Decree No. 97/2014/ND-CP Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 78/2009/ND-CP dated September 22, 2009, of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality

DECREE

Provincial People's Committees set specific pricesTo amend and supplement some articles of Decree No. 78/2009/NĐ-CP

dated September 22, 2009 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship

Issuing a Decree amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 78/2009/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2009 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship.

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Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the Law on Nationality of Vietnam dated November 13, 2008;

Pursuant to the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship dated June 24, 2014;

At the proposal of the Minister of Justice,

At the proposal of Article 1. Amending and supplementing Articles 4, 18, 19, 20 and Clause 2 of Article 30 of Decree No. 78/2009/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2009 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship.

Article 4. Fees for handling matters related to citizenship

a) Amending and supplementing Point c Clause 2 as follows:

1. Persons applying for acquisition, reacquisition, renunciation of Vietnamese citizenship, registration to be determined as having Vietnamese citizenship, and issuance of a Vietnamese passport must pay fees, except in cases provided for in Clause 2 of this Article.

The level of collection and the regime of collection, payment, management, and use of fees shall be prescribed by the Minister of Finance.

2. Cases exempted from paying fees for application for acquisition, reacquisition of Vietnamese citizenship, and request for determination of Vietnamese citizenship:

a) Persons who have made special contributions to the cause of building and defending the Socialist Republic of Vietnam requesting acquisition or reacquisition of Vietnamese citizenship;

b) Persons meeting the poverty standard as defined by law;

c) Stateless persons applying for Vietnamese citizenship in accordance with Article 22 of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship;

d) Persons requesting determination of Vietnamese citizenship without requesting issuance of a Vietnamese passport.

3. The agency receiving applications for acquisition, reacquisition of Vietnamese citizenship, and requests for determination of Vietnamese citizenship shall base its decision to exempt fees for the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article on the regulations of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 18. Registration to be determined as having Vietnamese citizenship and issuance of a Vietnamese passport

1. Vietnamese citizens residing abroad who have not lost Vietnamese citizenship under Vietnamese law before July 1, 2009 and who do not have documents proving Vietnamese citizenship as stipulated in Article 11 of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship 2008, if they so request, may register with Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad to be determined as having Vietnamese citizenship and to obtain a Vietnamese passport according to the procedures and formalities prescribed in this Decree (hereinafter referred to as the Person Requesting Determination of Citizenship).

2. Diplomatic missions, consular offices, or other agencies authorized to perform consular functions of Vietnam abroad (hereinafter referred to as the Diplomatic Mission), where the Person Requesting Determination of Citizenship resides, shall receive and process requests for determination of citizenship and issuance of a Vietnamese passport.

In case the Person Requesting Determination of Citizenship resides in a country or territory without a Diplomatic Mission, the application shall be submitted to the Diplomatic Mission designated to perform such duties or the most convenient Diplomatic Mission.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice shall publish on their websites lists of Diplomatic Missions as prescribed in this Clause.

Article 19. Legal documents and papers used to determine Vietnamese citizenship of the Person Requesting Determination of Citizenship

1. Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad shall apply Vietnamese legal documents on citizenship issued from 1945 to June 30, 2009 to determine Vietnamese citizenship of the Person Requesting Determination of Citizenship at the time of registration, including the following documents:

3. Amend and supplement Article 19 as follows:

c) Decree No. 25/SL dated February 25, 1946 amending Decree No. 53/SL dated October 20, 1945 on Vietnamese citizenship;

d) Decree No. 51/SL dated December 14, 1959 abolishing Articles 5 and 6 of Decree No. 53/SL dated October 20, 1945 on Vietnamese citizenship;

a) Decree No. 53/SL dated October 20, 1945 on Vietnamese nationality;

b) Decree No. 73/SL dated December 7, 1945 on the procedure for acquiring Vietnamese nationality;

k) International treaties relating to citizenship that Vietnam is a member of.

d) Decree No. 215/SL dated August 20, 1948 granting special benefits to foreign nationals who assisted in the Vietnamese resistance war;

2. Papers serving as basis or reference for determining Vietnamese citizenship include:

e) Resolution No. 1043/NQ-TVQHK6 dated February 8, 1971 of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on requests to cease or acquire Vietnamese nationality;

g) Decision No. 268/TTg dated September 12, 1980 of the Prime Minister on policies for ceasing and returning to Vietnamese nationality of overseas Vietnamese;

h) The Law on Nationality of Vietnam in 1988 and guiding documents for implementation;

i) The Law on Nationality of Vietnam in 1998 and guiding documents for implementation;

a) Papers on household registration, citizenship, residence registration, identity cards, or other papers issued by competent authorities of Vietnam during various periods from 1945 to June 30, 2009, clearly stating Vietnamese citizenship or information related to Vietnamese citizenship.

b) Papers on household registration, citizenship, residence registration, identity cards, or other papers issued by the previous regime before April 30, 1975 in southern Vietnam or by foreign competent authorities, containing information related to Vietnamese citizenship, shall also be considered as references for examining and determining Vietnamese citizenship.

3. When applying Vietnamese legal documents on citizenship or examining papers to determine Vietnamese citizenship as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, in specific cases, if there are difficulties, the Diplomatic Mission shall report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for coordination with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Security to provide timely guidance.

Article 20. Procedures and formalities for registration to be determined as having Vietnamese citizenship and issuance of a Vietnamese passport

1. Vietnamese citizens residing abroad who wish to be determined as having Vietnamese citizenship and to obtain a Vietnamese passport shall fill out the "Application Form for Registration of Citizenship and Issuance of a Vietnamese Passport" as prescribed in this Decree, attaching four recent photographs measuring 4 cm x 6 cm taken within six months and copies of two of the following documents:

4. Amend and supplement Article 20 as follows:

a) One of the personal identification documents such as identity cards, passports, residence permits, temporary residence certificates, travel documents, or other documents with personal identification value;

b) One of the documents prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 19 of this Decree.

