JOINT CIRCULAR

GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISION No.957/1997/QD-TTg OF NOVEMBER 11, 1997 OF THE PRIME MINISTER ON IMPROVING A NUMBER OF EXIT PROCEDURES AND RESOLVING MATTERS RELATING TO VIETNAMESE NATIONALS WHO HAVE GONE ABROAD BUT FAILED TO RETURN HOME WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME LIMIT

In furtherance of Decision No.957/1997/QD-TTg of November 11, 1997 of the Prime Minister on improving a number of exit procedures and resolving matters relating to Vietnamese nationals who have gone abroad but failed to return home within the prescribed time limit and proceeding from the Prime Minister's opinions in Official Dispatch No.6044/QHQT of November 27, 1997 of the Government's Office, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs hereby jointly provide the following guidances:

I. OBJECTS OF REGULATION

Subject to Decision No.957/1997/QD-TTg of November 11, 1997 of the Prime Minister (hereafter referred to for short as Decision No.957/1997/QD-TTg) are Vietnamese citizens residing in the country or living, working, studying, laboring... abroad for a certain period of time. The exit and entry of Vietnamese citizens residing abroad shall not be regulated by the above-said Decision.

II. PROCEDURES FOR THE GRANTING AND EXTENSION OF PASSPORTS IN THE COUNTRY:

1. Procedures for the granting and extension of diplomatic and official passports:

Procedures for the granting and extension of diplomatic and official passports at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (the Consular Department, the Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Affairs Service) shall comply with guidances in Points 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7, Section II, Circular No.163/NG/TT of May 25, 1995 of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The first paragraph of Point (1)(a), Section II is amended as follows:

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2. Procedures for the granting and extension of traveler's passports:

The procedures for the granting and extension of traveler's passports shall comply with guidances in Circular No.02/TT-BNV (A18) of April 30, 1995 of the Ministry of the Interior with some following adjustments and supplements:

Officials, workers, employees and armymen on the payrolls of the State bodies, socio-political organizations, State enterprises and armed forces units (including those working under long-term labor contracts for one or more year) who apply for passports to travel abroad on personal business, must obtain written consent from the head(s) of the competent agency(ies), attached with their applications for passports and papers evidencing the reasons for their exits.

Places for submitting dossiers and receiving replies:

- Applicants from the central agencies shall submit their dossiers and receive replies at the Entry-Exit Management Department- the Ministry of the Interior;

- Applicants from agencies and/or organizations managed by the People's Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government shall submit their dossiers and receive replies at either the Entry-Exit Management Bureau of the Police Departments of the provinces or cities where they have registered their permanent or long-term temporary residence or directly at the Entry-Exit Management Department of the Ministry of the Interior.

3. Competent agencies:

"Competent agencies" mentioned in Points 1 and 2 of this Section include:

a/ Agencies and organizations prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3, Article 1 of Decree No.24-CP of March 24, 1995 of the Government on entry and exit procedures (which is amended and supplemented by Decree No.76-CP of November 6, 1995);

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Agencies and organizations mentioned in Clauses 2 and 3, Article 1 of Decree No.24-CP of March 24, 1995 and agencies and organizations mentioned in Point b above shall, hereafter, be referred to as agencies in charge.

III. EXIT VISA EXEMPTION

1. Vietnamese citizens holding diplomatic or official passports which are still valid and have been issued from November 26, 1997; and Vietnamese citizens holding traveler's passports which are still valid, including the traveler's passports issued before November 26, 1997, shall be exempt from Vietnam's exit visa and entitled to exit or enter through international border gates of Vietnam.

2. Vietnamese citizens holding diplomatic or official passports which had been issued before November 26, 1997 but are still valid, when exiting from Vietnam, must produce to the entry-exit control forces at border gates the documents of the agencies in charge, sending them on overseas missions, which must state clearly their full names, posts and titles, the countries of destination and the duration of their stay abroad.

3. For multiple exits:

a/ Under the Government's stipulations on the management of entries and exits as well as the registration and management of households, 10 days before his/her exit, a Vietnamese citizen shall have to inform the entry-exit management agency of his/her leaving from the place of residence for an overseas trip, according to the principle that residents of a locality shall inform the exit-entry management agency of such locality directly or by letters, telex, fax; the written exit notification must state clearly the citizen's full name, date of birth, place or residence or place of long-term temporary residence, the serial number of his/her passport, the passport-issuing agency, the time and purposes of the exit, the country of destination and the duration of his/her stay abroad. Such notification shall not have to wait for reply from the entry-exit management agency.

b/ The following persons are not required to notify in advance the entry-exit management agency:

- Persons on the State's payroll, armymen, policemen, persons under long-term labor contracts (one or more year) belonging to State agencies and enterprises, who are sent abroad on official mission or personal business by the heads of the agencies in charge.

