At present, the trend to marry with foreigner is more popular, accordingly, the divorce involving foreign elements occurs usually. The procedure of divorces with foreigner is prescribed in Law on Marriage and Family 2014 and Code of Civil Procedure 2015 and documents guidelines

What is the divorce involving foreign elements?

Article 127 of Law on Marriage and Family 2014 stipulates the divorce involving foreign elements including the followings:

– Divorce between a Vietnamese citizen and a foreigner;

– Divorce between two foreigners permanently residing in Vietnam when they have a request.

In case a partner being a Vietnamese citizen does not permanently reside in Vietnam at the time of request for divorce, the divorce shall be settled in accordance with the law of the country where the husband and wife permanently co-reside; if they do not have a place of permanent co-residence, the Vietnamese law shall apply.

The settlement of a divorced couple’s immovable in a foreign country must comply with the law of the country where such immovable are located.

The competence for settlement of the divorce with foreigner

According to Article 469 and 470 of the Code of Civil Procedure 2015, the competence for settlement of the divorce with foreigner is belong to Province-level People’s Court.

In the special case stipulated in Clause 4 Article 35 of the Code of Civil Procedure 2015, People’s Courts of districts where Vietnamese citizens reside shall be in charge of settling divorce petitions between Vietnamese citizens living in frontier areas and citizens of neighboring countries living near Vietnam.

The dossier for divorcing with foreigner

To implement the divorce involving foreign elements, the dossier must include:

– Divorce petitions or petitions for recognition of voluntary divorces (under the form of People’s Court)

– The original of marriage certificate (if any), in case this certificate was lost, the notarized copy shall be accepted.

– Identification card or Passport; Family record book (the notarized copies).

– The notarized copies of birth certificate of children (if any).

– The notarized copies of documents on property ownership (if there is a dispute on property).

– Documents evidencing that a party is overseas (if any).

Please note: If both parties registered marriage under the law of foreign countries seeking divorce in Vietnam, the marriage certificate must be legalized and implementation of procedures for making a note in the register book at the Department of Justice before submitting the divorce petitions at Court.

The steps to implement the procedures of divorce

Step 1: To submit the dossier at the authority court;

Step 2: Within 5-7 days, the Court shall check the dossier and send the notification of payment of fee advance if the dossier is valid.

Step 3: To pay the advance fee at the judgment enforcement office and submit the invoice of advance fee for the Court.

Step 4: The Court shall open the mediation and implement the procedure of divorce at the Court under the first instance Court.

The time limit for settlement of the divorce involving foreign elements is about 4-6 months from the day on which the cases are accepted under the Code of Civil Procedure 2015. According to the Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14, the first-instance Court fees shall be VND 300,000 if there is no dispute on property; if any, the first instance Court fees shall be determined according to the value of the property…