Dossiers of divorce of any couple having a baby, whether unilateral or mutual, always include a birth certificate (certified copy) of the baby. This document is especially important when the issues of support and custody of the baby are raised to the court. For instance, upon divorce, the mother will be entitled to directly take care of the baby if the baby is below 36 months old. However, for many reasons, both objective and subjective, there are the situations where the wife or husband cannot provide the birth certificate or even a birth notification of the baby. The common reasons are that the birth certificate is lost or either the wife or the husband hides the birth certificate in order to prevent the other from gathering sufficient dossiers to apply for a unilateral divorce. Therefore, you need to know the following issues in case of divorce without birth certificate of the baby in Vietnam.
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– If you haven’t registered the birth of your kid, you will have to register it with the People’s Committee at ward-level where you, or your spouse, are residing. The procedure for registration of birth is prescribed in clause 1, Article 16, of the Law on Civil Status 2014, in particular:
“1. Birth registrants shall submit declarations made according to a set form and birth notifications to the civil status registration agency. If having no birth notification, a document of a witness certifying the birth shall be submitted; if there is no witness, there must be a written pledge of the birth; for birth registration for abandoned children, there must be a written record certifying the child’s abandonment made by a competent agency; for birth registration for children born by surrogate mothers, there must be a document proving the surrogacy as prescribed by law.”
– If the birth certificate is lost or damaged, you can apply for reissuance following the procedure under point b, clause 3, Article 2 of the Circular No. 17/2012/TT-BYT of the Ministry of Health on issuance and use of notification of birth as follows:
“ b) In case the birth notification is lost or damaged, the child’s parents or relatives shall make and send the medical facility that issued the first birth notification an application for reissuing the birth notification according to the form specified in Annex 3 enclosed with this Circular, the birth and residence must be certified by the person in charge of the neighbourhood. Within 2 working days from the date on which the application is received, the medical facility shall reissue the birth notification similarly to the replacement of an incorrect birth notification. Where verification is necessary, the time limit for verification is 3 working days.”
– If you do not have the original birth certificate or a certified copy of the birth certificate of the baby, you must apply for issuance of a copy of birth certificate excerpted from the civil status book at a Civil Status Database-managing Agency under Article 63 and 64 of the Law on Civil Status 2014. You must fill an application for issuance of copy excerpted from the civil status book (as available template), and submit one of following documents: Passport/identity card or any document, with photo and personal information, being issued by the competent authority and still in effect; a lawful power of attorney in case you authorize another person to perfume the procedure. If you send the dossiers via postal mail, you have to enclose a certified copy of each required document mentioned above. Civil Status Database-managing Agencies include the People’s committees of ward-level and district-level, Diplomatic organizations, Vietnam Consulate abroad, etc. If your dossier is accepted, you will be granted a copy excerpted from the civil status book. A copy of birth certificate which is excepted directly from the civil status book has an effect similar to an original one. Besides, under clause 1, Article 3, and clause 1, Article 18 of the Decree 23/2015/ND-CP, you can use such kind of copy as an original to certify another copy when needed.
If you face difficulties in proceeding with the divorce without birth certificate of the baby, do not hesitate to contact us. Phuoc & Partners is a professional consulting firm and has much experience in divorce without birth certificate of the baby.
