Conditions for Vietnamese Citizenship from 2025

Foreign citizens and stateless persons who are permanently residing in Vietnam may acquire Vietnamese nationality. From July 1, 2025, the Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality – passed by the 15th National Assembly at the 9th Session – officially takes effect, with many new regulations, including regulations on conditions for acquiring Vietnamese nationality. Below, Viet An Law provides an update on notable new regulations on Conditions for Vietnamese Citizenship from 2025.

Conditions for Vietnamese Citizenship from 2025

According to Clause 5, Article 1 of the 2025 amended Law on Vietnamese Nationality, effective from July 1, 2025 (amending and supplementing Article 19 of the 2008 Law on Vietnamese Nationality), the conditions for acquiring Vietnamese nationality are stipulated as follows:

General conditions for foreign citizens and stateless persons

Foreign citizens and stateless persons who apply for Vietnamese nationality may be granted it if they meet the following conditions:

• (1) Legal capacity: Having full civil act capacity according to the provisions of Vietnamese law, except for minors applying for Vietnamese nationality with their father or mother, or minors whose father or mother is a Vietnamese citizen;
• (2) Legal and cultural awareness: Comply with the Constitution and laws of Vietnam, and respect the culture, traditions, customs, and practices of the Vietnamese people;
• (3) Language: Know enough Vietnamese to integrate into the Vietnamese community;
• (4) Place of permanent residence: Currently residing in Vietnam;
• (5) Duration of permanent residence: Having been in Vietnam for 5 years or more up to the time of applying for Vietnamese nationality;
• (6) Ability to ensure living: Ability to ensure living in Vietnam.

Compared to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 19 of the 2008 Law on Vietnamese Nationality, this provision has the following new points:

• Allowing minors to apply for Vietnamese nationality according to their father or mother, minors whose father or mother is a Vietnamese citizen, to naturalize in Vietnam: Previously, the law stipulated that only those with “full civil act capacity” could be naturalized in Vietnam. According to Article 20 of the 2015 Civil Code, people aged 18 and over have full civil act capacity, except in cases of loss of civil act capacity, people with difficulty in cognition, behavior control, or limited civil act capacity. This meant that individuals under 18 years of age were not eligible to naturalize in Vietnam. The new regulation has expanded to allow people under 18 years of age (minors applying for Vietnamese nationality according to their father or mother, or minors whose father or mother is a Vietnamese citizen) to naturalize in Vietnam. This is a significant improvement that overcomes the previous limitation that disadvantaged children in cases where the parents were or are Vietnamese citizens.
• Adding the condition “Currently residing in Vietnam”: Thus, foreign citizens and stateless persons applying for Vietnamese nationality not only meet the condition of permanent residence in Vietnam for 5 years or more up to the time of applying for Vietnamese nationality, but also must be permanently residing at the time of applying for nationality.

Conditions for some special cases

A person applying for Vietnamese nationality whose spouse or biological child is a Vietnamese citizen may be granted Vietnamese nationality without having to satisfy conditions (3), (5), and (6).

A person applying for Vietnamese nationality who falls into one of the following cases may be granted Vietnamese nationality without having to satisfy conditions (3), (4), (5), (6):

• Having a biological father or mother or paternal and maternal grandparents who are Vietnamese citizens;
• Having made special contributions to the cause of building and defending the Vietnamese Fatherland;
• Having contributed to the interests of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;
• Being a minor applying for Vietnamese nationality with his or her father or mother.

Thus, the new regulation has added that if the paternal/maternal grandparents are Vietnamese citizens, the grandchildren can be naturalized in Vietnam. At the same time, many cases are exempted from the usual conditions for naturalization, such as knowing Vietnamese enough to integrate into the Vietnamese community; being a permanent resident in Vietnam; having resided in Vietnam for at least five years at the time of applying for Vietnamese nationality; being able to ensure a living in Vietnam… These changes aim to create favorable conditions for foreign investors, scientists, and experts to be naturalized in Vietnam under more flexible criteria, thereby attracting high-quality human resources.

It should be noted that people applying for Vietnamese nationality in these cases are allowed to retain their foreign nationality if they meet the following conditions and are permitted by the President:

• Retaining foreign nationality is in accordance with the laws of that country;
• Do not use foreign nationality to harm the legitimate rights and interests of agencies, organizations, individuals, or to infringe upon the security, national interests, social order, and safety of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Naturalized individuals may now use a combination of Vietnamese and foreign names.

Previously, the 2008 Law on Vietnamese Nationality had a strict regulation: “A person applying for Vietnamese nationality must have a Vietnamese name”. However, the new regulation allows naturalized people to combine their Vietnamese name with a foreign name. Specifically: “In the case of a person applying for Vietnamese nationality and at the same time applying to retain their foreign nationality, they can choose a name that combines their Vietnamese name and a foreign name. The name is chosen by the person applying for Vietnamese nationality and is clearly stated in the Decision on granting Vietnamese nationality.”

This regulation aims to ensure convenience for individuals living and working in countries where they also hold citizenship, while also ensuring international integration. Currently, many countries stipulate that names can both ensure elements of the country they are naturalized in and have elements of the tradition of the country they were born in, for example, in France or the US, the names can be Matthew Nguyen or Robert Tan.

Some new points about the documents and procedures for naturalization in the revised Law on Vietnamese Nationality 2025

An electronic identity document is a document proving Vietnamese nationality

Clause 2, Article 1 of the 2025 amended Law on Nationality has also added the Identity Card and Electronic Identity as documents proving Vietnamese nationality. This is in addition to paper documents such as Birth Certificates, Passports, Decisions on Naturalization, Decisions on Reinstatement of Nationality, and Decisions on Adoption, which were already stipulated in Article 11 of the 2008 Law on Nationality.

Applicants may submit their naturalization application to the Department of Justice or to the Vietnamese diplomatic missions abroad.

• Previously, applicants for Vietnamese nationality had to submit their application to the Department of Justice where they resided in Vietnam, according to Clause 1, Article 21 of the 2008 Law on Nationality (except for cases of re-entry to nationality).
• However, according to the new provisions in Clause 7, Article 1 of the 2025 amended Law on Nationality, applicants for Vietnamese nationality can submit their application to the Department of Justice if residing in the country, or to the Vietnamese representative agency in the host country if residing abroad.

Shortened processing time for naturalization applications

The settlement of naturalization dossiers stipulated in Clause 2, Article 21 of the 2008 Nationality Law is amended by Clause 7, Article 1 of the 2025 amended Nationality Law in the direction of shortening the time as follows:

• Within 05 working days (previously 10 days) from the date of receiving the verification results, the Department of Justice is responsible for completing the dossier and submitting it to the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee.
• Within 05 working days (previously 10 days) from the date of receiving the request of the Department of Justice, the Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee is responsible for reviewing, concluding, and proposing opinions to the Ministry of Justice.

In addition, the 2025 amended Law on Nationality also adds a provision: Within 20 days from the date of receiving a complete and valid dossier, the Vietnamese representative agency abroad is responsible for examining the documents in the application for Vietnamese nationality and transferring the dossier with its proposal for Vietnamese nationality to the Ministry of Justice; at the same time, send information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate in performing the state management function on nationality. The Ministry of Public Security is responsible for verifying the identity of the person applying for Vietnamese nationality at the request of the Ministry of Justice.

Above is an update of the new regulations on conditions for Vietnamese Citizenship from 2025. If you have any related questions or require legal advice on civil status matters, please contact Viet An Law for professional guidance and support!