The latest guide to dual citizenship for American overseas Vietnamese

You are an American overseas Vietnamese planning to buy a house in Vietnam for a long-term living?

You want to enjoy the benefits of being a Vietnamese citizen to conveniently invest, do business or establish a company in Vietnam?

To enjoy the above benefits, American overseas Vietnamese need to carry out the procedures for dual citizenship registration in Vietnam.

So, what is dual citizenship? How does Vietnamese law stipulate the procedures for registration of dual citizenship for the American overseas Vietnamese? In this article, our Law Firm will introduce and guide the procedure for dual citizenship for American overseas Vietnamese.

1. What is dual citizenship?

Dual citizenship is when a person holds two citizenships at the same time, which means this person enjoys the rights of citizens of both countries.

Dual American Vietnamese citizenship means a person holding both American and Vietnamese nationality. Dual American Vietnamese citizenship usually occurs when Vietnamese people settle in the United States and have naturalized America, and now they want to return to Vietnam to invest, study, work, live, and want re-enter Vietnamese nationality. The United States does not prohibit its citizens from holding dual citizenship. The choice to have additional nationality (Vietnamese) depends on that person’s decision and the laws of the country in which he or she wishes to acquire a nationality.

In short, overseas Vietnamese general, and Vietnamese residing in the US in particular can carry out the procedures for dual citizenship registration at a competent Vietnamese state agency.

2. Benefits of applying for dual American Vietnamese citizenship

Possessing dual American Vietnamese citizenship brings Viet Kieu benefits such as:

♦ Owning, buying, and selling real estate (house, land, etc.) in Vietnam.

According to the land law, foreigners can only buy houses in the form of apartments or houses under the housing project. Therefore, when possessing dual American Vietnamese citizenship, the overseas Vietnamese have the right to own, buy and sell real estate like any Vietnamese citizens without the restrictions above.

♦ Conveniently invest and establish a company, without market restrictions applicable to foreign investors.

Vietnamese investment law has regulations on industries that prohibit or restrict market opening for foreign investors. Possessing dual citizenship will allow Viet Kieu to choose the most profitable business investment plan for them in applying the provisions of the investment and enterprise law of Vietnam.

♦ More convenient for entry and exit because there is no need to apply for a visa or a permanent or temporary residence card.

Foreigners entering Vietnam need to apply for a visa, even if you are granted 5-year access, you can only reside in Vietnam for no more than 6 months a time. At that time, you have to extend your stay or temporarily exit another country and re-enter Vietnam. When you have dual American Vietnamese citizenship and enter with a Vietnamese passport, you can stay in Vietnam indefinitely. Besides, entry with a Vietnamese passport is also much simpler than when using an entry visa.

♦ Other economic, political, and social welfare incentives and benefits of both countries of which Viet Kieu are citizens.

3. Regulations of Vietnamese law on dual citizenship

Current Vietnamese law allows and facilitates Vietnamese people who have settled and naturalized abroad to want to return and naturalize Vietnam, therefore, the dual citizenship registration procedure is also known as repatriation procedure. Conditions, orders, and procedures for dual citizenship registration for American overseas Vietnamese are specified in legal documents including:

• The Residence Law 2021 promulgated by the National Assembly takes effect from July 1, 2021.
• Circular No. 55/2021/TT-BCA dated May 15, 2021, of the Ministry of Public Security, guiding the implementation of the Residence Law 2021.

4. Conditions for dual citizenship for overseas Vietnamese

Viet Kieu may apply for dual American Vietnamese citizenship when satisfying the following two conditions:

Firstly: Having papers proving that they used to have Vietnamese nationality and still hold Vietnamese nationality according to the provisions of Vietnamese law.

Secondly: Having a lawful residence in Vietnam, including a house owned by themselves or a house rented, borrowed, or stayed at another person’s house or sponsored by a relative.

5. How to get dual American Vietnamese citizenship

The order of applying for dual American Vietnamese citizenship is done in 04 steps as follows:

Step 1: Overseas Vietnamese prepare a set of documents for dual citizenship registration in Vietnam according to the instructions in Section 6.

Step 2: Overseas Vietnamese submit their documents to the Immigration Department of the Public Security Bureau of the province or city directly under the Central Government where Overseas Vietnamese have a lawful residence or the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security.

