I’m a stateless person currently renting a house in Vietnam for temporary residence. Am I entitled to register for permanent residence in the and if I am, what are conditions and procedures for my permanent residence registration?
Under the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit, and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, a stateless person who has been temporarily residing Vietnam since 2000 or earlier may be considered for permission for permanent residence in the country.
As per the Law’s Article 40.1, a stateless person may be permitted for permanent residence if he/she has a lawful place of residence and stable income to ensure his/her livelihood in Vietnam.
Once you satisfy the above conditions, you will have to present papers proving your continuous residence in Vietnam since a time prior to the year 2000, which may be any of the following papers: temporary residence certificate; temporary residence registration book; written statement of the period of temporary residence in Vietnam which bear certification by the public security office of the commune, ward or township where you are temporarily residing.
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| A foreigner is carrying out temporary residence registration procedures__Photo: Internet |
Regarding your lawful place of residence, you have to present a document proving the lawful lease or lending of, or permission for stay at, a house, which might be a rent or lending contract or a written permission for stay or a house of an agency, organization or individual. If the house is leased by an individual, the rent contract must be notarized or authenticated by a commune-level People’s Committee.
If you are living in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, you must have a contract clearly stating the area of the space you lease, borrow or are permitted to stay and a written permission of the lessor, lender or landlord.
If wishing to register for permanent residence in a centrallyrun city, you must have a lawful place of residence in that city and have continuously resided there for at least one year.
So, if having been temporarily residing Vietnam since a time prior to the year 2000 and having a lawful place of residence and stable income to ensure your livelihood in Vietnam, you may be considered for permission for permanent residence in the country.
Once permitted to permanently reside in the country, you have to prepare a dossier comprising:
- An application for permanent residence permission;
- Papers proving that you have been temporarily residing in Vietnam since a time prior to the year 2000 and have a lawful place of residence and stable income.
You will submit the dossier to the immigration management office under the provincial-level Public Security Department of the locality where you wish to permanently reside, and will be processed as follows:
Within four months after receiving a complete dossier, the Minister of Public Security will consider and decide to permit permanent residence. If deeming it necessary to require information verification, this time limit may be extended for up to two months.
The immigration management agency will send a notice of the result to you and the provincial-level Public Security Department of the locality where you wish to permanently reside.
Within five working days after receiving a notice from the immigration management agency, if your application is accepted, you will be notified of permission by the provincial-level Public Security Department of the locality where you wish to permanently reside.
Within three months after being notified of permanent residence permission, you have to go to the immigration management agency of the provincial-level Public Security Department of the locality where you wish to permanently reside to receive a permanent residence card.
Once every 10 years, you have to come to the provincial-level Public Security Department of the locality where you are permanently residing to have your permanent residence card renewed.- (VLLF)
