Obtaining Vietnamese Birth Certificate from Overseas

[Married_To_Kiwi 0]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this forum, but I'm hoping someone can help me. I need to obtain a copy of my Vietnamese birth certificate, and I am having a lot of trouble finding information about how to do this. It seems that a number of people on this forum have been in a similar situation, and I have browsed all 115 pages of the Vietnam forum but nobody seems to have provided the information I need.

Some background: I am a child of refugees - I was born in Saigon in 1974 and left with my parents in 1976. Most of the official papers were lost or destroyed when my parents left, and I have never held a birth certificate (although it is likely that my parents did register my birth in Saigon). I have lived in the USA my whole life, and I am a naturalized citizen. I really don't have any ties to Vietnam except that it happens to be where I was born. I have never needed my Vietnam birth certificate before as I hold a US passport.

However...

I am now married to a New Zealand citizen and have recently moved to New Zealand. I am currently on a 2 year working visa, and am eligible for residency by marriage. However, the New Zealand immigration department requires either a certified copy of my original birth certificate, or evidence that my birth certificate is 'unobtainable' (which means I would need a formal declaration from Vietnamese authorities that they cannot locate my birth record). The NZ immigration website notes "just because a birth certificate is hard to obtain does not mean it is unobtainable".

So - there's no easy way around this: I need to have contact the relevant authorities in Vietnam (and by that I mean I need actual 2-way communication) either to get a copy of my birth certificate or a statement that they can't find it.

So here are my questions:

1) Is it even possible to obtain a copy of a birth certificate from overseas? One post on this forum from 'Capri' (04 February 2013 - 08:54 PM) states "Non-Residents: ... Documents cannot be requested through a Vietnamese diplomatic mission, nor can a request be sent to a local office from overseas". Is this true? Is the only way to get a copy of my birth certificate to actually travel to Vietnam?? That seems crazy!

2) Assuming a request *can* be made from overseas, who should it be sent to? I have sent numerous emails (in English) requesting help to contacts in the Ministry of Justice in HCMC and Hanoi (found from the website), but I have never had a reply.

3) Some people suggest that I should instead contact the People's Committee, but how do I do this? Are contact details listed anywhere? Do I need to trace down which exact district to send to, or should I send to the committee for District 1? Can I just send an email? Would they accept a request in English or do I have to translate it into Vietnamese? This is the kind of practical detail that nobody ever tells you.

4) Is there any way to find out exactly what I have to send to the Vietnamese authorities? There are no instructions anywhere online that I've been able to find. I assume I have to submit proof of identity, details of birth and parentage, an application form and processing fee, but nowhere is it listed what kind of information is required.

So - that's my situation. Once I actually can communicate with someone then I face the next problem(s) (father deceased, mother has had stroke and memory not great, not sure what names any of us were actually registered under, which district in Saigon I was born in, etc), but the first step is to actually get someone to respond to my correspondence.

Can anybody help? Any advice would be very gratefully received.

[THN 0]

Hi Married To kiwi,

I'm in the same situation and just wanted to know how you go about on getting your brother certificate? I am a landed immigrant in canda and left veitname when I was 2.never received a certicate. I am not married to a us citizen and they are requesting my birth certicate. Any advise or help is much appreciated.

[hieumin 2]

To satisfy USCIS you can use "in lieu birth cirtificate replacement". To satisfy New Zealand requirement, you need to go back to vietnam, but because you was born before 1975, it hard to get one.

[Daniel D 0]

I don't know if this is going to help you guys out. I had my US IR1 visa interview at the Montreal consulate 2 weeks ago, I didn't have my Vietnamese Birth certificate, because I was a refugee but I did have my "Record of Landing" when we came to Canada that have my parents name and their BirthDate on it. I wrote a letter explaining the situation, signed it and also have my parents wrote up a letter saying that the letter I wrote was truthful and correct. Made copies of both of their passports, have them sign the letter. All good to go It was fine, as long as you have some sort of paper showing the parents' names and Birthdate. I've been in Canada for 26 years and never have a Vietnamese Birth certificate.

