Birth certificate in Vietnam

Name is the most basic element to identify and distinguish individuals. However, the naming must follow the provisions of law to be recorded on the birth certificate and be legally valid. The birth certificate registration in Vietnam is stipulated by the Civil Code, Law on Civil Status, and relevant decrees in Vietnam.

The Civil Code has affirmed the right to have family and given names as follows: 

“Each natural person has right to have a family name and a given name (including a middle name, if any). The family and given names of a person shall be the family and given names on the birth certificate of such person”.

One of birth certificate registration in Vietnam contents mentioned in the Law on Civil Status is: 

“Information of the person whose birth is registered: family name, middle name and first name; gender; …”.

In which, the family name of a person will normally follow his/her biological father’s or mother’s as mutually agreed between the parents; if the parents fails to agree, the person’s family name shall be determined according to customary practices. If the father of such person is undetermined, his/her family name shall be passed from his/her natural mother’s.

The Civil Code also provides the naming principle:

“The name of each Vietnamese citizen must be in Vietnamese or other ethnic minority languages of Vietnam and not include any figure or any symbol other than a letter”.

In addition, the content of birth certificate registration in Vietnam requires:

“The last name, ethnicity and full name of the child must be determined in compliance with regulations of laws and in a manner that honors national identity and fine traditions and customs of Vietnam; the name shall not be too long or hard to use”.

However, this regulation lacks transparency and clarity because there is no standard to determine how a name is considered as preserving the national identity, custom and how many words of the name are considered too long.

For abandoned children whose biological parents have not yet been identified, the child’s family name shall be determined based on actual circumstances as prescribed in the Civil Code.

If the child has been adopted, the child’s family name is determined according to the adoptive father’s or adoptive mother’s according to the agreement of the adoptive parents and the birth registration will be done by the adoptive father or mother. If the child has not been adopted, the child’s family name shall be determined at the request of the head of such child-nursing establishment or the request of the person requesting birth registration for the child.

Can you name a Vietnamese child a foreign name under birth certificate registration in Vietnam?

Currently, following the trend of integration, there are cross culture parents which many want to name their children a foreign name. 

In the case of a child whose parent is a foreigner, Law on Vietnamese Nationality stipulates:

“A child either of whose parents is a Vietnamese citizen at the time of his/her birth and the other is a foreign national has the Vietnamese nationality if so agreed in writing by his/her parents at the time of birth registration. In case a child is born in the Vietnamese territory but his/her parents fail to reach an agreement on the selection of his/her nationality, the child has Vietnamese nationality”.

Thus, if the child has Vietnamese nationality, he/she is still not named after a foreign name even though the parent is a foreigner. On the contrary, if the parents both agree for the child to have a foreign nationality, the naming of the child will follow the regulations of that country instead of the regulations of Vietnam.

The law Vietnam has promulgated regulations on naming, which the family and given names must meet these regulations to be recorded for the birth certificate registration in Vietnam. Parents need to pay attention to this so that the birth registration process for the child is convenient, minimizing errors.

We help clients overcome cultural barriers and achieve their strategic and financial outcomes, while ensuring the best interest rate protection, risk mitigation and regulatory compliance while doing business in Vietnam. ANT lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam has attorneys in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and  Danang.