Anyone has experience marriage in VN Saigon?

Is your fiancee Vietnamese?  If so, ask her.

I'd start by changing your mind and not getting married.
That's just my two cents :-).

Your question is very strange, and I am agreed with THIGV. My question is, Did you find your VN fiancee or somebody sold you?

I think your comment shows that you may have this backwards.

Collwing wrote:

My question is, Did you find your VN fiancee or somebody sold you?

The norm as I understand it is that where there is a financial transaction, the westerner is being paid to marry the Vietnamese.   In Honolulu, the current rate is $30,000 to the groom.  Of course a lot of these marriages result in divorce just as soon as the woman achieves permanent resident status.  Unfortunately, these so-called marriages are a big part of why the Embassy or consulate gives legitimately married people such a hard time during the immigration interview.

THIGV wrote:

I think your comment shows that you may have this backwards.

Collwing wrote:

My question is, Did you find your VN fiancee or somebody sold you?

The norm as I understand it is that where there is a financial transaction, the westerner is being paid to marry the Vietnamese.   In Honolulu, the current rate is $30,000 to the groom.  Of course a lot of these marriages result in divorce just as soon as the woman achieves permanent resident status.  Unfortunately, these so-called marriages are a big part of why the Embassy or consulate gives legitimately married people such a hard time during the immigration interview.

That's common enough.
I've been offered cash to marry Thai and Chinese women for immigration status.
That was back in the UK - I refused the generous, no, very generous offers but I can see how a fat sack of cash would be tempting for a lot of people.

Back to the OP.
The request is odd as you'd expect him to ask new family first, but perhaps we could give him a little slack as he could be genuine - doesn't hurt to be nice.

I might be tempted - of course I'd have to sample the goods first 

hey @vgran, there are a number of steps and paperwork to do.
The process is initiated in your gf's local communist committee office. She knows where it is, start there.

As a foreigner you will have to provide some info. You will have to go to your embassy to get a notarized attestation of your singlehood. Are you divorced? You will need that original legal settlement paperwork, get that notarized there as well. Then paperwork needs to be translated to Vietnamese. Hope your documents are in English, might be a bit trickier to find a Finnish-Vietnamese translator.

I don't remember anything about a medical health certificate, but if so, you can just go to a cheap VN clinic. I don't think they are requiring the mental health interview anymore.

If you are taking her back to your home country, that is taken care of through your government office of course.

Search the forum for "marriage" for gruesome expat stories and gotchas.

Hello, Welcome to Vietnam - it's a great place to settle down and raise a family!

1. Go to the Peoples Committee building in your district to get a list of information ̣̣̣̣̣̣̣-steps - you need
     to  take for marriage in your district. When you get there you'll need to ask for the department
     dealing with marriage to foreigners.

2. There are two places, I am aware of, where you can get the health checks that are acceptable for
     marriage. I have listed them below. The last I knew the health exams were 400k for each of you
     (800k total). 

     + Trung tâm sức khỏe tâm thần số 192 đường Bến Hàm Tử, phường 1, quận 5.

     + Trung tâm Giám định pháp y tâm thần thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, số 152-154 Hồng Bàng, phường 12,
         quận 5.

3. If you have been married and divorced before, you will need a certified copy of the divorce paper
    (or you can simply go to your local embasy and verbaly sware and confirm that you are currently
     single and eligable to marry - they just accept your word, I know because I did it!) 

4. You will need a resident permit from your local district.

5. You will need a notorized copy of your passport (this can be done at the Peoples Committee).

6. You will need a certified criminal background check - you can get this done right here in VN.

7. You will need (5) passport pictures of both you and your fiancee.

8. Next, all documents have to be translated into Vietnamese and notorized at the Consular for
     Legalization.

9. Finaly, after you have all of these things, you need to return to the Peoples Committee building and
     give them the papers along with 1 million VND.

                                                                          Congratulations!!!

Now you should be ready to "tie the knot." Vietnamees women make wonderful wives. They are dedicated, loyal, and very hard working. 

* Please note that the listed prices may have changed sinse my wife and I got married almost two
    years ago. Also, I have not listed the prices for everything because I simply don't remember what
    they were.

drutter wrote:

.......
2. There are two places, I am aware of, where you can get the health checks that are acceptable for
     marriage. I have listed them below. The last I knew the health exams were 400k for each of you
     (800k total). 

