1. What is marriage? What is a marriage with foreign elements?

2. What are marriage conditions between foreigners and Vietnamese people?

• The man is full 20 years old or older, the woman is full 18 years old or older;
• The marriage is decided voluntarily by the man and woman;
• The man and woman do not lose civil act capacity;
• The marriage is not one of the following marriage prohibition cases:
  • Fake marriage;
  • Underage marriage, forcing a person into marriage, deceiving a person into marriage, obstructing marriage;
  • A person who is married but marries someone else, or a person who is not married but marries someone who is married;
  • Getting married or cohabitating as husband and wife between people of the same direct blood line; relatives within three generations; adoptive parent and adopted child; or former adoptive parent and adopted child, father-in-law and daughter-in-law, mother-in-law and son-in-law, or stepparent and stepchild.

3. The necessity of establishing a Prenuptial Agreement between foreigners and Vietnamese

• Protecting personal assets: If you had separate property before marriage or are planning to own property in the future, a Prenuptial Agreement can help clearly define ownership rights and limit future disputes.
• Minimizing financial conflicts: Helps clearly define the financial rights and obligations of each party; helps both parties clearly understand their responsibilities in financial management, creating a foundation for transparency and trust in marriage.
• Saving time and costs: A Prenuptial Agreement can predetermine the financial support or allowances that one party may be required to pay to the other party in the event of marriage breakdown. This may ensure fairness and minimize future disputes, save time and costs.
• Protecting children's rights: If you have special inheritance plans or have children from a previous marriage, a Prenuptial Agreement may clearly define inheritance rights and protect the rights of the children's rights, ensuring future care and financial support.

• When entering into a Prenuptial Agreement, both man and woman must have appropriate legal capacity and civil conduct to execute the Agreement.
• Voluntary conclusion: Agreement is completely based on the voluntary will of the participating parties, without deception, threats, coercion.
• Purpose and content must not violate laws and ethics
• Consistent with civil principles: The content of the prenuptial agreement must comply with the basic principles of the Vietnam Civil Code, not violate regulations of Vietnam's Marriage and Family Law and related laws. 
• In addition, the contract must be established before marriage, in written form and must be notarized or authenticated according to regulations or at the request of the couple.

4. What do you need to prepare before getting married?

• For Vietnamese citizens: Passport/ID card or other documents with photo and personal information issued by a competent authority, still valid to prove identity.
• For foreigners: Original passport to prove identity; In cases where foreigners do not have a passport to present, they may present international travel documents or residence cards.
• Documents proving residence to determine authority to register marriage.

• Marriage registration declaration (form) with enough information of both man and woman. Both man and woman may declare together in one marriage registration declaration;

Marriage registration declaration form => Download here

• A certificate from a competent Vietnamese or foreign medical organization certifying that the marriage parties do not suffer from mental illness or other diseases that prevent them from being able to perceive and control their behavior;
• Documents proving the foreigner's marital status issued by a competent authority of the country of which he or she is a citizen are still valid and confirm that he or she currently has no wife or husband; 

In case the foreign agency does not have confirmation of marital status, it will be replaced by documents issued by a foreign competent authority certifying that the person is eligible for marriage according to the law of that country.

The value of documents proving a foreigner's marital status is determined according to the validity period stated on that document. In case the document proving marital status does not indicate an expiry date, this document and the medical organization's confirmation are valid for 6 months from the date of issue.

• Foreigners and Vietnamese citizens residing abroad must submit a copy of their passport/valid passport replacement document.
• Certificate of marital status of Vietnamese citizens residing in the country.

• Vietnamese citizens who have divorced or annulled their marriage at the competent authority of a foreign country must submit a certified copy of the citizenship registration record regarding the record of divorce or annulment of illegal marriage (Divorce annotation record).
• Vietnamese citizens who are civil servants, officials, or serving in the armed forces must submit a document from their agencies or management units confirming their marriage to a foreigner in accordance with the regulations of such sector.
• In case the persons requesting marriage registration is working, studying, or working temporarily abroad, they must submit a certificate of marital status issued by the diplomatic representative agency or consular representative office of Vietnam in the foreign country.

5. Orders, procedures for getting married between a Vietnamese and a foreigner in Vietnam

6. Why do you need Lawyer counseling on marriage and pre-marriage in Vietnam?

7. What does a Lawyer counseling on marriage and pre-marriage in Vietnam do?

• Consulting on marriage conditions, dossiers and procedures for registering marriage between foreigners and Vietnamese at competent agencies in Vietnam;
• Consulting on the provisions of marriage and family law on joint property, private property, inheritance... and other property of husband and wife;
• Consulting on legally establishing private property before marriage (before marriage registration);
• Consulting on adoption procedures involving domestic or foreign elements;
• Consulting on handling violations of the monogamous marriage regime according to the provisions of law;
• Drafting and translating documents sent to Vietnamese competent authorities throughout the marriage registration process;
• Participating and supporting translation when clients work with Vietnamese competent authorities during the marriage registration process in Vietnam;
• Consulting on other issues related to Marriage and Family Law.

8. What are the standards of a Lawyer counseling on marriage and pre-marriage in Vietnam?

• Must be ethical and dedicated and serve for the legitimate purposes of Clients; 
• Must have extensive knowledge not only of domestic law but also of other countries' laws;
• Must be able to think and work with high precision in providing legal services to foreigners;
• Must have profound experience, accumulated in the work with client process;
• Must have a deep and healthy understanding of social life, from which may understand family love stories, husband and wife relationship, responsibilities towards children, grandparents…;
• Must put professionalism first, promote love between husband and wife, family, not accept clients' requests for quick divorce;
• There must be a large-scale team to be able to coordinate and support each other in the best way, thereby bringing optimal results to clients;
• Have skills in searching and applying information technology professionally.

9. Where do you find reputable and quality Lawyers counseling on marriage and pre-marriage in Vietnam?

10. Questions related to counseling on marriage and pre-marriage in Vietnam

• There is a written agreement between the parents that the child has Vietnamese nationality at the time of birth registration: the child has Vietnamese nationality;
• Parents agree that the child has foreign nationality according to foreign law: the child has foreign nationality;
• A child born in Vietnamese territory whose parents cannot agree on the child's nationality: the child has Vietnamese nationality.