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June 18, 2007

MARRIAGE IN VIETNAM: THE BUREAUCRATIC PROCESS

Vietnam, a country of 85 million people, is becoming an increasing tourist attraction among Canadians. Some Canadians have been able to find love in the Southeast Asian country and wish to marry a Vietnamese citizen in Vietnam and have their spouse immigrate to Canada. Unfortunately, the easy part stops there. Recently, I sat down with Karen Fernandez, the Vietnamese marriage specialist at Immigroup, to discuss the process of a Vietnamese marriage.

The most common problem, according to Fernandez, is not having all your documents in order. However, the process to acquire all the necessary documents can be quite lengthy. For example, anyone having a marriage in Vietnam to Vietnamese citizens must get both a marriage search from all the provinces that person has lived in and a “Statement in lieu of non-recognition of marriage” from the Department of Foreign Affairs. The latter of these documents takes 15 business days and, says Fernandez, “it is impossible to get of hold of them even if you just want to get a status update” (for a full list of documents that are needed please visit http://www.immigroup.com/marriageabroad/marriage_to_Vietnamese.php). Vietnam also requires that any person who is getting married in their country must undergo a HIV/AIDS exam. The result of this exam can take 6 weeks.

Once all the necessary documents have been obtained, they must be translated into the Viet language. This process can take from 5-7 business days. Once the documents have been translated, they are ready for submission to Vietnamese authorities. Because of the time it takes to get all these documents, Fernandez gives the following advise: “you must make sure that all your documents that have an expiry date do not have an expiration date less than 6 months away from the date you intend to submit it. If they do, then you have to get them replaced and you have to wait even longer.” Therefore, if any document is set to expire in 7-8 months from the time you start the process it is a good idea to have them renewed so your marriage in Vietnam does not have any risk of further delays.

There are two ways to submit documents to Vietnamese authorities in order to get the marriage license. They can be submitted in Vietnam or in the town where the marriage will take place. Submitting the documents in Vietnam is straightforward. They are submitted along with their translations at a local office in the city where the wedding will take place and you wait until you are given the marriage license by the Vietnamese government. However, most people can’t be away for such a long period of time so they must submit their documents at a Vietnamese Consulate. If this is done, then there will be more forms to fill out, including a marriage license application and a power of attorney for the fiancé(e).

Afterwards, once the marriage in Vietnam has taken place, it is possible for the spouse who is a Canadian citizen to sponsor their Vietnamese spouse to immigrate to Canada. To learn more on the family class sponsorship please visit http://www.immigroup.com/family_class.php