Step 3: After receiving a complete set of valid dossiers and overseas Vietnamese meeting the conditions prescribed by the Law, the Immigration Department issues written consent for overseas Vietnamese to return to Vietnam for permanent residence, accordingly, Overseas Vietnamese come to the agency that applied to receive the results.

Step 4: Overseas Vietnamese carry out procedures such as: registering for permanent residence in the locality, and applying for a Vietnamese citizen ID and passport.

6. Application for dual citizenship

To apply for dual American Vietnamese citizenship, you need to prepare 02 sets of documents including the following documents:

1) An application for permanent residence in Vietnam.

2) Copy of a foreign passport or permanent residence document issued by a foreign country.

3) Copy of one of the following papers valid for proving Vietnamese nationality, including:

• Birth certificate (in case the birth certificate does not clearly show the Vietnamese nationality, it must be accompanied by papers proving the Vietnamese nationality of the parents).
• Nation ID.
• Vietnamese Passport.
• Decision on returning Vietnamese nationality, Decision on recognition of adoption for children who are foreigners, and Decision on allowing foreigners to adopt Vietnamese children.
• Other papers (certificate of citizenship) issued by a competent Vietnamese agency certifying that the involved party still retains Vietnamese nationality by Vietnamese law on nationality.

4) Copy of documents proving lawful residence in Vietnam:

• In case overseas Vietnamese have been allowed to own houses in Vietnam, they must submit a certificate of house ownership or documents on buying, selling, gifting, giving, exchanging, inheriting houses, housing purchase contracts, etc.
• In case of overseas Vietnamese rent, borrow or stay at another person’s house or are guaranteed by their relatives, they shall submit a contract for renting, lending, letting them stay at the house; A document proving that the lessor agrees to allow such person to register for permanent residence; Papers and documents evidencing the ownership of the house of the lessor.

7. Duration of processing applications for dual American Vietnam citizenship

Processing time for dual citizenship application is 4-6 months.

During this process, the competent authorities will check and verify the personal information, immigration status, and living activities of dual citizenship registrants in Vietnam before going abroad. time abroad and after returning to Vietnam…

8. Common difficulties when Vietnamese overseas Vietnamese apply for dual citizenship

• The most common difficulty for overseas Vietnamese is not having enough documents to prove Vietnamese nationality. In this case, overseas Vietnamese need to carry out procedures for extracting documents such as birth certificates and permanent residence books before settling at the competent authorities. The longer it takes for a Viet Kieu to settle down abroad, the more time it takes to extract these documents.
• Extracting may also be difficult when the identity information of Viet Kieu changes. For example, some people who naturalize in a foreign country will take a new name in a foreign language and do not have documents to prove the relationship with the old name, which will make it difficult to extract documents and process of dual citizenship registration because these papers are all in the old name.
• In addition, in the process of carrying out the procedures, the state agency may request the explanation of some information related to the identity of the permanent resident registrant.
• The actual processing time of the Immigration Department on the registration of permanent residence in Vietnam of Viet Kieu is quite long as mentioned in Section 7. Therefore, the applicant must regularly monitor the status of the application process to provide timely additional documents if requested by the Immigration Department.

9. Service of dual citizenship of US and Vietnam of CIS Law Firm.

With a wealth of experience in implementing dual citizenship registration procedures for Viet Kieu, CIS Law Firm is proud to support many Viet Kieu to successfully register for dual citizenship.

The advantages of using services at CIS Law Firm:

• Consul conditions and procedures for applying for dual citizenship.
• Translate, notarize, translate, and consular legal documents for dual citizenship registration.
• Extract and complete the application for dual citizenship registration in Vietnam for clients.
• Carry out the procedures for applying for dual citizenship at a competent state agency.
• Consult and carry out other legal procedures after being approved by the State agency for dual citizenship registration in Vietnam.

Above is the detailed guide on the procedure for dual citizenship for American overseas Vietnamese. If you have questions about or you have unclear content or need legal assistance, please immediately contact a lawyer of CIS Law Firm with the following information:

CIS LAW FIRM

109 Hoang Sa, Da Kao Ward, District 1, City. Ho Chi Minh

Phone: 028 3911 8581 – 3911 8582 –  Hotline: 0916 568 101

Email: info@cis.vn