I am a foreigner and married to a Vietnamese. We have been living and working in Hanoi for 15 years, and our children were born and are now learning in the city. I hold a temporary residence permit, which is renewed every 3 years. May I apply for permanent residence permission in Vietnam?
According to the Vietnamese law (the Ministry of Public Security’s Circular No. 31/2015/TT-BCA dated July 6, 2015), a foreigner who has temporarily resided in Vietnam for at least three consecutive years and is guaranteed by his/her parent, spouse or child that is a Vietnamese citizen permanently residing in Vietnam (hosting family member) will be granted a permanent residence permit.
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| Foreigners in Hanoi carry out procedures to get temporary residence cards __Photo: Internet |
Your temporary residence of at least three consecutive years in Vietnam (total period of temporary residence of at least three full years during the last four years up to the date of submission of your application dossier) will be verified on the basis of the entry/exit verification stamps appended at the entry/exit checkpoints.
In your case, you may submit a dossier of application for permanent residence permission to the Hanoi Immigration Office, at 44 Pham Ngoc Thach street, Dong Da district, Hanoi.
The dossier must comprise:
- An application for permanent residence permission;
- A criminal record issued by a competent agency of the country of which you are a citizen;
- A certified copy of your passport;
- Your temporary residence permit;
- A letter of guarantee written by your wife.
Within four months after receiving a complete dossier, the Minister of Public Security will consider and decide to permit your permanent residence. Where it is considered necessary to make further verification, this time limit may be extended for no more than two months.
The immigration management agency will send you a written notice of whether or not your permanent residence is permitted.
Within three months after receiving the notice of permanent residence permission, you have to go to the immigration management agency of the Police Department of the province or city in which you wish to permanently reside to receive a permanent residence card.
How long will the permanent residence card be valid? What can I do to have a lost or damaged card re-granted?
Under regulations, once every 10 years, a foreigner permanently residing in Vietnam has to come to the provincial-level Police Department of the locality where he/she is residing to have his/her permanent residence cards renewed.
A dossier to be submitted for permanent residence card renewal must comprise:
- An application for renewal of the permanent residence card;
- The permanent residence card;
- A certified copy of the applicant’s passport.
Should your permanent residence card be lost or damaged, or should there be any changes in the card contents, you have to submit a dossier for re-grant of the card to the Police Department of the province or centrally run city where you reside.
Such an application dossier must comprise:
- An application for re-grant of the permanent residence card;
- The permanent residence card or a report on the loss of the card, in case the card is lost;
- A certified copy of your passport;
- Papers proving changes in the contents of the permanent residence card.
Within 20 days after receiving a complete dossier, the Police Department of the province or centrally run city where you reside will re-grant the card.
All the above-mentioned paper forms can be found at https://vnimm.gov.vn/ .- (VLLF)
