More than 6,000 overseas Vietnamese register to keep Vietnamese nationality

Delegates answer the press about the activities of the Ministry of Justice in the first quarter of 2014. Photo: Tuan Nguyen Delegates answer the press about the activities of the Ministry of Justice in the first quarter of 2014. Photo: Tuan Nguyen

According to regulations, by July 1, 2014, Vietnamese people residing abroad who do not register will lose their Vietnamese nationality. According to a report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to date, over 6,000 people residing abroad have registered to retain their Vietnamese nationality.

More than 2,000 applications for renunciation of Vietnamese nationality

At the first quarter 2014 press conference of the Ministry of Justice on the morning of April 8, Mr. Nguyen Cong Khanh - Director of the Department of Civil Status, Nationality and Authentication (Ministry of Justice) answered press questions surrounding the issue of registration to retain nationality of Vietnamese people living abroad.

According to a report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to date, over 6,000 people residing abroad have registered to retain Vietnamese nationality, but there are no exact statistics on who has or does not have foreign nationality.

Most Vietnamese citizens who have registered to retain Vietnamese nationality are residing in the United States, Canada, Australia, and France. In areas where the principle of one nationality applies, very few people have registered to retain Vietnamese nationality.

The Ministry of Justice's report said that in the first quarter of 2014, the Ministry advised, proposed and submitted to the President 2,062 applications for renunciation, acquisition and restoration of Vietnamese nationality.

Of these, 2,055 cases applied for renunciation of Vietnamese nationality; 4 applications for naturalization under Article 22 of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality and 3 applications for restoration of Vietnamese nationality; 771 cases of nationality lookup and verification were answered for the Department of Justice of localities, the Immigration Department - Ministry of Public Security, and the Consular Department - Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Ministry has also completed and submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee the draft Law on Civil Status.

Hard

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 2008, more than 3 million Vietnamese people were residing abroad. Up to now, we still do not have exact statistics on how many of the 4.5 million Vietnamese people living abroad have foreign nationality but have not lost their Vietnamese nationality, and how many still have Vietnamese nationality but have not yet acquired foreign nationality.

The ambiguity about the nationality of the majority of Vietnamese people residing abroad has caused difficulties not only for them in protecting their legitimate rights and interests, but also in implementing the State's policies and protection policies for Vietnamese citizens residing abroad when necessary.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Khanh said that, in this situation, the Department of Civil Status - Nationality - Authentication has worked with the Department of International Law, the Department of International Cooperation, the Department of Administrative - Criminal Law and a number of related administrative and political units to continuously meet to propose solutions such as how to fix it, whether to extend the time or not, or to recommend other solutions...

The final plan will wait for Minister Ha Hung Cuong to present it to the Prime Minister before it can be made public.

According to Tien Phong