Divorce dossier with foreigners in Vietnam

According to Article 127 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 on divorces involving foreign elements:

Article 127. Divorce with foreign elements

Divorces between Vietnamese citizens and foreigners, between foreigners residing in Vietnam, shall be settled by the competent authorities of Vietnam in accordance with the provisions of this Law.

In case the Vietnamese party is not residing in Vietnam at the time of requesting divorce, the divorce shall be settled in accordance with the law of the common habitual residence of the spouses; if they do not have a common habitual residence, it shall be settled in accordance with Vietnamese law.

The settlement of assets in foreign countries during divorce shall comply with the law of the country where the property is located.

Therefore, a divorce with foreign elements is considered when meeting the conditions mentioned above. When both parties voluntarily sign the divorce petition, have agreements on assets, children, and related issues, the divorce procedure can be initiated.

2. The divorce dossier with foreigners in agreement includes:

According to clause 2 of Article 29 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the requirement for recognizing divorce by mutual consent, property division upon divorce is a civil matter. Therefore, to have the Court settle the divorce by mutual consent, the following documents and dossier need to be prepared:

- Request form for recognizing divorce by mutual consent signed by both spouses for mutual consent divorce cases, and divorce petition for unilateral divorce cases.

- Original marriage certificate if available, and in the case of loss, a certified copy confirmed by the competent State authority. If the marriage is registered in a foreign country, the marriage registration should be recorded in the registry at the Department of Justice;

- Identity card/Citizen ID card or Passport of both spouses (certified copy)

- Household registration book/Temporary residence book/Temporary residence card of both spouses (certified copy)

- Birth certificates of children if applicable (certified copy)

- Documents proving shared property, shared debts if there is a dispute over property

- Documents proving that one party is residing abroad (if applicable)

- Other relevant documents.

3. The divorce dossier unilaterally with foreigners includes:

Unilateral divorce petition (divorce petition);

• Marriage registration certificate (certified true copy or original);
• Citizen ID card of the Vietnamese spouse (certified true copy);
• Passport of the foreign spouse (certified true copy);
• Valid documents proving the current residence of the plaintiff;
• Certified copy of valid birth certificate of common children (if any);
• Documents on shared property of the spouses if the court requests property division.

4. Procedures

• Step 1: Submit unilateral divorce dossier to the competent court
• Step 2: the Court reviews, accepts the petition
• Within 3 working days, the Court assigns a judge to resolve the case
• If the dossier is incomplete, the Court requests amendments within 7 days.
• Step 3: the Court proceeds to resolve: The Court facilitates reconciliation and proceeds with the divorce proceedings in court according to the procedure.