A Vietnamese reader wrote to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper inquiring, “My boyfriend is a foreigner, specifically Israeli. We have a child together, but we have not registered our marriage yet. I am preparing to apply for a birth certificate for the child. If we proceed with the procedure without registering our marriage, can the father’s information be included, or can it be added later?”

Lawyer Vo Dan Mach from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association responded:

1. Regarding the right to register the birth of a child when parents have not registered their marriage:

Clause 1, Article 30 of the 2015 Civil Code affirms that individuals have the right to register their child’s birth regardless of whether the parents have registered their marriage. Therefore, your child can still be registered even if you and your partner have not married.

According to Article 15 of the 2014 Law on Civil Status, either the father or mother must register the child’s birth within 60 days of birth.

Article 9 of Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP, which details the implementation of the Law on Civil Status, outlines the documents required for birth registration, including:

- A completed application form.

- The child’s birth document, or a witness statement, or a written birth guarantee.

- The parents’ original identity documents.

- A marriage certificate (if the parents are married).

If the parents are not married, the civil status officer cannot include the father’s name in the birth certificate. 

Clause 2, Article 15 of Decree No. 123 specifies that if the father is unidentified, the child’s ethnicity, hometown, and nationality will follow the mother’s details, and the father’s section in the civil status book and birth certificate will be left blank.

2. Regarding procedures for combining birth registration with father-child recognition:

At the time of birth registration, the father can ask to combine it with the procedure for confirming paternity. 

Under Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Civil Status, if this process is followed, the father’s name will be included in the birth certificate.

Article 15 of Circular 04/2020/TT-BTP outlines the documents required for birth registration combined with paternity recognition, including:

- A birth registration form and a declaration for father, mother, and child recognition in the prescribed format.

- The child’s birth document or equivalent documents as specified in Clause 1, Article 16 of the Law on Civil Status.

- Proof of the father-child relationship as outlined in Article 14 of the Circular.

If the child was born abroad, the registration must comply with Article 7 of Circular 04/2020/TT-BTP, which requires proof that the child legally entered and resides in Vietnam. 

Additionally, a written agreement on nationality selection must be confirmed by the relevant authority if a foreign nationality is chosen.

If the parents do not combine the birth registration and paternity recognition procedures, the father’s name can be added later through the household registration procedure outlined in Article 29 of the Law on Household Registration. 

However, the father must first complete the paternity confirmation procedure as per Clause 1, Article 25 of the Law on Household Registration.

Thus, you may choose to combine birth registration and paternity recognition, or first register the birth and later add the father’s information.

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