Divorce Between Vietnamese and Foreigners: What You Need to Know Under Vietnamese Law 2024

Grasping the divorce procedures between a Vietnamese and a foreigner is essential to navigate the complexities, ensure legal compliance, protect rights and interests, and minimize financial burdens associated with the process.

Refer to the following article: Everything about getting a divorce in Vietnam – Updated 2024

The court’s jurisdiction to resolve divorce between Vietnamese and foreigners.

Determining the court’s jurisdiction is crucial in handling divorces involving foreigners, particularly in cases of Divorce Between Vietnamese and Foreigners. The court’s jurisdiction may vary depending on each case. Without understanding how to determine this, the divorce process can become protracted:

• Unilateral Divorce between Vietnamese and foreigners: The provincial People’s Court where the petitioner resides will have jurisdiction. If the petitioner is currently residing abroad, the provincial People’s Court where the petitioner originally resided will handle the divorce case.
• Mutual Consent Divorce between Vietnamese and Foreigners: The provincial People’s Court where either party resides will have jurisdiction.

In some special cases, such as when the petitioner has an unstable or frequently changing place of residence, the court’s jurisdiction will change according to the actual place of residence of the parties involved.

The documents to divorce between a Vietnamese and a foreigners

In case of divorcing by mutual consent

• Mutual Consent Divorce Petition;
• Marriage registration certificate (original or certified copy);
• The ID cards/PP of the husband and the wife (certified copy);
• Birth certificate of children (certified copy);
• Registration book (certified copy);
• Documents proving ownership of joint assets;
• the foreigner’s permanent residence card or temporary residence card (certified copy);
• Other documents.

In case of unilateral divorce

• Unilateral Divorce Petition
• Marriage registration certificate (original or certified copy);
• The ID cards/PP of the husband and the wife (certified copy);
• Birth certificate of children (certified copy);
• Registration book (certified copy);
• Documents proving ownership of joint assets;
• the foreigner’s permanent residence card or temporary residence card (certified copy);
• Other documents

Note:

• In cases where the marriage was registered abroad, it is necessary to complete the annotation procedure before divorcing in Vietnam;
• Foreign-language documents need to be translated and/or legalized by consular authorities;
• When conducting procedures, for foreigners residing abroad, the court will carry out the legal representation procedure as stipulated by the Civil Procedure Code.

Divorce Procedure Between Vietnamese and Foreigners

Step 1: Submit Unilateral Divorce Petition/Mutual Consent Divorce Petition to the Competent Court

To carry out the divorce procedure in Vietnam, you will need to prepare the following documents:

1. Divorce application form.
2. Original marriage certificate issued by the competent authority of Vietnam or a foreign country.
3. Personal identification documents: National ID card or passport.
4. Birth certificate of any shared children (if applicable).
5. Other documents proving assets (if applicable).
6. Residence confirmation/temporary residence permit or equivalent documents.
7. Other necessary documents depending on specific cases.

If you encounter difficulties in preparing the required documents for the divorce procedure in Vietnam, please contact us for advice and support through our hotline: Luật Nhật Thư 0842.894.888 (Zalo/Messenger/Line/Viber).

Step 2: Court Review and Acceptance of the Petition

According to Article 191, Section 2 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015, within a period of 3 working days from the date of receiving the lawsuit petition, the Chief Judge of the Court appoints a Judge to review the lawsuit petition.

Within a period of 5 working days from the date of assignment, the Judge must review the lawsuit petition and make one of the following decisions:

1. 1. Request for amendments or supplements to the lawsuit petition.
   2. Proceed with the normal procedure or expedited procedure if the case is eligible for expedited resolution, as stipulated in Article 317, Section 1 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015.
   3. Transfer the lawsuit petition to the competent Court and notify the plaintiff if the case falls under the jurisdiction of a different Court.
   4. Return the lawsuit petition to the plaintiff if the case does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Court.

Step 3: Court Proceedings

Step 4: Mediation Process

The mediation process is conducted based on the principles outlined in Article 205 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015, which states that:

During the preparation period for the first-instance trial, the Court conducts mediation to allow the parties to reach an agreement on the settlement of the case, except for cases that are not eligible for mediation or cases where mediation is not possible as stipulated in Articles 206 and 207 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015, or cases that are resolved through expedited procedures.

The mediation process follows the following principles:

1. 1. Respect the voluntary agreement of the parties, without the use of force or threat of force, and without compelling the parties to agree against their will.
   2. The contents of the agreement between the parties must not violate any prohibitions under the law and must be in line with social ethics.

Step 5: Trial Preparation

Within a period of 1 month for the preparation of the trial, the Court may request additional documents, evidence, make decisions to suspend the examination of the petition, request expert opinions, assess the value of assets, and hold hearings to resolve civil matters. If there are no results from the expert opinions or asset valuation, the preparation period for the examination of the petition may be extended, but not exceeding 1 month.

Court fees for divorce between Vietnamese and foreigners

Based on Resolution 326/2016/UBTVQH14 issued by the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, which details the rates of collection, exemption, reduction, payment, management, and use of court fees and court charges, the court fee for divorce cases without property disputes is set at 300,000 VND.

However, in cases where there are property disputes, the court fee will not be a fixed amount but will instead be calculated as a percentage of the value of the property that the court requires to be divided. This regulation ensures fairness and reasonableness in resolving cases involving property, addressing the specific needs and circumstances of each individual case.

Therefore, the court fees for divorce between Vietnamese and foreigners are also determined according to the below resolution: