HTLaw

How to apply for Vietnamese citizenship but still keep foreign citizenship?

How to apply vietnam citizenship - htlaw

Recently, HTLaw received a question from a French of Vietnamese origin who wants to be naturalized in Vietnam but still wants to keep the French nationality. Specifically, this customer, whose father is French, mother is Vietnamese, after one year of living in Vietnam, intends to naturalize Vietnam.

To answer this question, HT based on the provisions of Vietnamese law on naturalization of
foreigners and gave the following legal opinions:

-According to Clause 2, Article 16 of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality 24/2008/QH12 “A child either of whose parents is a Vietnamese citizen at the time of his/her birth and the other is a foreign national has the Vietnamese nationality if so agreed in writing by his/her parents at the
time of birth registration.”

Therefore, after checking the birth certificate registered in France, we found that there is no
written agreement or content of agreement between the customer’s parents about the child keeping Vietnamese nationality.

 -According to Article 9 of Decree No. 16/2020/ND-CP stipulating Special cases of naturalization of Vietnamese nationality and retention of foreign nationality as specified in Clause 3 Article 19 of Law on Vietnamese Nationality , in order to be considered this special case, the following conditions must be met:

1. He/she satisfies the conditions for naturalization of Vietnamese nationality according to Law of Vietnamese Nationality.

2. He/she has made meritorious contribution to Vietnam’s national construction and defense and the naturalization of Vietnamese nationality with retention of foreign nationality is beneficial to
the Government of Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

3. Retention of his/her foreign nationality upon naturalization of Vietnamese nationality is satisfactory to regulations and law of said foreign country.

4. Renunciation of foreign nationality leads to impacts on his/her rights and benefits in the foreign country.

5. He/she does not utilize foreign nationality to harm legal rights and benefits of agencies, organizations and individuals; harm national security and benefits, social order and safety of the Government of Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Note: In order to explain Clause 2 about a person with special meritorious services, this person must be a recipient of Orders, Medals and other noble titles of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam or certified by a competent Vietnamese agency or organization for such special labor.

Based on the above provisions, the client’s dossier is deemed not to meet the conditions to retain French nationality if the application for naturalization is submitted in Vietnam (unless there is a written verification of the agreement between customer’s parents about keeping the Vietnamese nationality at the time of making the birth certificate.)

Therefore, the conclusion of HT Immigration & Investment Company is that customers cannot have dual French-Vietnamese citizenship at the same time.

To save time learning about the law, you can contact HT for Apply for Vietnam citizenship services. 

Contact us

    • Email: hue.truong@htlaw.vn
    • Phone number: +84 935 439 454. 

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