[Tom mitchell 0]

On 9/6/2014 at 12:22 AM, Married_To_Kiwi said:

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this forum, but I'm hoping someone can help me. I need to obtain a copy of my Vietnamese birth certificate, and I am having a lot of trouble finding information about how to do this. It seems that a number of people on this forum have been in a similar situation, and I have browsed all 115 pages of the Vietnam forum but nobody seems to have provided the information I need.

Some background: I am a child of refugees - I was born in Saigon in 1974 and left with my parents in 1976. Most of the official papers were lost or destroyed when my parents left, and I have never held a birth certificate (although it is likely that my parents did register my birth in Saigon). I have lived in the USA my whole life, and I am a naturalized citizen. I really don't have any ties to Vietnam except that it happens to be where I was born. I have never needed my Vietnam birth certificate before as I hold a US passport.

However...

I am now married to a New Zealand citizen and have recently moved to New Zealand. I am currently on a 2 year working visa, and am eligible for residency by marriage. However, the New Zealand immigration department requires either a certified copy of my original birth certificate, or evidence that my birth certificate is 'unobtainable' (which means I would need a formal declaration from Vietnamese authorities that they cannot locate my birth record). The NZ immigration website notes "just because a birth certificate is hard to obtain does not mean it is unobtainable".

So - there's no easy way around this: I need to have contact the relevant authorities in Vietnam (and by that I mean I need actual 2-way communication) either to get a copy of my birth certificate or a statement that they can't find it.

So here are my questions:

1) Is it even possible to obtain a copy of a birth certificate from overseas? One post on this forum from 'Capri' (04 February 2013 - 08:54 PM) states "Non-Residents: ... Documents cannot be requested through a Vietnamese diplomatic mission, nor can a request be sent to a local office from overseas". Is this true? Is the only way to get a copy of my birth certificate to actually travel to Vietnam?? That seems crazy!

2) Assuming a request *can* be made from overseas, who should it be sent to? I have sent numerous emails (in English) requesting help to contacts in the Ministry of Justice in HCMC and Hanoi (found from the website), but I have never had a reply.

3) Some people suggest that I should instead contact the People's Committee, but how do I do this? Are contact details listed anywhere? Do I need to trace down which exact district to send to, or should I send to the committee for District 1? Can I just send an email? Would they accept a request in English or do I have to translate it into Vietnamese? This is the kind of practical detail that nobody ever tells you.

4) Is there any way to find out exactly what I have to send to the Vietnamese authorities? There are no instructions anywhere online that I've been able to find. I assume I have to submit proof of identity, details of birth and parentage, an application form and processing fee, but nowhere is it listed what kind of information is required.

So - that's my situation. Once I actually can communicate with someone then I face the next problem(s) (father deceased, mother has had stroke and memory not great, not sure what names any of us were actually registered under, which district in Saigon I was born in, etc), but the first step is to actually get someone to respond to my correspondence.

Can anybody help? Any advice would be very gratefully received.

HAVE you had any success with this matter..i am new here and am looking to do the same thing to find my father.

[therealree 0]

@Married_To_Kiwi

 

I just wanted to learn if there was any update here. Were you able to get your birth certificate from Vietnam or a statement that it doesn't exist? Can you please let me know how you went about in doing this and if you were successful? I am in the exact same situation — I'm a child of refugees who fled Vietnam in 1976. I now need to obtain my birth certificate for immigration purposes and have no idea how to do this. Anything you can share about your experience would be very helpful! 

[travisgarretson11 20]

On 8/10/2020 at 9:19 AM, reeshard said:

@Married_To_Kiwi

 

I just wanted to learn if there was any update here. Were you able to get your birth certificate from Vietnam or a statement that it doesn't exist? Can you please let me know how you went about in doing this and if you were successful? I am in the exact same situation — I'm a child of refugees who fled Vietnam in 1976. I now need to obtain my birth certificate for immigration purposes and have no idea how to do this. Anything you can share about your experience would be very helpful! 

he hasnt logged in for 6 years lol.

 

he aint going to respond unfortunately