Naming infant for Vietnamese birth certificate

Thank you for your interest in this article, hopefully we will have the opportunity to work together later.

Linda Zhenzhen wrote:

thanks your information, this article is very little for me.

There must be a sincere sentiment hidden in the above comment.  Could Google translate be that messed up?

It is probably worth noting that many of the facts presented in this thread may have been nullified by more recent changes in law.  Check this more recent thread on essentially the same subject:  https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=906015

It all comes down to where and who you deal with. I know people here who have English first names on birth certificates. Uniformity is an unknown quantity in VN.

FACT. It is law that you must have a Vietnamese name if you want to be Vietnamese.

I am right in the middle of this. This is as of today. Things may change of course.

It changed a few years back. As my lawyer said ... this is not a driving ticket ... we cannot pay to make this go away.

You want a Vietnamese kid, you have to give him a VN name.

. . . .


If you do not want a VN name and want the baby to be another nationality, then you must register with your Embassy/consulate and THEN get a birth certificate with your local authorities.

Call them whatever you want. But, they will be foreign. That is up to you.

colinoscapee wrote:

It all comes down to where and who you deal with. I know people here who have English first names on birth certificates. Uniformity is an unknown quantity in VN.

Not this time I am afraid. All changed. VN citizen = VN name.

SongwriterUK wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

It all comes down to where and who you deal with. I know people here who have English first names on birth certificates. Uniformity is an unknown quantity in VN.

Not this time I am afraid. All changed. VN citizen = VN name.

As I mentioned, there is no uniformity to the rule. Different places do things differently. Youre in Danang, they do it their way, not each place follows that rule.

"All laws are open to interpretation by each provence", quoted to me by a govt deptartment in Ba Ria.

colinoscapee wrote:

SongwriterUK wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

It all comes down to where and who you deal with. I know people here who have English first names on birth certificates. Uniformity is an unknown quantity in VN.

Not this time I am afraid. All changed. VN citizen = VN name.

As I mentioned, there is no uniformity to the rule. Different places do things differently. Youre in Danang, they do it their way, not each place follows that rule.

"All laws are open to interpretation by each provence", quoted to me by a govt deptartment in Ba Ria.

Not this time. I say it again because people are searching these forums for facts not only our opinions.

You want to be a Vietnamese citizen, you have a VN name. The law is ALL Vietnam.

No way around it for now.

I am a man who likes to take certain rules lightly, so believe me when I say I have tried to get around this problem.

No go.

SongwriterUK wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

SongwriterUK wrote:

Not this time I am afraid. All changed. VN citizen = VN name.

As I mentioned, there is no uniformity to the rule. Different places do things differently. Youre in Danang, they do it their way, not each place follows that rule.

"All laws are open to interpretation by each provence", quoted to me by a govt deptartment in Ba Ria.

Not this time. I say it again because people are searching these forums for facts not only our opinions.

You want to be a Vietnamese citizen, you have a VN name. The law is ALL Vietnam.

No way around it for now.

For you to assume it was my opinion speaks loudly. Just quoting what was said to me from an ex-govt official.

colinoscapee wrote:

SongwriterUK wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

As I mentioned, there is no uniformity to the rule. Different places do things differently. Youre in Danang, they do it their way, not each place follows that rule.

"All laws are open to interpretation by each provence", quoted to me by a govt deptartment in Ba Ria.

Not this time. I say it again because people are searching these forums for facts not only our opinions.

You want to be a Vietnamese citizen, you have a VN name. The law is ALL Vietnam.

No way around it for now.

For you to assume it was my opinion speaks loudly. Just quoting what was said to me from an ex-govt official.

No need to take it personally. It is a fact nothing more. Not my fact or your fact. The government fact.

Have a good day.

The state of play as of today.

Article 26 of the Vietnam civil code.

3. The naming is restricted in case it violates lawful rights and interests of other people and contravenes basic principles of civil law prescribed in Article 3 of this Code.

The name of each Vietnamese citizen must be in Vietnamese or other ethnic minority languages of Vietnam and not include any figure or any symbol other than a letter.

SongwriterUK wrote:

The state of play as of today.

Article 26 of the Vietnam civil code.

3. The naming is restricted in case it violates lawful rights and interests of other people and contravenes basic principles of civil law prescribed in Article 3 of this Code.

The name of each Vietnamese citizen must be in Vietnamese or other ethnic minority languages of Vietnam and not include any figure or any symbol other than a letter.

Yes, I understand what the law states.

The law also states that you can only legally send money out of VN for certain reasons. Yet, 3 billion usd is spent by Vietnamese each year buying property in the USA.

