Approving amendments and additions to certain articles of the Law on Residence.

Continuing the agenda of the 5th Session of the 13th National Assembly, on the morning of June 8th, National Assembly deputies listened to Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Thai Binh, authorized by the Prime Minister, present the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Emulation and Commendation.

National Assembly representative Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy from Da Nang city delivers her remarks. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

The delegates also listened to the report on the review of the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Emulation and Commendation, presented by the Chairwoman of the National Assembly's Committee on Social Affairs, Truong Thi Mai; and discussed in the plenary session the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Residence.

It is necessary to amend and supplement the Law on Emulation and Commendation.

According to the Government's report, after eight years of implementation, emulation and reward work has seen positive changes; many emulation movements have been launched and widely implemented by ministries, sectors, localities, and grassroots units, closely adhering to political tasks. Reward work has become increasingly systematic, rigorous, and timely, motivating and encouraging cadres, soldiers, and people nationwide, contributing positively to the implementation of socio-economic development, strengthening national defense, security, and foreign affairs.

Many other provisions of the Law on Emulation and Commendation have been implemented and are being supported by all sectors of the population. However, in recent times, the work of emulation and commendation and some provisions of the Law on Emulation and Commendation have not met and been appropriate to the practical situation. Commendation still shows signs of being widespread. Some provisions of the current Law on Emulation and Commendation have a rather broad scope of application, and the commendation standards for each category are still general and not yet specific...

The report of the National Assembly's Committee on Social Affairs also stated that the current Law on Emulation and Commendation stipulates many forms of state-level commendation, leading to duplication, overlap, and widespread implementation. The process of proposing state-level commendations follows procedures from the grassroots level, requiring consideration by multiple agencies and levels, making it cumbersome and difficult to control. Therefore, amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on Emulation and Commendation is essential.

Approving amendments and additions to certain articles of the Law on Residence.

The majority of delegates discussing in the assembly hall agreed on the necessity of amending and supplementing several articles of the Law on Residence for the reasons stated in the Government's submission.

However, some delegates expressed concerns about the scope of the amendments and additions, arguing that the proposed amendments and additions in the draft Law do not comprehensively cover all issues in residence management and are not commensurate with the requirements. Specifically, delegate Ngo Thi Minh (Quang Ninh delegation) suggested that the Government should analyze more clearly the difficulties in residence management as well as the close relationship between this work and crime prevention and the protection of children and minors. Only then will the necessity of amending and supplementing some articles and clauses of the current Residence Law be understood; and only then will the amendments and additions be more complete and convincing.

During discussions on the validity period of temporary residence permits, many delegates argued that the regulations as drafted in the Law are not entirely appropriate.

According to delegate Trieu Thi Thu Phuong (Bac Kan delegation), in reality, there are many cases where the temporary residence period is longer than 24 months, so when this period is approaching, citizens have to go through the renewal procedure. Thus, for citizens with a temporary residence period exceeding 24 months, the addition of regulations regarding the validity period of the Temporary Residence Book has created additional administrative procedures.

On the other hand, the draft Law also does not specify the renewal procedure. For cases where temporary residence is needed for less than 24 months, but to avoid having to register for renewals multiple times, citizens will register for a maximum temporary residence period of 24 months. Therefore, in this case, managing the population through the Temporary Residence Register is very difficult to implement. Thus, Representative Thuy suggested that the drafting committee not amend this content but retain the current law's provisions to avoid increasing administrative procedures for citizens in registering for temporary residence.

Representative Do Van Duong (from Ho Chi Minh City delegation) suggested that the drafting committee should reconsider and adjust the following: When moving to a different temporary residence, citizens must return their Temporary Residence Book to the police at their current place of temporary residence and be issued a referral letter to the new temporary residence to obtain a new Temporary Residence Book.

Representative Nguyen Minh Kha (Can Tho delegation) proposed reducing the time before the expiration of temporary residence permits from 30 days to 15 days, after which citizens must go to the police station to complete the renewal procedures.

The regulation allowing local authorities to set average land area requirements should be abolished.

Discussing the regulations on average living space requirements for permanent residency registration in rented, borrowed, or shared accommodation, delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy (from Da Nang City delegation) strongly agreed with the draft Law's provision that the People's Council of centrally-governed cities should regulate the average living space requirements to suit the practical conditions of each locality; and to align with the Law on the Organization of People's Councils and People's Committees.

However, delegate Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy proposed removing the regulation requiring local authorities to determine the average land area requirement, arguing that it would increase administrative procedures, cause inconvenience and expense, and could easily be exploited to affect the rights and interests of the people.

Representative Huynh Van Tinh (Tien Giang) suggested expanding the scope to include minors whose parents have divorced and remarried, or other cases where the minor wishes to live with their grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, etc., to facilitate family care and promote the traditional values ​​and ethics of the nation. Regarding this, Representative Trieu Thi Thu Phuong (Bac Kan) argued that the draft regulation is inconsistent with the right to freedom of residence.

Regarding the time limit for procedures to change the place of permanent residence registration, delegate Lu Thi Luu (Lao Cai delegation) agreed with the draft Law's proposal to shorten the registration period from 24 months to 12 months.

Representative Bui Van Xuyen (from Thai Binh province) also agreed with the Government's report. However, Representative Xuyen suggested that the drafting committee should revise the regulation requiring a minimum temporary residence period of 2 years for those moving from another location to a legal residence within the inner city of centrally-governed cities before they can register for permanent residence, as this is inappropriate.

According to (VNA) - LT