Effective July 1, 2025: 5+ Civil Status Procedures with Foreign Elements to be Handled at Commune Level

Legal Basis

These changes are detailed in the following legal documents:

• Decree No. 120/2025/ND-CP, issued on June 11, 2025.
• Circular No. 08/2025/TT-BTP, issued on June 12, 2025.

These documents regulate the division of authority and decentralization in state management under the Ministry of Justice.

1. Birth Registration for Individuals with Existing Personal Dossiers/Documents

For overseas Vietnamese who have never had their birth registered in Vietnam, the Commune-level People's Committee of the place where the applicant resided before departing the country will now have the authority to process the birth registration.

Condition: The applicant must provide a valid personal dossier or documents proving their place of birth is in Vietnam (as regulated in Circular No. 04/2020/TT-BTP).

2. Marriage Registration Involving Foreign Elements

This is one of the most significant changes. The authority for marriage registration involving foreign elements will be completely transferred from the District-level People's Committee to the Commune-level People's Committee.

• Executing Body: The Commune-level People's Committee where the Vietnamese citizen (either the man or the woman) resides.
• Processing Time: 05 working days from the date of receiving a complete and valid application.
• In Case of Verification: The processing time may be extended, but not to exceed 10 working days.

3. Combined Birth Registration and Parent-Child Recognition with Foreign Elements

When simultaneously processing birth registration and parent-child recognition involving a foreign element, the authority will also lie with the Commune-level People's Committee where the Vietnamese parent (father or mother) resides.

4. Changes, Corrections, Additions to Civil Status, and Redetermination of Ethnicity

For civil status matters previously registered at the provincial Department of Justice, the authority to process changes, corrections, or redetermination of ethnicity will now be handled by the Commune-level People's Committee in the following specific cases:

• For overseas Vietnamese citizens: The Commune-level People's Committee of their last place of residence before departure.
• For foreigners residing in Vietnam: The Commune-level People's Committee of their place of residence.
• For foreigners not residing in Vietnam: The Commune-level People's Committee in the locality of the Department of Justice that originally registered the civil status event.

5. Birth Registration for Children Born Abroad

The authority for birth registration for children born abroad to at least one Vietnamese parent, who now return to reside in Vietnam, will also be transferred from the District-level People's Committee to the Commune-level People's Committee.

Other Key Procedures Also Being Decentralized

In addition to the five main groups above, the authority to handle the following matters will also be transferred from the District-level People's Committee to the Commune-level People's Committee:

• Recording foreign divorce or marriage annulment decrees into the civil status register.
• Re-registration of birth.
• Re-registration of marriage.
• Re-registration of death.

Important Note on an Effective Period: The decentralization provisions outlined in Decree No. 120/2025/ND-CP will be in effect from July 1, 2025, to March 1, 2027.

The information contained in this article is general and intended only to provide information on legal regulations. DB Legal will not be responsible for any use or application of this information for any business purpose. For in-depth advice on specific cases, please contact us.

For more information: 

📞: +84 357 466 579

📧: contact@dblegal.vn

🌐Facebook:  DB Legal Vietnamese Fanpage or DB Legal English Fanpage 

🐦X(Twitter)

💼Linkedin

🎬Youtube