Applications for marriage between a citizen of a foreign country and a Vietnamese citizen
residing in Vietnam should be filed in person at
the Justice Department offices in the province where the
Vietnamese citizen resides. All documents must be accompanied
by a certified translation into Vietnamese from either the Vietnamese Embassy in your country or the Vietnamese notary public in Vietnam. Although requirements for obtaining marriage certificates may vary from province to province, the general requirements for as follow:
1) Application for marriage (obtained from the Vietnamese Justice department);
2) Official copy of the birth certificate (applicable
to U.S. citizens & some countries ) and passport. If birth records have been destroyed or are otherwise unattainable, a foreign applicant who was born in Vietnam
may execute an "Affidavit
of Birth" at the your Embassy or Consulate to submit in its place.
3) Medical
examination from a competent authority certifying that the applicant is in sound mental and physical health. The examination results must be dated no earlier than three months before the date of marriage registration;
4) Affidavit of Single Status. The applicant can request this document from
the civil registry in the country in which he resides.
This document must be signed within three months of application
for a marriage certificate.If the applicant had a previous
marriage,present an authenticated copy of the divorce decree
or death certificate for the previous spouse(s);
5) A letter by the local vital statistics office certifying that no marriage
license or marriage certificate of the applicant is found
within the country where the applicant is residing in. The search
period must be started from the year when the applicant was 18-year-old to present. In case the applicant was divorced, or a previous spouse is deceased, a certified photocopy of death certificate must be submitted. (This requirement may vary from
province to province).
6) The
Vietnamese citizen partner should consult with Vietnamese authorities about that partner's requirements.
7) Affidavits of Single Status are notarized at your country's Embassy
or Consulate General.Some Embassy and Consulate General have to book appointment to notarize documents and some Embassy and
Consulate General have schedule time for submitting and collection of documents to be notarized.
Authenticating Documents for Vietnamese Authorities
The “Chain of Authentication” process described below is the proper way to authenticate documents for submission to Vietnamese authorities.
A) Notarized Documents: The procedure for authenticating documents executed before a notary public, such as affidavits or acknowledgments, varies from country to country. It is advisable to contact your country's authentication authority to learn what steps are
necessary. In some countries, this requires contacting
the clerk of the court of the county where the notary is
licensed, and obtaining an authentication of the notary's
seal. The office can then authenticate the seal of the clerk of the county court. After the seal or comparable authority is on the document, it may be authenticated by the Authentications Office.
The final step is to obtain the seal of the foreign embassy or consulate in your country.
B) National or State Documents: National or State documents such as documents originating with a
national or state court or agency (birth, death, marriage,
etc.) must be authenticated by the appropriate office in that country. The document may then be authenticated National or State Authentications Office as explained above.
After that, the document may be authenticated by the foreign embassy or consulate
in your country following the instructions below.
C) Foreign
Embassy: This is the last step in the authentication
chain. Check with the embassy or consulate of the foreign
country to see if some of the steps can be avoided. Some
foreign embassies and consulates maintain sample seals of state authorities.
Remember that what is needed is only the foreign consul's authentication on the document for
the document to be "self-proving" in the foreign country.