2. If the Person Requesting Determination of Citizenship directly submits the application to the competent Diplomatic Mission as prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 18 of this Decree, only copies of the documents prescribed in this Clause need to be submitted, and the original documents must be presented for verification; if submitting the application through postal service to the Diplomatic Mission, the copies of the documents prescribed in this Clause must be certified copies.

3. Upon receipt of the application, the Diplomatic Mission shall issue a receipt to the Person Requesting Determination of Citizenship, specifying the place, time of receipt of the application and attached documents, and the time for responding to the result; in case the application is submitted through postal service, the Diplomatic Mission shall send the receipt to the person through postal service.

2. In case the Person requesting determination of nationality directly submits the application to the Authority with jurisdiction as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 18 of this Decree, they only need to submit a copy of the documents specified in Clause 1 of this Article and present the original for verification; if sending the application via postal service to the Authority, the copies of the documents specified in Clause 1 of this Article must be certified copies.

3. Upon receiving the application, the Authority issues a receipt to the Person requesting determination of nationality, which clearly states the location, time of receiving the application, accompanying documents, and the time for responding with the result; in cases where the application is received via postal service, the Authority sends the receipt to that person via postal service.

Within five working days from the date of receiving the file, the representative agency shall examine, compare, and cross-check the information in the file with the information in the Declaration Form. If there is evidence to determine that the person has Vietnamese nationality, they shall record in the Register of Determination of Vietnamese Nationality issued pursuant to this Decree that such person has Vietnamese nationality. In case the person requests issuance of a Vietnamese passport, the representative agency shall process the issuance of a Vietnamese passport for them or notify them to come to the representative agency to process the issuance of a Vietnamese passport if the file was received through postal service.

For cases where only the determination of Vietnamese nationality is requested without requesting a Vietnamese passport, after recording in the register that such person has Vietnamese nationality, the representative agency shall issue them an extract according to the model issued pursuant to this Decree confirming that such person has been determined to have Vietnamese nationality, specifying the purpose and validity period of the extract.

If at a later time, such person requests issuance of a Vietnamese passport, the representative agency shall base on the information in the register and send a document to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to request the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Security to verify and provide comments.

4. In cases where the representative agency finds insufficient reliable grounds to determine Vietnamese nationality, it shall proceed as follows:

a) For cases where the person requesting the determination of nationality was born in Vietnam and has resided in Vietnam for a certain period of time:

The representative agency shall examine and compare the information on the Declaration Form with the information on personal documents and other related documents attached, and if there is information serving as a basis for verifying the Vietnamese nationality of such person (such as: documents bearing Vietnamese name; place of birth, place registered in household registration in Vietnam; educational institutions, training organizations, agencies, and organizations where they worked, addresses where they resided in Vietnam before departure; names and addresses of relatives in Vietnam), they shall send a document along with these documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to request the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice to verify according to Clause 5 of this Article.

After receiving the verification results and finding sufficient grounds to determine Vietnamese nationality, the representative agency shall record in the register that such person has Vietnamese nationality; the issuance of a passport or issuance of an extract confirming that such person has been determined to have Vietnamese nationality shall be carried out according to Clause 3 of this Article.

In cases where domestic agencies do not have grounds to determine nationality, the representative agency shall inform in writing the person requesting the determination of nationality that there are no grounds to determine their Vietnamese nationality.

b) For cases where the person requesting the determination of nationality was born abroad and has never resided in Vietnam:

The representative agency shall examine personal documents and other related documents attached, and if there is information serving as a basis for verifying Vietnamese nationality of such person, they shall conduct interviews, inspections, or verifications to clarify the situation. Based on the file and interview results, if there are grounds to determine Vietnamese nationality, the representative agency shall record in the register that the applicant has Vietnamese nationality; the issuance of a passport or issuance of an extract confirming that such person has been determined to have Vietnamese nationality shall be carried out according to Clause 3 of this Article.

In cases where there are no grounds to determine Vietnamese nationality, the representative agency shall inform in writing the person requesting the determination of nationality that there are no grounds to determine their Vietnamese nationality.

5. Within five working days from the date of receiving the request for verification of nationality as stipulated in Point a, Clause 4 of this Article, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall send a document to the Ministry of Public Security or the Ministry of Justice to request verification and search.

6. Within forty-five days from the date of receipt of the request document, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice shall carry out verification and search and reply with the results to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After receiving the reply document from the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice regarding the verification and search results, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall notify in writing the verification and search results to the representative agency to complete the determination of whether or not there is Vietnamese nationality.

5. Amend and supplement Clause 2 of Article 30 as follows:

"Article 30. Responsibilities of Vietnamese Representative Agencies Abroad

... 2. Receive and process requests for registration to be determined to have Vietnamese nationality and issuance of a Vietnamese passport for overseas Vietnamese."

Article 2. Repeal Clause 12 of Article 26, Clause 6 and Clause 7 of Article 27, Clause 6 and Clause 7 of Article 30 of Decree No. 78/2009/NĐ-CP dated September 22, 2009 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of some provisions of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality.

Article 3. Effectiveness

1. This Decree takes effect from December 1, 2014.

2. The Minister of Justice, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of Public Security shall be responsible for coordinating in organizing and implementing this Decree.

3. The Ministers, Heads of Ministries equivalent to ministries, Heads of government agencies, Chairmen of provincial People's Committees under the central city, are responsible for enforcing this Decree./.