I’m from Australia and my wife is a Vietnamese. My son has Australian nationality. Now, he is 13 years old and frequently goes to Vietnam to visit his relatives. Will he lose Australian nationality if I apply for a Vietnamese passport for him?
According to Vietnamese law, you may apply for a Vietnamese passport for your son if he has Vietnamese nationality. Your family is residing in Australia, so you may submit three dossier sets of application for Vietnamese nationality at the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia.
A dossier comprises:
- An application for Vietnamese nationality (naturalization in Vietnam);
- A copy of the birth certificate, passport or another substitute paper evidencing your son’s Australian nationality;
- A curriculum vitae;
- A judicial record issued by an Australian authority for the period your son has resided in Australia. The judicial record must be issued within 90 days before the date of dossier filing.
Foreigners applying for Vietnamese nationality must have Vietnamese names. These names may be selected by applicants and written in decisions on naturalization in Vietnam.
Under the 2008 Vietnamese Nationality Law, persons naturalized in Vietnam will renounce their foreign nationality, except for the following persons:
- Those who are spouses, blood parents or blood offsprings of Vietnamese citizens;
- Those who have made meritorious contributions to Vietnam’s national construction and defense;
- Those who are helpful to the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
So, if your wife still retains Vietnamese nationality, your son will not lose Australian nationality when being naturalized in Vietnam.
After he is granted Vietnamese nationality, you may carry out the procedures for applying for a Vietnamese passport for him.
What are procedures for application for a Vietnamese passport for overseas Vietnamese. May my son use either of his passports when entering or leaving Vietnam?
According to Vietnamese law, a Vietnamese citizen who is residing in a foreign country may submit a dossier of application for an ordinary passport at the Vietnamese Embassy in that country.
A dossier comprises:
- The declaration for the grant of a passport, made according to a set form;
- Three 4 cm x 6 cm photos taken within one year before the time of application filing with white background showing the applicant looking straight, bareheaded and wearing no color glasses, of which either is glued to the declaration form.
- A curriculum vitae;
- Copies of documents issued by the Australian authorities proving the applicant’s residence in Australia;
- The document evidencing the applicant’s Vietnamese nationality;
- A copy of the birth certificate, if the applicant is under 14 years old;
An ordinary passport granted to children under 14 years old is valid for 5 years at most from the date of issuance and inextensible.
The overseas Vietnamese representative mission will reply to the applicant within five working days from the date of receipt of the dossier.
According to the law on exit and entry, your son holding Vietnamese passport needs no visa when leaving and entering Vietnam. He has to comply with the entering purpose and make declaration of temporary residence to a commune-level police office in Vietnam.
Though your son has both Australian and Vietnamese passports, he can use only either of them when entering Vietnam. That means:
- If he enters Vietnam with the Vietnamese passport, he will have to leave this country with this passport (without visa);
- If he enters Vietnam with the Australian passport, he will have to leave the country with the Australian passport with a visa granted by the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia;
- If he enters Vietnam with the Australian passport and leaves the country with the other passport, he will be regarded as having violated the Vietnamese law on exit and entry.-
