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Question: I am a foreigner married to a Vietnamese national. My wife and I fulfilled procedures for marriage registration under the law of the US in 2020. We are now living in the US but,in the future, we wish to permanently reside in Vietnam. When we return to the country, will our marriage certificate be recognized?

Answer:

Under Vietnam’s law, your marriage registration in the US will be legally valid in Vietnam after it is recorded in the civil status register by the Department of Justice of the province or centrally run city where you reside (the civil status register is a register kept at the civil status registration agency to certify or record civil status events).

Under Article 34 of Government Decree 123/2015/ND-CP of November 15, 2015, detailing a number of articles of, and measures to implement, the Law on Civil Status, the marriage between a Vietnamese citizen and a foreigner which has been registered overseas with a foreign authority will be recorded in the civil status register if, at the time of marriage, the two parties met the marriage requirements and did not violate the prohibitions prescribed by the Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam.

In case the parties failed to satisfy the marriage conditions but did not violate the prohibitions prescribed by Vietnam’s law at the time of marriage registration, their marriage will also be recorded in the civil status register if, at the time of request for the recording of the marriage in the civil status register, the event that led to their failure to satisfy the marriage conditions has been remedied or the recording of the marriage aims to protect the interests of the involved Vietnamese citizen and child(ren), if any.

Source: Vietnam Law and Legal Forum