Paperwork for Marriage

One of the most trying things for people is paperwork. If you are going to be married in Vietnam, you will have a lot of paperwork and about one month in time and some money.

First off the paperwork you will need will differ from province/city the Vietnamese citizen comes from. HCMC is the most lax compared to other provinces.

The Bulk of the Paperwork

Both of you will need a medical check up at an approved hospital, and if you are a non-Asian, the cost will be higher. It is a simple blood check, overview/review with a doctor, etc. Nothing detailed nothing problematic. A further check is needed if you are French, but I am unsure what exactly that entails since I am not French.

You both will need a piece of paper declaring your status that you are single. You may need to get it from the state government you are from and not the consulate/embassy of your nation. The single status paperwork, then needs to be translated and stamped/approved by the Ministry of External/Foreign Affairs.

Your passport will need to be photocopied with every stamp and be stamped by the local authority. The Vietnamese citizen needs their family red book photocopied and approved/stamped and their government identification card photocopied and approved/stamped.

You will fill out a CV (depending on the requirements of the provincial government) and a profile with passport size photos.

After filling out all paperwork, you submit it to the proper authorities (Ministry of Justice) along with a set amount of money. They will give you a piece of paper for an interview.

The Interview

For the interview you will need a translator unless you speak Mandarin or Korean (according to the statement on our sheet of paper, your sheet of paper may be different). Find a good translator who is nice and a bit charming. They will ask questions about where you met, what you have done, details about family. And a few times they may ask for some extra money to make things quick or approved (it is up to you, you don't have to pay). They will then submit the interview information and wait. They may ask for further information, pictures, plane tickets, and other things to prove your information/story.

After the Interview

You will have to come back in another two weeks to see if you are approved.

Once you are approved, in four to five weeks you will get your marriage certificate. The marriage certificate means you are approved by the government to get married. Double check all information, because your information is foreign, mistakes may happen. Sign and get your piece of paper. Cover it in plastic (at a local photocopy shop) and also get official government copies ordered at the Ministry of Justice at the same time.

Benefits of the Vietnamese Marriage Certificate

You can be officially married by a church. The Catholic Church will ask for more paperwork (proof of your Christianity, her visa if you are moving to another country, or proof you are staying in Vietnam, plus paperwork you went through marriage lessons). You can get a visa exemption stamp, it is a five year stamp that you renew every three months that replaces all other visas. This stamp and the renewals are significantly cheaper than a tourist/business visa.

You can also reside legally in a house that is in your spouse's name (rented or owned). Before that you have to reside in a home that is governmentally approved for foreigners and the contract maximum is three months (and usually more expensive to rent).

This is also the first step to get you a work permit, temporary residence card, and eventually dual citizenship.

The work permit needs: a letter of invitation/contract from a business, an authorized diploma, a government criminal background check and a health check.

Temporary residence needs: a work permit, relation (marriage, parent, child of VN citizen), a house (owned not rented), a health check, government criminal background check and proof of reasonable income from spouse (she or he has to make enough to provide for you if you are unemployed).

Passport/dual citizenship: almost the same as the temporary residence, along with the temporary residence card.

The most difficult thing about the paperwork is that it has a 6 month life, so find out how long it takes for everything. For example, the criminal background check is approx 5 weeks, but it will take longer because of information from the foreign nation. Your diploma approval is dependant on the nation you graduated from (ie: AU is 2 weeks, and the USA is about 2 months, AU has a central database that can be done overseas, the USA is dependent on the state so you have to send your diploma to the state you graduated from). The health check takes one week of processing after 4 hours of testing. And this is compiled with the letter of offer (most than likely the company will have a template with the blank date to ensure all is done well). The big problem is with being a teacher in an overseas country is that you have to get approval from both the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Education. Sometimes a lawyer can help, but most of the time they are expensive and sometimes give false information. If you have the time and the patience, you can do it yourself. As with most paperwork with the VN government.