     + Trung tâm sức khỏe tâm thần số 192 đường Bến Hàm Tử, phường 1, quận 5.

     + Trung tâm Giám định pháp y tâm thần thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, số 152-154 Hồng Bàng, phường 12,
         quận 5.
.......

4. You will need a resident permit from your local district.

......
6. You will need a certified criminal background check - you can get this done right here in VN.

.....
    .

Not sure about others but I didn't need Nos. 2, 4 and 6 ....  2016, HCMC.
A so-called Mental Health Check was needed though. Just walked in and walked out.

I had to submit a proof of my address in VN (from local PS), NOT a residence permit from district level.

It all depends on what documents that particular UBND asks for.

OP should ask his VN partner to get the list (of required documents) from the UBND under whose jurisdiction she lives as a permanent resident.

* UBND ==> Ủy ban nhân dân ==> People's Committee.

As Sewnl said, he didnt have to do some of the things listed, thats why you have to get your future wife to check. Your wife must do the paperwork in her hometown.

I recently got married and can say that after some initial difficulties, everything has processed very quickly.

The half of the procedure was different as I read in the internet.
I think the procedure is very different depending on the hometown of the Vietnamese gf, you are supported by a good lawyer and whom you give how much coffee money.

We got the health check certificat very easy and very fast, I needed only the passport copy, the single status certivicate and the birth certificate (notarized from my country and translated and legalized from the Vietnam administration) and we didn't had a marriage interview.

After about 2 months we were married. If I didn't forget to notarize my single status certivicate in my country (I must ordered a new and must wait for it near a month), then everything would have gone much faster.

The most trouble I had with the marriage registration in my country.
The Embassy want so many documents, all notarized, legalized and translated. 

Your comments raised many more questions than they answered.
1. Do you need an attorney for a marriage license ?
2. How much does (s)he charge beside "coffee" money ?
3. A notarized birth cert. no problem; but where does one obtain a "single status" cert.?
4. Who performs the documents translation " Home country or VN people ?
5. Where do you obtain an "health check" certificate ?
6. Who performs the translations from The Viet documents for your embassy ?
7. Are there any fees for this service ?
8. What do mean by..."all documents must be LEGALIZED" ?

Thank you

stevewilliams007 wrote:

Your comments raised many more questions than they answered.
1. Do you need an attorney for a marriage license ?
2. How much does (s)he charge beside "coffee" money ?
3. A notarized birth cert. no problem; but where does one obtain a "single status" cert.?
4. Who performs the documents translation " Home country or VN people ?
5. Where do you obtain an "health check" certificate ?
6. Who performs the translations from The Viet documents for your embassy ?
7. Are there any fees for this service ?
8. What do mean by..."all documents must be LEGALIZED" ?

Thank you

No.you can do it yourself.
Depends.
From your home country embassy.
In Viet Nam.
They will tell you.
Dont understand what this relates to.
If it has to be translated, yes.
Notarised.

colinoscapee wrote:

stevewilliams007 wrote:

3. A notarized birth cert. no problem; but where does one obtain a "single status" cert.?

From your home country embassy.

As both you, Colinoscapee,  and the OP are from the US, are you sure the certificate of single status is available at the US Embassy/consulate?  I suspect not.  In my experience the certificate is issued by state authorities which should make it outside the realm of the State Dept.  In Hawaii, one obtains the certificate at the Dept. of Health.  Other states may differ but it will usually be wherever one gets a marriage license.

Perhaps for countries not based on a Federal model as is the US, the certificate may be national and hence available at embassies.

It's really depending of the hometown of the Vietnamese gf and I think also of your home country.

I recommend, let your girlfriend do all authorities runs where you do not have to be there. Let also handle the "coffee money" from her. I do not know exactly at whome she (or the lawyer) gave "coffe money" but I know it was about 100k to 200k Dong each.

She should know which authorities in her hometown she must go.
The authorities in her hometown tells her what documents are required.