Not sure how long you have been here, but from my 13 years living here permantly I have found that the national laws are not always followed.

colinoscapee wrote:

SongwriterUK wrote:

The state of play as of today.

Article 26 of the Vietnam civil code.

3. The naming is restricted in case it violates lawful rights and interests of other people and contravenes basic principles of civil law prescribed in Article 3 of this Code.

The name of each Vietnamese citizen must be in Vietnamese or other ethnic minority languages of Vietnam and not include any figure or any symbol other than a letter.

Yes, I understand what the law states.

The law also states that you can only legally send money out of VN for certain reasons. Yet, 3 billion usd is spent by Vietnamese each year buying property in the USA.

Not sure how long you have been here, but from my 13 years living here permantly I have found that the national laws are not always followed.

We comparing length of stay?  

My wife has been here all her life BTW.

This is one of those laws that I cannot get around by paying. It is not a traffic fine.

When you find a baby with a foreign name that is also Vietnamese ... I will be the happiest man alive ... until then. I love to be wrong when it comes to getting my way ... honestly.

The reason I keep harping on about this is that I was under the impression that a foreign name was fine ... maybe with a VN middle name.

I named my baby accordingly ... waited 9 months, then another for admin ... and found out my little fella is not Vietnamese. Unless I change his name.

After singing songs to him, loving him, and calling him the name we all know him as.

The info here is all out of date. Nobodies fault, just moved on.

SongwriterUK wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

SongwriterUK wrote:

The state of play as of today.

Article 26 of the Vietnam civil code.

3. The naming is restricted in case it violates lawful rights and interests of other people and contravenes basic principles of civil law prescribed in Article 3 of this Code.

The name of each Vietnamese citizen must be in Vietnamese or other ethnic minority languages of Vietnam and not include any figure or any symbol other than a letter.

Yes, I understand what the law states.

The law also states that you can only legally send money out of VN for certain reasons. Yet, 3 billion usd is spent by Vietnamese each year buying property in the USA.

Not sure how long you have been here, but from my 13 years living here permantly I have found that the national laws are not always followed.

We comparing length of stay?  

My wife has been here all her life BTW.

This is one of those laws that I cannot get around by paying. It is not a traffic fine.

When you find a baby with a foreign name that is also Vietnamese ... I will be the happiest man alive ... until then. I love to be wrong when it comes to getting my way ... honestly.

Nice spin using the wife.

Anyway, I can see that posting info for you is of no great help. You are making a song and dance about something that, as you say "can't be changed".

Best you move on or at least try to.

colinoscapee wrote:

SongwriterUK wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

Yes, I understand what the law states.

The law also states that you can only legally send money out of VN for certain reasons. Yet, 3 billion usd is spent by Vietnamese each year buying property in the USA.

Not sure how long you have been here, but from my 13 years living here permantly I have found that the national laws are not always followed.

We comparing length of stay?  

My wife has been here all her life BTW.

This is one of those laws that I cannot get around by paying. It is not a traffic fine.

When you find a baby with a foreign name that is also Vietnamese ... I will be the happiest man alive ... until then. I love to be wrong when it comes to getting my way ... honestly.

Anyway, I can see that posting info for you is of no great help.

It's not info though. It is chit-chat. You are just muddying the waters for interested members who are searching for good info.

The Civil code is a law that, this time, is ... the law.

It is about passports, citizenship, and birth registration, not a traffic fine. Unless you are very rich, nobody will do an illegal act of this magnitude for a few million. This is ... lose your job, and possibly worse.

Vietnamese citizen = VN name..

Until we hear the law has changed or another poster has a baby with a foreign name (please God). Lets lock this up.

SongwriterUK wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

SongwriterUK wrote:

We comparing length of stay?  

My wife has been here all her life BTW.

This is one of those laws that I cannot get around by paying. It is not a traffic fine.

When you find a baby with a foreign name that is also Vietnamese ... I will be the happiest man alive ... until then. I love to be wrong when it comes to getting my way ... honestly.

Anyway, I can see that posting info for you is of no great help.

It's not info though. It is chit-chat. You are just muddying the waters for interested members who are searching for good info.

The Civil code is a law that, this time, is ... the law.

It is about passports, citizenship, and birth registration, not a traffic fine. Unless you are very rich, nobody will do an illegal act of this magnitude for a few million. This is ... lose your job, and possibly worse.

Vietnamese citizen = VN name..

Until we hear the law has changed or another poster has a baby with a foreign name (please God). Lets lock this up.

Well maybe if you didnt make such a song and dance over a minor thing, this thread would have ceased.

You now sound like you are an expert on how things work here. Good luck to you.

Lets see if you have to have the last word....AGAIN.