- Persons, who are on official duties working or studying...abroad for given terms and who have returned home for not more than 90 days.

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Under Clause 1, Article 2 of Decision No.957/1997/QD-TTg of November 11, 1997, the heads of agencies in charge that send officials on overseas missions or allow officials to go abroad on personal business shall be accountable before law for the management of their personnel and passports.

1. Management of personnel and passports shall include:

- Taking responsibility for the personnel sent abroad by them on missions or allowed by them to go abroad on personal business.

- Managing diplomatic, official and traveler's passports of officials and employees of their respective agencies right after such persons return from abroad. In cases where a person, after his/her return from abroad, fails to voluntarily hand over his/her passport to the agency in charge for management, the agency in charge shall have to immediately notify this in an official dispatch to the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department) and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (the Consular Department or the Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Affairs Service) for coordination in handling it.

- For each exit of officials or employees, the heads of the agencies in charge must ensure that the involved persons use the kinds of passports suitable to the purposes of the trips. The diplomatic and official passports shall be given to officials and employees who go abroad on official missions as prescribed in Article 5 or 6, Decree No.48-CP of July 8, 1993 of the Government on passports and visas.

- If detecting that the officials and/or employees stay abroad beyond the prescribed time limit, the heads of the agencies in charge shall, according to Article 3 of Decision No.957/1998/QD-TTg, consider and decide to remove such persons from their payroll and immediately inform the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department) and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (the Consular Department or the Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Affairs Service) thereof.

- The passport-managing agencies shall take responsibility before law for the management of passports of their officials and employees. In case of loss of passports, the passport-managing agencies shall have to immediately report it to the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department) for the revocation of the validity of such passports.

2. In cases where the posts or titles of the officials and/or employees change or such officials and/or employees move to work in other agencies, the agencies in charge shall inform the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (the Consular Department or the Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Affairs Service) of the change to the posts or titles of their officials and/or employees or their transfers so as to amend their titles and/or posts in the diplomatic or official passports.

In cases where an official has retired or been removed from the State's payroll but is still holding a diplomatic or official passport, the head of the agency in charge shall hand back such passport to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (the Consular Department or the Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Affairs Service) for stamping the seal "already canceled" thereon; if a traveler's passport is still available, it shall be handed back to the involved person. In cases where officials have died or been missing, the heads of the agencies in charge shall return the passports of different kinds held by such persons to the passport-issuing agency for management.

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1. According to Article 4 of Decision No.957/1997/QD-TTg, if a Vietnamese national has gone abroad but failed to return home on time and now wishes to have his/her Vietnamese citizenship protected, he/she must make a declaration at the diplomatic representative mission or the Vietnamese consular office in the concerned country or other overseas Vietnamese representations authorized to perform the consular function (hereafter referred to as overseas Vietnamese representative offices).

The overseas Vietnamese representative offices shall have to request persons who come for declarations to fill procedures for registration of citizenship under guidances in the provisional regulations on the procedures for registration of Vietnamese citizenship in foreign countries (issued together with Decision No.713/NG-QD of May 17, 1997 of the Minister for Foreign Affairs) and guide them to make declarations on their overstay abroad (the time and purposes of their exit, the name(s) of the sending agency(ies), the prescribed duration for their stay abroad, the reasons of their overstays; the full names, relations, addresses of the guarantors or the agencies and/or organizations that receive such persons to work). The overseas Vietnamese representative office shall send to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (the Consular Department), and the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department) a list of the registrants, particularly for registrants who are officials, workers, employees and armymen, their list shall also be sent to their agencies in charge before their exists.

2. If the persons who make declarations on their overstay abroad hold diplomatic or official passports, the overseas Vietnamese representative offices shall withdraw their passports and stamp the seal "already canceled" thereon. The representative office shall issue the traveler's passports to involved persons if they do not fall into cases of non-issuance of passports prescribed in Point 6, Section VI of this Circular.

