Eligibility for Regaining Vietnamese Citizenship and Application Procedures

1. Eligibility for Re-acquiring Vietnamese Citizenship

According to Article 23 of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality 2008, individuals eligible to re-acquire Vietnamese citizenship include:

• Persons who lost their Vietnamese citizenship under Article 26 of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality 2008 may re-acquire it if they fall under one of the following categories:
  

• Applying for repatriation to Vietnam;

• Having a spouse, biological parent, or child who is a Vietnamese citizen;

• Having made significant contributions to the development and defense of Vietnam;

• Beneficial to the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

• Investing in Vietnam;

• Renounced Vietnamese citizenship to acquire foreign citizenship but were not granted foreign citizenship.

• Applicants cannot re-acquire Vietnamese citizenship if it would harm Vietnam's national interests.

• Individuals who had their Vietnamese citizenship revoked must wait at least five years from the revocation date before applying for re-acquisition.

• Applicants must restore their previous Vietnamese name, which will be specified in the decision to re-acquire Vietnamese citizenship.

• Those who re-acquire Vietnamese citizenship must renounce their foreign citizenship, except in special cases approved by the President, such as:
  

• Being the spouse, biological parent, or child of a Vietnamese citizen;

• Having made significant contributions to the development and defense of Vietnam;

• Beneficial to the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

2. Procedures for Re-acquiring Vietnamese Citizenship

2.1. Required Documents

According to Article 24 of Law on Vietnamese Nationality 2008, the application dossier for re-acquiring Vietnamese citizenship includes:

• Application for re-acquiring Vietnamese citizenship;

• Copy of Birth Certificate, Passport, or other valid identification documents;

• Personal background declaration;

• Criminal record issued by the competent authority in Vietnam for the period the applicant resided in Vietnam, and a criminal record issued by a foreign authority for the period the applicant resided abroad. The criminal record must be issued no more than 90 days before submitting the application;

• Documents proving the applicant previously held Vietnamese citizenship;

• Documents proving eligibility for re-acquiring Vietnamese citizenship as per Article 23, Clause 1 of the 2008 Vietnamese Nationality Law.

2.2. Application Process

Based on Article 25 of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality 2008, the application process for re-acquiring Vietnamese citizenship is as follows:

• Applicants residing in Vietnam submit their applications to the Department of Justice at their place of residence. Those residing abroad submit their applications to the Vietnamese representative office in their country of residence. If the application lacks the required documents as per Article 24 of the 2008 Vietnamese Nationality Law or is invalid, the receiving agency will notify the applicant to complete the application.

• Within five working days of receiving a complete and valid application, the Department of Justice will request the provincial police to verify the applicant's identity. The provincial police have 20 days to conduct the verification and report back to the Department of Justice. During this period, the Department of Justice will verify the application documents. Within five working days of receiving the verification results, the Department of Justice will complete the dossier and submit it to the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee. Within five working days of receiving the request from the Department of Justice, the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee will review, conclude, and send their recommendations to the Ministry of Justice.

• For applicants residing abroad, the Vietnamese representative office will verify the application within 20 days and send it, along with their recommendations, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to forward to the Ministry of Justice. If necessary, the Ministry of Justice will request the Ministry of Public Security to verify the applicant's identity.

• Within 20 days of receiving the proposal from the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee or the Vietnamese representative office abroad, the Ministry of Justice will review the dossier. If the applicant meets the conditions for re-acquiring Vietnamese citizenship, the Ministry of Justice will notify the applicant in writing to proceed with renouncing their foreign citizenship unless they are requesting to retain it or are stateless. Within 10 working days of receiving the certificate of renunciation of foreign citizenship from the applicant, the Minister of Justice will report to the Prime Minister to submit to the President for consideration and decision. If the applicant is requesting to retain foreign citizenship or is stateless, within 15 days of receiving the proposal from the Chairman of the provincial People's Committee or the Vietnamese representative office abroad, the Ministry of Justice will review the dossier and, if the applicant meets the conditions for re-acquiring Vietnamese citizenship, report to the Prime Minister to submit to the President for consideration and decision.

• Within 20 days of receiving the request from the Prime Minister, the President will review and decide.

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