How Divorce Procedures Involving Foreign
Elements in Vietnam Are Regulated?
The
procedure for divorce in Vietnam involving foreign elements is one of the
complicated procedures. Therefore, when implementing this procedures, the
parties need to pay attention to the related legal provisions to avoid problems
when conducting the divorce procedure in Vietnam or involve family lawyers for
assistance in preparing documents and filing petition, especially if there are
potential dispute in custody or common assets, properties division.
Divorce dispute firm in Vietnam
Divorce involving foreign elements means termination of the
husband and wife relation under a court’s legally effective judgment or
decision, in which at least one partner is a foreigner or an overseas
Vietnamese or in which partners are Vietnamese citizens but the bases for
terminating that relation are governed by a foreign law, or that relation
arises abroad or the property related to that relation is located abroad,
according to the interpretation on “divorce” and “Marriage and family relation
involving foreign elements” of Law on Marriage and family 2014.
The parties when implementing this procedure need to ensure that
s/he has the right to request a divorce as prescribed in Article 51 of the Law
on Marriage and family 2014. Specifically, the subject of the divorce procedure
must be the wife or the husband, or the legal guardian of s/he in the case s/he
lost the civil act capacity. The husband has no right to request a divorce when
his wife is pregnant, gives birth or is nursing an under-12-month child.
The divorce between a Vietnamese citizen and a foreigner or
between two foreigners permanently residing in Vietnam shall be settled at a
competent Vietnamese agency. In case a partner being a Vietnamese citizen
does not permanently reside in Vietnam at the time of request for divorce, the
divorce shall be settled in accordance with the law of the country where the
husband and wife permanently co-reside; if they do not have a place of
permanent co-residence, the Vietnamese law shall apply.
The Court in Vietnam has the jurisdiction to settle the divorce
request. More specifically, the People’s Court of province have the
jurisdiction to settle the case in which involve parties or properties in
foreign countries or which must be judicially entrusted to representative
agencies of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam overseas or to foreign courts.
The Court will settle the case according to the procedure on code
of civil in Vietnam. The time to settle the case will be based on the details
of the case. The time limit for trial preparation is from 04 to 06 months from
the date the Court accepts the case. The time to set up the court is from 01 to
02 months from the date on which the decision to bring the case to trial is
issued. The marriage relationship will terminate from the date the Court has
the valid divorce decision.
Besides, the dossier on divorce involving foreign elements
including the documents related to marriage relationship, the identification
and the documents related to the property, children according to the
regulations on Law on Marriage and family 2014 and Code of Civil procedure
2015. In detail, the dossier includes the petition for divorce, the copy of
Identification or other personal documents (Passport, Identification card); the
copy of Household book, the original of Marriage certificate, in case the
parties lost the original of Marriage certificate, the parties could provide
the copy of Marriage certificate with the confirmation of competent authority
and need to show this information in the petition for divorce, the copy of the
birth certificate of the child/children (if having the common child/children);
the copies of the documents on the ownership of the property (if increasing the
dispute).
In addition, when submitting the dossier on requiring to settle
the divorce case: (i) if the parties got married in Vietnam, then the spouse
exits abroad (and s/he could not find the address of the spouse), s/he needs to
have the confirmation of the competent authority that the spouse existed; (ii)
if the parties got married under foreign law wish to divorce in Vietnam, they
need to implement the procedure on legalization the Marriage certificate, other
related documents, and note in the register book of Department of Justice, then
submit the divorce petition. In the case the parties did not implement the
procedure on note in the register book but they still wish to divorce in
Vietnam, they need to show the reason why they did not make the marriage note.
The person whom submit the divorce petition will submit the
dossier to the People’s Court of Province where one of the parties are residing
in Vietnam. The Court will check the dossier, if valid, the Court will issue
the notification on paying the court fee. After the court fee is paid, the
Court will accept the divorce case and issue the notification on acceptance the
case to Procuracy, and defendant (the involved parties). Many Courts in Vietnam
require the parties to implement the reconciliation step.
It is suggested to involve divorce dispute lawyers in Vietnam if
the case of divorce would turns out to be complicated when there are disputes
on custody and assets or property division.
