TABLE OF CONTENTS
- What is dual citizenship registration?
- What are the benefits for American Overseas Vietnamese having dual US - Vietnam citizenship?
- What are the requirements for American Overseas Vietnamese having dual US-Vietnam citizenship?
- What does the application for dual citizenship include?
- What is the procedure for granting US-Vietnam dual citizenship?
- How long does it take to carry out the dual US-Vietnam citizenship procedure?
- Which difficulties do American overseas Vietnamese often face when applying for US-Vietnam dual citizenship?
- Phong & Partners Law Firm provides US-Vietnam dual citizenship services.
CONTENT:
1. What is dual citizenship registration?
- Dual citizenship is understood as a person holding dual nationality and enjoying the citizenship rights of both countries of which he/she is a citizen.
- US - Vietnam dual citizenship is understood as a person who holds both US and Vietnamese citizenship at the same time.
- Overseas Vietnamese is a term referring to Vietnamese people residing outside the territory of Vietnam, they may be holding Vietnamese nationality and/or citizenship of the host country.
- American overseas Vietnamese is understood as overseas Vietnamese living and working in the US or/and holding US citizenship.
- US-Vietnam dual citizenship registration means that an overseas Vietnamese who already has US citizenship and no longer hold Vietnamese nationality conducts necessary procedures at a competent authority in Vietnam to register for Vietnamese citizenship.
2. What are the benefits for American Overseas Vietnamese having dual US - Vietnam citizenship?
- American overseas Vietnamese with dual US-Vietnamese citizenship are entitled to buy real estate and bear their names on the Certificate of land use rights and ownership of properties on land in Vietnam as Vietnamese citizens;
- American overseas Vietnamese with dual US-Vietnamese citizenship are entitled to invest and establish a company in Vietnam smoothly and quickly as Vietnamese citizens; are not be restricted or prohibited from investing in a number of industries and fields applicable to foreign investors;
- American overseas Vietnamese with dual US-Vietnamese citizenship do not need to apply for a visa, temporary or permanent residence card upon entry and exit;
- American overseas Vietnamese with dual US-Vietnamese citizenship are entitled to other lawful rights and benefits as US citizens and Vietnamese citizens enjoy.
3. What are the requirements for American Overseas Vietnamese having dual US-Vietnam citizenship?
- American overseas Vietnamese who apply to regain Vietnamese nationality and at the same time retain American citizenship must fall into one of the following cases:
+ Being spouse, biological parent or biological child of a Vietnamese citizen;
+ Having special merits for contributing to the cause of construction and defense of the Vietnamese Fatherland;
+ Having benefited the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
- American overseas Vietnamese who apply to regain Vietnamese nationality and retain American citizenship must fully accommodate the following requirements:
+ Being eligible to return to Vietnamese nationality (as mentioned above);
+ Retaining the US citizenship of that person when returning to the Vietnamese nationality is suitable with the law of The United States;
+ Renuncing of US citizenship affect that person’s rights in the US;
+ Not using US citizenship to harm the lawful rights and interests of agencies, organizations and individuals; infringe upon national security and interests, social order and safety of the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
- It should be noted that, when all requirements are met, that person will be allowed to register for Vietnamese citizenship without having to renounce US citizenship. The President of Vietnam will consider and decide on many relevant factors before making a decision.
4. What does the application for dual citizenship include?
Dossier for dual citizenship includes:
(1) Application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality;
(2) Copy of Birth Certificate, Passport or other valid substitute documents;
(3) Background statement;
(4) Judicial record card is one of the following documents:
- Judicial record card issued by a competent Vietnamese agency for applicants who return to Vietnamese nationality residing in Vietnam;
- Judicial record card issued by a competent foreign agency for applicants who return to Vietnamese nationality residing abroad.
(5) Documents proving that the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality used to have Vietnamese nationality as one of the following documents:
- Documents proving that Vietnamese nationality has been renounced or revoked by the State President;
- Documents issued or certified by a competent Vietnamese agency or organization, including Vietnamese nationality or valid documents proving the person’s previous Vietnamese nationality.
(6) Documents proving the eligibility to return Vietnamese nationality is one of the following documents:
- Documents proving that the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality has spouse, biological parent or biological child who is Vietnamese citizen;
- Documents proving that the applicant’s return to Vietnamese nationality has special merits contributing to the cause of construction and defense the Fatherland of Vietnam or the return of Vietnamese nationality is beneficial to the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
5. What is the procedure for granting US-Vietnam dual citizenship?
a) Case 1: Registration of dual citizenship in Vietnam - at the Department of Justice of the place of residence
- Step 1: Preparing dossiers
- The applicant to return to Vietnamese nationality prepares 03 dossiers according to section 4.
- Step 2: Submiting dossiers
- Those who apply for restoration of Vietnamese nationality residing in Vietnam shall submit dossiers to the Department of Justice of the place of residence.
- Step 3: Verifying dossiers and identity
- Within 5 working days after receiving a complete and valid dossier, the Department of Justice shall send a written request to the provincial-level police office to verify the identity of the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality.
