"Independence - Freedom - Happiness. Below it is the national emblem of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam with dimensions 20 x 20mm. The name of the form is in red, bold uppercase letters, font size 22pt.

The back side of the Domestic Adoption Certificate contains a table titled "Section for Recording Subsequent Changes and Corrections," printed on an appropriate patterned background. The content of the table uses Times New Roman font, Unicode encoding, font size 12pt, with a table size of 158 x 260mm.

 Domestic Adoption Certificate (original - blank form, without content)includes the following technical and artistic details:

Is a color-printed blank form according to the detailed descriptions above, featuring the national emblem, national emblem, and form name on the front side, and the table titled "Section for Recording Subsequent Changes and Corrections" on the back side of the Domestic Adoption Certificate.

ANNEX 3

LIST OF FORMS USED FOR INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION REGISTRATION
(Attached to Circular No. 10/2020/TT-BTP dated December 28, 2020 of the Minister of Justice)

Decision on International Adoption (Original - with content), Certificate of Compliance with the Hague Convention for International Adoptionincludes the following technical and artistic details:

Printed on white paper with a weight of 120gsm, size A4 (210 x 297mm), using offset printing with four colors. The main content is printed on the front side, with embossed patterns, featuring the Ngọc Lũ Bronze Drum in the center of the pattern, with a map of Vietnam and the Spratly and Paracel Islands, as well as other small islands depicted on the drum surface. The position of the star represents Hanoi. Surrounding the drum is an ornamental patterned background framed by decorative borders. The ornamental background uses appropriate colors.

The content is drafted in Times New Roman font, Unicode encoding, font size 13pt, line spacing 21.5pt, with the text content margin from both sides being 23mm, top margin 12.8mm, and bottom margin 18mm. At the very top is the national emblem "SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM,"Independence - Freedom - Happiness. Below it is the national emblem of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam with dimensions 20 x 20mm. The name of the form is in red, bold uppercase letters, font size 22pt.

Decision on International Adoption (Original - blank form, without content)includes the following technical and artistic details:

Is a color-printed blank form according to the detailed descriptions above, featuring the national emblem, national emblem, and form name.

ANNEX 4

LIST OF COMMON FORMS USED FOR DOMESTIC ADOPTION AND INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION REGISTRATION
(Attached to Circular No. 10/2020/TT-BTP dated December 28, 2020 of the Minister of Justice)