Divorce procedures for people living abroad

Currently, marriage between Vietnamese national and foreigner is not a rare thing. But because of national and cultural differences, divorce rates between Vietnamese nationals and foreigners is also very high. What are the legal divorce procedures for people living abroad ? The following article will help getting an overview:

Divorce procedures when both spouses whish to divorce but the person residing abroad will be absent during the process are genrally ruled by Courts by the following procedures:

The foreigner must:

Step 1: Make a divorce application clearly stating his/her desire to divorce, common children and common property (if they have any);

Step 2: Clearly state the reason for his/her absence and request the Vietnamese Court to hear the absence;

Step 3: Make a commitment stating that he/she will not dispute or complain later;

Step 4: Simultaneously make a self-declaration with the content agreeing to divorce and no dispute about the division of properties.

Step 5: Make a power of attorney for his/her lawyer in Vietnam to receive all the documents of service of the Court.

Step 6: After that, bring all the above documents to the Vietnamese Embassy or Consulate in the host country to certify the signature and send it to his/her Vietnamese lawyer so they can apply to the Court.

*A dossier to perform a divorce procedure with a person who is abroad includes:

• Divorce application: Divorce application meets the forms of interpretation, consular legalization according to the applicable provisions of law.
• Marriage certificate: The original marriage certificate. If there is no original marriage certificate, it can be replaced by a copy issued by the State agency where the marriage registration is made;
• Documents of Vietnamese nationality;
• Copy of identity card;
• Copy of household registration book;
• Documents of the party with foreign nationality;
• A certified copy of passport or Visa;
• The application for absence from the whole process of divorce at courts in Vietnam has been legalized at the Consulate;
• A power of attorney for a person in Vietnam to receive the entire set of court service documents.
• Then apply to the Court for resolution.

*Procedures for divorce with people who are abroad in case of unilateral divorce:

This procedure takes place when a Vietnamese national wants to divorce, but his/her spouse staying in a foreign country does not agree to the divorce, does not cooperate or cannot be contacted. There are divorces that last up to many years but still cannot resolve. These can lead to many problems, costly in both time and money.

The party who unilaterally requests a divorce must provide the exact address of the person who is abroad (If that person is not in Vietnam) for the Court to hear.

Procedures for divorce with people who are abroad in cases of unilateral divorce include the following steps:

The spouse must:

Step 1: Submit a lawsuit petition for unilateral divorce at the People’s Court of the province / city where the defendant resides;

Step 2: Within 05 working days from the date of receiving the lawsuit petition and valid documents, the Court will handle the case and will issue a notice of advance payment of court fee to the applicant;

Step 3: Based on the notice of the Court concerned, the court fee advance must be paid at the district-level Civil Judgment Execution Department and the court fee receipt shall be returned to the Court;

Step 4: The court accepts the case, proceeds to resolve the case according to the unilateral divorce procedure and issues a judgment or decision to resolve the case;

A unilateral divorce dossier in this case includes:

• Unilateral divorce petition (according to standard form);
• Registration of marriage;
• 01 certified copy of the household registration book of the couple;
• 01 certified copy of ID card / passport of the couple;
• Child’s birth certificate (certified copy);
• Other documents and evidence proving the common properties such as: Certificate of land use rights, ownership of houses and other land-attached assets (red book); vehicle registration; savings book, etc (copies for instance);
• Documents proving that acts of domestic violence or serious violations of the rights and obligations of the husband and wife make the marriage life seriously, the life cannot last for a long time and purpose of marriage not achieved; Evidence proving the missing husband and wife in case of requesting divorce when the couple is declared missing.

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