We overhanded all documents from my gf and from me (also the health test certificate) to a lawer.
My documents (passport copies, single status certivicate and birth certificate) which I brought all from my home country, must be noratized by my home country. Maybe you can order these notarized documents from your Embassy in HCMC (ask your Embassy). Or order them from the authorities of your home country and they send them by post (takes maybe 2-4 weeks).
After the lawyer had all documents, he did the required preparation of the documents and arranged an appointment with the autorities of the gf's hometown.
We went to the gf's hometown autorities together with the lawyer.
And I remember that the lawyer fought with the authorities because something ( maybe without a lawer we met trouble) but finally we got a document with a date for picking up the marriage certificate.

Some days earlier than epected, the layer call us and we could go to the authorities of the gf's hometown and could pick up the marriage certificate. Only signed some paper and paid the fee (about 1.5 million Dong).

Lawyer:
We payed 800 US$ for the lawyer. I don't know whether this lawyer was expensive or not.
Maybe other expats here can say something about that.

Health check certificate:
I don't remember the name but I remember it was is District 5.
You must go with your gf and let you do all what is required (don't forget 2 passport photos for each).

Legalization and translation:
If you not want pay a lawyer, you can translate and legalize your documents (notarized by your home country) here...
Department Of External Relations - Consular Section
182bis, Pasteur, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Depar … 06.6964594

THIGV wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

stevewilliams007 wrote:

3. A notarized birth cert. no problem; but where does one obtain a "single status" cert.?

From your home country embassy.

As both you, Colinoscapee,  and the OP are from the US, are you sure the certificate of single status is available at the US Embassy/consulate?  I suspect not.  In my experience the certificate is issued by state authorities which should make it outside the realm of the State Dept.  In Hawaii, one obtains the certificate at the Dept. of Health.  Other states may differ but it will usually be wherever one gets a marriage license.

Perhaps for countries not based on a Federal model as is the US, the certificate may be national and hence available at embassies.

This is what the  U.S.Consulate in Saigon says:

https://vn.usembassy.gov/wp-content/upl … ietnam.pdf

Rick

I stand corrected at least partially.  If you have never been married, you could apparently accomplish this fully at the consulate.  However, if you were previously married in the US, you will still need the divorce or death certificate from your home state.  Also note item #6 requires a document from your state although the consulate notes that not all provinces will require this item.

Also note that in the footnotes, the consulate says that the requirement of demonstration of a common language still exists.  Some people have lately reported not having any interview at all so this may be another area where different criteria apply from one place to another.

THIGV wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

stevewilliams007 wrote:

3. A notarized birth cert. no problem; but where does one obtain a "single status" cert.?

From your home country embassy.

As both you, Colinoscapee,  and the OP are from the US, are you sure the certificate of single status is available at the US Embassy/consulate?  I suspect not.  In my experience the certificate is issued by state authorities which should make it outside the realm of the State Dept.  In Hawaii, one obtains the certificate at the Dept. of Health.  Other states may differ but it will usually be wherever one gets a marriage license.

Perhaps for countries not based on a Federal model as is the US, the certificate may be national and hence available at embassies.

I'm not American, I'm an Australian and our embassy  does the Certificate of Non-Impediment.

Another egregious error on my part.  My apologies.  However, on closer self review, I find that I was responding to stevenwilliams007 who is an American so our federal model of government will mean that he has to obtain the documents from his home state. 

The OP, according to his bio, is from Finland so your comment about his Embassy may be correct.  There is no mention of where his fiance resides so he may have to go to Hanoi if Finland doesn't have a consulate in HCMC.  Maybe best in that case to get the papers while still at home.

Yeah, each embassy will have different rules, so it's best he contacts the Finnish embassy.

THIGV wrote:

As both you, Colinoscapee,  and the OP are from the US, are you sure the certificate of single status is available at the US Embassy/consulate?  I suspect not..

Stevewilliams:
The certificate of single status is available at the US Embassy/consulate. The consulate knows all about the marriage laws, everyday there are guys in there getting stuff notarized. The cert is already translated, in that the form alternates English sentence and Vietnamese sentence, all the way down the form. Cost $50.

