DECREE No.6/1998/ND-CP OF JANUARY 14, 1998 AMENDING A NUMBER OF ARTICLES OF DECREE No.37-HDBT OF FEBRUARY 5, 1990 DETAILING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAW ON NATIONALITY OF VIETNAM

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to Article 103 of the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to Vietnam's Law on Nationality of June 28, 1988;

Pursuant to the Law on the Promulgation of Legal Documents of November 12, 1996;

At the proposal of the Minister of Justice,

DECREES:

Article 1.- Article 5 of Decree No.37-HDBT is amended as follows:

Legitimate grounds defined in Clause 1, Article 9 of Vietnam's Law on Nationality for a Vietnamese citizen to possibly be allowed to relinquish his/her Vietnamese nationality shall be where he/she is currently holding the nationality of other country or he/she wishes to be granted foreign nationality.

Article 2.- Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree No.37-HDBT is amended as follows:

A person applying for the granting, relinquishment or restoration of his/her Vietnamese nationality and residing in the country shall send his/her application to the People's Committee of the province or city under the Central Government where he/she resides; if such person resides in a foreign country, the application shall be sent the diplomatic mission or consular office of Vietnam in that country or directly to Vietnam's Ministry of Justice.

Article 3.- Clause 2, Article 8 of Decree No.37-HDBT is amended and supplemented as follows:

A person applying for the relinquishment of his/her Vietnamese nationality as mentioned in Article 9 of Vietnam's Law on Nationality shall have to enclose the following documents to the application for the relinquishment of Vietnamese nationality:

a/ His/her curriculum vitae;

b/ A copy of his/her birth certificate or substitutive document(s).

In addition to the documents defined in Points a and b above, a person applying for the relinquishment of his/her Vietnamese nationality so as to be granted nationality of a foreign country shall have to submit a paper of the competent agency of such country confirming that the nationality of such country shall be granted to him/her.

For cases where a person applies to relinquish his/her Vietnamese nationality because of his/her current holding of foreign nationality, he/she shall have to submit a copy of his/her passport (the original passport should also be produced for comparison) or other documents evidencing his/her foreign nationality, in addition to documents defined in Points a and b above.

For cases where a person applies to relinquish the Vietnamese nationality of his/her minor children, he/she shall also have to submit copies of his/her children's birth certificates.

The Ministry of Justice shall set the uniform form of application for the relinquishment of Vietnamese nationality and forms of documents defined in Point a, Clause 1 of this Article, after consulting the concerned agencies.

Article 4.- Clause 4, Article 8 of Decree No.37-HDBT is amended and supplemented as follows:

Documents issued or certified by foreign agencies or organizations must be legalized by Vietnamese diplomatic missions or consular offices in foreign countries or by Vietnam's Ministry for Foreign Affairs; documents in foreign language(s) must be translated into Vietnamese and notarized in accordance with the provisions of Vietnamese law.

Article 5.- Article 12 of Decree No.37-HDBT is amended as follows:

1. Within 30 days from the date of receiving in full the valid dossiers of application for granting or restoration of Vietnamese nationality or from the date of completing the compilation of dossiers on cases where decisions to grant Vietnamese nationality may be canceled or where Vietnamese nationality may be deprived, the Vietnamese diplomatic missions or consular offices in the concerned foreign country(ies) or the provincial/municipal People's Committees (for dossiers submitted by persons residing in their respective localities) shall submit such dossiers to the Ministry of Justice, enclosed with their comments and proposals on each case.

2. Within 30 days from the date of receiving valid dossiers on the application for the granting or restoration of Vietnamese nationality, the cancellation of decisions to grant Vietnamese nationality or the deprivation of Vietnamese nationality, the Ministry of Justice shall coordinate with the concerned agencies in examining such dossiers and complete the procedures for submitting them to the State President for decision.

In cases of approval, the Ministry of Justice shall send the State President's decision(s) to the concerned parties through the Vietnamese diplomatic missions or consular office(s) abroad (if the concerned parties reside in foreign countries) or the provincial/municipal People's Committees (if the concerned parties reside in the country). In cases of change of children's nationality under Article 12 of the Vietnam's Law on Nationality, such children's names shall also be stated in the State President's decisions. If the addresses of the concerned parties are unidentified, the State President's decisions to deprive Vietnamese nationality shall be announced on the mass media.

In case of disapproval, the provincial/municipal People's Committees or Vietnamese diplomatic missions or consular offices in foreign countries shall notify the concerned parties thereof.

Article 6.- Article 12 a is supplemented as follows:

Article 12 a.-

1. Within 7 days from the date of receiving in full the valid dossiers on application for the relinquishment of Vietnamese nationality, the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government, the Vietnamese diplomatic missions or consular offices abroad shall have to send such dossiers to the Ministry of Justice enclosed with the recommendations for the settlement thereof.

2. Within 45 days from the date of receiving in full the dossiers sent by the Vietnamese diplomatic missions or consular offices abroad or by the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government or by concerned parties, the Ministry of Justice shall coordinate with the Ministry of the Interior and the Supreme People's Procuracy in verifying such dossiers and carrying out procedures for submitting them to the State President for decision; for cases defined in Clause 4 of this Article, the time limit shall be 20 days.

3. Within 30 days from the date of receiving the dossiers and written requests for the verification of such dossiers sent by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and the Supreme People's Procuracy shall reply in writing the Ministry of Justice on the matters requested to be verified.

4. Applicants for the relinquishment of Vietnamese nationality falling into one of the following cases shall not be subject to the dossier verification prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article:

a/ Children of under 18 years old;

b/ People who were born and have grown up in foreign countries;

c/ People who have left Vietnam and settled down in foreign countries for 10 years or more;

d/ People who are permitted to leave the country for family reunion.

For cases mentioned in Point d, the Ministry of Justice shall send dossiers to the Ministry of the Interior only for the notice purpose; if it finds out reason(s) that may obstruct the relinquishment of Vietnamese nationality, the Ministry of the Interior shall notify in writing the Ministry of Justice thereof within 10 days from the date of receiving the dossiers.

5. For the cases of approval, the State President's decisions on relinquishment of Vietnamese nationality shall be sent to the concerned parties through the concerned Vietnamese diplomatic missions or consular offices abroad or through the concerned People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government (if concerned parties reside in the country).

Article 7.-

1. This Decree takes effect 15 days after its signing.

2. The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government and the presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall have to implement this Decree.

On behalf of the Government

The Prime Minister

PHAN VAN KHAI