Divorce procedures with foreigners guide

Article 127 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family stipulates that a divorce involving foreign elements includes the following specific cases:

- Divorce between a Vietnamese citizen and a foreigner;

- Divorce between foreigners and permanently residing in Vietnam when they request.

In case the party is a Vietnamese citizen that does not permanently reside in Vietnam at the time the divorce is requested, the divorce shall be settled in accordance with the law of the country where the couple's common place of residence; If they do not have a common place of residence, they shall be handled according to Vietnamese law.

The settlement of abroad property real estate upon divorce is in accordance with the law of the country where property is located.

1. Jurisdiction to settle divorce with foreigners

Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 35 and Article 37 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the jurisdiction to settle divorce involving water elements belongs to the People's Court of the province.

In the special cases specified in Clause 4, Article 35 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, if the divorce takes place with a Vietnamese citizen residing in the border area with a citizen of the neighboring country residing in border areas with Vietnam, the jurisdiction belongs to the district-level People’s Court.

2. Divorce records with foreigners

In order to get a divorce with foreign elements, it is necessary to prepare a divorce dossier including:

• Application for divorce or Application for recognition of consent to divorce (according to the form of the Court).
• The original of the Marriage Certificate (if any), in case the original of the Marriage Certificate is lost, a copy certified by a competent State body is submitted.
• The Identity Card or Passport; Household registration (certified copy).
• Copy of child's birth certificate (if having children).
• Authenticated copies of vouchers, documents on property ownership (if there is a dispute over property).
• Documents proving that a party is abroad (if any)

Note: If the two parties who register for marriage under foreign law want to get divorced in Vietnam, they must be consularly valid for the Marriage Registration and do the procedures to note in the register at the Department of Justice before submitting the application and apply for a divorce in court.

Steps to carry out divorce procedures 

Step 1: Submit a valid application for divorce at the Court of Competence.

Step 2: Within 7-15 days, the Court will check the file, if the file is complete and valid, the Court will send a notice of advance court fee.

Step 3: Pay the civil court cost advance at the competent Civil Judgment Execution Bureau and submit cost advance receipt for the Court.

Step 4: The Court opens mediation in court and proceeds divorce proceedings in Court according to first instance procedures.

The time for settling a divorce case involving foreign elements is 4-6 months from the date of acceptance in accordance with the 2015 Civil Procedure Code 2015. According to the provisions of Resolution No. 326/2016 / UBTVQH14 , the court cost for the first instance in a divorce case is 300,000 VND if there is no dispute over property; If there is a dispute over property, the court fee is determined by the property value ..

For any questions, please contact the phone number 19006512 of luat su DFC for legal advice