- Within 20 days from the date of receiving the request of the Department of Justice, the provincial-level Public Security agency shall verify and send the result to the Department of Justice. During this time, the Department of Justice must conduct verification of documents in the application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality.
- Within 5 working days from the date of receiving the verification result, the Department of Justice shall complete the dossier and submit it to the President of the provincial People’s Committee.
- Within 5 working days from the date of receiving the request of the Department of Justice, the President of the People’s Committee of the province shall consider, conclude and propose opinions to the Ministry of Justice.
- Step 4: Reporting to the Prime Minister
- Within 15 days from the date of receiving the written proposal of the Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, the Ministry of Justice is responsible for re-examining the dossier, if the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality is fully qualified requirements to regain Vietnamese nationality, they shall report to the Prime Minister for submission to the State President for consideration and decision.
- Step 5: The President considers and decides
- Within 20 days from the date of receiving the Prime Minister’s proposal, the State President shall consider and decide.
b) Case 2: Applying for dual citizenship abroad – at the Vietnamese Embassy/Consulate in the US
- Step 1: Prepare dossiers
- The applicant to return to Vietnamese nationality prepares 03 dossiers according to section 5.
- Step 2: Submiting dossiers
- Those who apply for the restoration of Vietnamese nationality and reside in the US shall submit dossiers to the Vietnamese representative agency in the US.
- Step 3: Verify dossiers and identity
- Within 20 days from the date of receiving a complete and valid dossier, the Vietnamese representative mission in the US is responsible for verifying and transferring the dossier together with its proposal on the application for restoration of Vietnamese nationality to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to transfer to the Department of Justice.
- In case of necessity, the Ministry of Justice requests the Ministry of Public Security to verify the identity of the applicant to return to Vietnamese nationality.
- Step 4: Reporting the Prime Minister
- Within 15 days from the date of receiving a written proposal from the Vietnamese representative mission in the US, the Ministry of Justice is responsible for re-examining the dossier, if the applicant for restoration of Vietnamese nationality is fully qualified requirements to be restored to Vietnamese nationality, they shall report to the Prime Minister for submission to the State President for consideration and decision.
- Step 5: The President considers, decides
- Within 20 days from the date of receiving the Prime Minister’s proposal, the State President shall consider and decide.
6. How long does it take to carry out the dual US-Vietnam citizenship procedure?
- Procedures for dual citizenship in Vietnam (at the Department of Justice where overseas Vietnamese reside) are at least 70 days.
- Procedures for dual citizenship in the US (at the Vietnamese Embassy/Consulate in the US) are at least 55 days.
7. Which difficulties do American overseas Vietnamese often face when applying for US-Vietnam dual citizenship?
Firstly, do not FULLY meet the requirements for dual citizenship application
- Legally, Vietnam allows American overseas Vietnamese to return to Vietnamese nationality as the same time retain American nationality. However, in reality, it is not easy for overseas Vietnamese to fully meet the requirements (as stated in Section 3) to be registered for dual citizenship. Because it is difficult to add documents related to interests, politics and national security to prove that American overseas Vietnamese are eligible for dual citizenship.
Secondly, do not have enough documents to prove Vietnamese nationality
- One of the requirements for American overseas Vietnamese to carry out procedures for dual citizenship is to have “documents proving that they used to have Vietnamese nationality and still hold Vietnamese citizenship” in accordance with Vietnamese law. However, this is also a difficulty for overseas Vietnamese when they have settled in the US for too long, the documents are no longer intact or accidentally lost... leading to insufficient documents to prove Vietnamese.
- In this case, American overseas Vietnamese need to carry out the extraction procedures at the competent state agency for documents such as Certificate of Birth, Permanent Residence before settling down...
Thirdly, difficulties in extracting documents
- When carrying out the extraction procedure at a competent state agency, the longer it takes for overseas Vietnamese to reside in the US, the longer it takes to extract relevant documents.
- In addition, for American overseas Vietnamese, if there were changes in personal information, the civil status registration agency needs to check and verify carefully in reality. These issues make the extraction procedure more complicated and time-consuming.
- For example: Changing a new name with a foreign name of American overseas Vietnamese but there is no document to prove the relationship with the old name, leading to difficulties in extracting documents and processing documents because these documents are all old names.
Fourthy, the procedure is quite long
- The actual processing time of the competent agency on the registration of dual citizenship in Vietnam for overseas Vietnamese is quite long. Therefore, the applicant must regularly monitor the status of the application to provide additional documents promptly if requested by the competent agency.
8. Phong and Partners Law Firm provides dual citizenship services
- With a team of dedicated and experienced lawyers, Phong & Partners provides US-Vietnamese dual citizenship services wherein, we shall support American overseas Vietnamese to regain Vietnamese citizenship while retaining foreign citizenship. Accordingly, services include:
+ Counselling for requirements, orders and procedures for dual citizenship registration;
+ Translating, notarizing of translation and consularing legal documents in service of dual citizenship registration;
+ Extracting and completing the application for dual citizenship registration in Vietnam for customers;
+ Carrying out procedures for registration of dual citizenship at competent state agencies;
+ Counselling and carrying out other legal procedures after being approved by the State agency for dual citizenship registration in Vietnam.
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