We paid $1500 for a Vietnamese lawyer in Dec 2015. That was because there were two issues: our age difference, and my divorce papers from Calif were not the originals, and there was a chance of hassles and delays. We were rushing to get the paperwork done before the marriage law changed Jan 1 2016. The lawyer greased the wheels. At that time marriage licenses were handled by the national government; there was a group of a dozen couples being processed together, we were the only ones with a lawyer. You don't need a lawyer generally.

Where you translate and legalize your marriage certificate? We are living in hcm city.

vgran wrote:

Where you translate and legalize your marriage certificate? We are living in hcm city.

Legalization and translation:
If you not want pay a lawyer, you can translate and legalize your documents (notarized by your home country) here...
Department Of External Relations - Consular Section
182bis, Pasteur, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Depar … 06.6964594

If you don't know who to listen to, listen to gobot.

At the risk of repeating what everyone else has already said...have you gf take care of it. It is going to be different in every province. My wife took care of everything at a much cheaper rate than it would have cost if they had seen my white, American face.

vgran wrote:

Where you translate and legalize your marriage certificate? We are living in hcm city.

You started with the proposition that you will marry in Vietnam.  If you remain in Vietnam, there is no need to translate your marriage certificate.  You will only need to translate your marriage license if you need to show it to anyone in Finland or a third-party nation.  In that case, you might want to ask the Vietnamese Embassy in Helsinki.  They should be able to translate it or direct you to a private party that can.

vgran wrote:

Where you translate and legalize your marriage certificate? We are living in hcm city.

FYI:
Notary and legalisation issues - Embassy of Finland

You don't know happiness until you get married to an Asian girl, but by then it is too late.

Hi, thank you . You have given me hope and very good information.

Does anyone knows does need the passport(it is in english) translating also? I have only did photocopy of passport.

vgran wrote:

Does anyone knows does need the passport(it is in english) translating also? I have only did photocopy of passport.

No. You don't need to translate your PP.
Make couple of photocopies of your PP book (all pages including first and last datapages) and get it authenticated by your district's (district of HCMC where you are staying) UBND.
You can prolly do it from other UBNDs as well... not sure. Your partner can help you with that.

"but by then it is too late."

I'm sorry you feel that way. Personally, I disagree. I don't think it is ever too late as long as you are still breathing.

Follow senwe's advice. All you need is a photocopy.

vgran wrote:

Does anyone knows does need the passport(it is in english) translating also? I have only did photocopy of passport.

Any Translation you needed then contact me via PM

Marriage in vn sounds very strezz. Today my girlfriend call me and told me the local magistrate also needs the documents(certifed)of my address and apartment owner documents. I say wtf!? Ok, in my single certicate shows my address, is it ok? And what the hell they needs know who is my apartement'd owner?

vgran wrote:

Today my girlfriend call me and told me the local magistrate also needs the documents(certifed)of my address and apartment owner documents. I say wtf!? Ok, in my single certicate shows my address, is it ok? And what the hell they needs know who is my apartement'd owner?

The document they asked to see is the proof that your stay is registered with the local People's Committee, something your landlord should have done (and given you a copy) within 7 days of the day you moved in.  The address on your single certificate is not valid with the local agency because the document was done without the registration of address.

They wanted to know the name of the apartment owner to check on the status of his business, because not registering the tenants means not paying tax on the rent.

Theres a whole section of posts on the subject if you search the site 

How much did you pay to doctor(anyone else?) for medical health certificate?  I mean "coffee money". And how you did it? Dongs to envelope with other documents/forms?

vgran wrote:

How much did you pay to doctor(anyone else?) for medical health certificate?  I mean "coffee money". And how you did it? Dongs to envelope with other documents/forms?

Medical health certificate (health check) is not required for marriage registration.

Mental health check is required. It's just a formality. Just walk in and walk out.

Everyone's experience is different, so don't take it for granted that 'coffee money' is a norm in Vietnam.
I haven't paid a cent (extra) to anyone for anything so far ..... and that includes Marriage Regn., VEC, TRC, Police Check, Residence Proof (from ward-level police) and WP here in HCMC.

Things could be slightly different in the provinces.
If such a situation does arise, your VN partner knows how to deal with that. Leave it to her.
Both you and your partner need Mental Health Check ... usually together.

Here in Vung Tau they still request a health check.