The Immigration Department under Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security will start adding information on the holder’s place of birth to the new passport version on Thursday.

Lieutenant General To An Xo, spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security, said on Monday that the agency has directed the Immigration Department and Vietnam’s overseas representative agencies to include holders’ places of birth in the note section of the new passports starting Thursday.

The process will not cost passport holders any fee.

The Ministry of Public Security will submit a report to the government and lawmaking National Assembly about the issuance of a resolution on the inclusion of the holder’s place of birth in the information page of the new passport, Xo added.

Vietnam started issuing its new passport on July 1.

The new passport is blue-violet in color, consists of pages printed with the country’s famous scenery and cultural heritage sites, and has features that ensure technical safety and prevent counterfeiting, the ministry said. But it contains no detail about the holder’s birthplace.

Citizens are still allowed to use their old passports, which are green and do include the place of birth, until the expiry date.

In the past few months, some countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Spain temporarily stopped issuing visas to holders of Vietnam’s new passports due to the lack of birthplace information.

Spain later reversed its decision, while Germany, the Czech Republic, and Finland said they would recognize the new passport when information on the holder’s place of birth was added to the document.

The U.S. Embassy recently announced that it will require all visa applicants with the new Vietnamese passports to have their birthplace added to the note section starting October 3.

Those who lack the information will not be allowed to be interviewed and have their appointment rescheduled.

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