Some people have renounced their Vietnamese nationality and now want to return to Vietnam to live and apply for restoration of Vietnamese nationality to facilitate residence and work, and others have lost their Vietnamese nationality and want to restore it. Vietnamese who have renounced their nationality must meet several legal requirements to restore their Vietnamese nationality.

In this article, BLawyers Vietnam raises four questions below to be considered before the restoration of Vietnamese nationality:

1. What are the conditions for restoration of Vietnamese nationality?

A person who has renounced Vietnamese nationality may have his/her Vietnamese nationality restored if he/she falls into one of the following cases:

(i) Has applied for permission to return to Vietnam;

(ii) Has a spouse, a natural parent, or a natural offspring who is a Vietnamese citizen;

(iii) Has made meritorious contributions to Vietnam’s national construction and defense;

(iv) Has been helpful to the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

(v) Has conducted investment activities in Vietnam; or

(vi) Has renounced Vietnamese nationality for acquisition of a foreign nationality but has failed to obtain permission to acquire the foreign nationality.

2. Is it possible to keep one’s foreign nationality after restoring Vietnamese nationality?

Persons permitted to restore Vietnamese nationality shall renounce their foreign nationality, except for the following persons in special cases, if permitted by the President. The latter persons include:

(i) Spouses, natural parents, or natural offspring of Vietnamese citizens;

(ii) Persons who have made meritorious contributions to Vietnam’s national construction and defense;

(iii) Persons who have been helpful to the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The decision to allow Vietnamese naturalization applicants to retain their foreign nationality is carefully considered based on the specific reasons and conditions of each individual applying for Vietnamese nationality.

3. What are the procedures for applying for restoration of Vietnamese nationality?

An overview procedure for applying for Vietnamese nationality restoration is as follows:

(i) Step 1: The applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality must submit an application with the Department of Justice where he/she resides in Vietnam;

(ii) Step 2: The Department of Justice shall verify and send a written request to the Provincial Public Security Department for verification of the applicant’s identity within 05 working days from the date of receiving the valid dossier;

(iii) Step 3: The Provincial Public Security Department shall conduct verification and send verification results to the Department of Justice within 20 days from the date of receiving the Department of Justice’s request;

(iv) Step 4: The Department of Justice shall complete the dossier and submit it to the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee within 5 working days after receiving the verification results of the Provincial Public Security Department;

(v) Step 5: The Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee shall consider, make a conclusion, and send his/her proposal to the Ministry of Justice within 5 working days from the date of receiving the Department of Justice’s request;

(vi) Step 6: The Ministry of Justice shall re-examine the dossier of the applicant for naturalization in Vietnam; if finding that the applicant is fully qualified to be naturalized in Vietnam, it shall send a notice to that person to carry out the procedures for renunciation of foreign nationality, except for the case of returning to Vietnamese nationality and applying to retain foreign nationality, within 20 days from the date of receipt of the proposal from the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee;

(vii) Step 7: The Ministry of Justice shall report to the Prime Minister and submit it to the President for consideration and decision within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the applicant’s certificate of renunciation of foreign nationality;

(viii) Step 8: The President shall consider and decide within 20 days from the date of receiving the Prime Minister’s request;

(ix) Step 9: The Ministry of Justice shall notify the settlement result; and

(x) Step 10: The applicant will receive the result of permission or ineligibility for naturalization in Vietnam.

4. What must the dossier include?

An application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality includes the following main documents:

(i) An application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality;

(ii) A birth certificate, passport, or other valid substitute paper;

(iii) The applicant’s curriculum vitae;

(iv) The applicant’s criminal record issued by a Vietnamese authority or a foreign authority must be issued within 90 days before the date of dossier submission;

(v) Documents proving that the applicant is a former Vietnamese national;

(vi) Documents proving eligibility for restoration of Vietnamese nationality, including:

▪ Documents proving that the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality has a Vietnamese citizen spouse, natural father, mother, or natural child;

▪ Documents proving that the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality has made meritorious contributions to Vietnam’s national construction and defense or that the restoration of Vietnamese nationality is beneficial to the State of Vietnam;

▪ Documents proving implementation of investment in Vietnam; or

If a person is applying for restoration of Vietnamese nationality because he/she had renounced Vietnamese nationality to acquire foreign nationality but was not permitted to be naturalized in that foreign country, that person must have a document issued by a foreign authority certifying the reason for failure to acquire foreign nationality.

In summary, Vietnamese who have renounced their nationality must meet several legal requirements.

The above is not official advice from BLawyers Vietnam’s lawyers. If you have any questions or suggestions about the above, please contact us at consult@blawyersvn.com. BLawyers Vietnam would love to hear from you.

Date: 28 August 2023

Writer: Linh Nguyen