3. If the persons who make declarations on their overstay abroad hold traveler's passports, the overseas Vietnamese representative offices shall allow them to continue using such passports. If such persons are not yet entitled to be granted passports, the overseas Vietnamese representative offices shall withdraw their traveler's passports.

4. If the persons holding diplomatic or official passports overstay and fail to make declarations thereon at the overseas Vietnamese representative offices, the overseas Vietnamese representative offices shall have to inform them of the cancellation of such diplomatic or official passports, after getting notice from the agencies in charge (through the Consular Department of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs).

VI. EXTENSION, SUPPLEMENT, AMENDMENT, REPLACEMENT AND RE-ISSUANCE OF PASSPORTS

1. Extension, supplement and/or amendment of passports in foreign countries:

a/ 30 days before the expiry of his/her passport, a Vietnamese citizen staying abroad shall have to apply for the extension of his/her passport at the overseas Vietnamese representative office. A dossier thereof shall include:

- A declaration of application for the extension of the passport attached with a photo (according to the prescribed form);

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- A document or notice made by the head of the agency in charge to continue assigning him/her to work abroad (for a person holding diplomatic or official passport).

b/ The overseas Vietnamese representative office shall consider and decide the extension of passports which are proper but the time limit prescribed therein has already expired. The extended duration shall not exceed three years, from the date of expiry of the passport.

The overseas Vietnamese representative offices shall not give the second or third... extension to any passport.

c/ In cases where there is a doubt that a passport is not proper (with changes of photo, page(s), restitching of passport, erasion therein...) or the personal identity of the passport holder is not clear, the overseas Vietnamese representative office shall send a notice to the passport-issuing agency so that the latter may check it and reply the overseas Vietnamese representative office within 20 days; if past this time limit no reply is made, the overseas Vietnamese representative office shall consider and decide the extension as mentioned in Point b above.

In cases where personnel-related problems arise, the overseas Vietnamese representative office shall effect the extension, amendment or supplement of passports only after obtaining consent from the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department).

d/ Basing itself on the application for amendment or supplement of passports of Vietnamese citizens abroad, the overseas Vietnamese representative office shall amend or supplement passports for those citizens who give plausible reasons therefor.

2. Issuance of passports for replacement of ragged, damaged, finished or expired (for passports already extended once) ones:

a/ Applicants for the replacement of their passports must submit directly to the overseas Vietnamese representative offices a dossier, which includes:

- A declaration of application for a new passport (according to the set form) attached with 4 photos sized 4 x 6 cm (if the involved person is subject to the management by a specialized section of the overseas Vietnamese representative office, he/she must obtain certification of the contents of his/her declaration from the section's head and have his photo in the declaration affixed with a seal adjoining the declaration page).

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b/ The overseas Vietnamese representative office shall have to examine the ragged, damaged, finished or expired passports. If it is sure that the passport is proper and the personal identity and photo pages are not torn and dirty, the representative office shall issue a new passport for replacement of the old one.

The overseas Vietnamese representative office shall affix a seal "already canceled" on the old passport and the dossier thereon.

In case of a doubt that the old passport has been erased, the photo therein has been replaced, the personal identity page or photo page is torn or dirty, thus being unable to ascertain the truthfulness of the personal identity and the photo in the passport, the overseas Vietnamese representative office shall have to supply in writing the necessary information to the passport-issuing agency (according to the set form). Within 20 days, the passport-issuing agency shall have to reply; if past this time limit, no reply is made, the overseas Vietnamese representative office shall consider and decide the issuance of a new passport for replacement of the old one.

In cases where the personnel-related problems arise, the overseas Vietnamese representative office shall issue passports for replacement only after obtaining consent from the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department).

c/ Particularly for diplomatic or official passport holders who have left Vietnam for 3 months or more, the overseas Vietnamese representative offices shall consider and decide the issuance for replacement of such diplomatic or official passports only if the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (the Consular Department or the Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Affairs Service) certifies through its message that the agencies in charge have confirmed the involved persons continue their official missions abroad.

3. Re-issuance of passports in case of loss of the old ones:

a/ The applicants for the re-issuance of passports shall have to submit directly to the overseas Vietnamese representative offices a dossier, which includes:

- A declaration of application for passport attached with 4 photos as mentioned in Point 2 above.

- A written report on the loss of the passport, which must state clearly the serial number of the passport, the date of issue, the former passport-issuing agency, the code of the old passport (if any); the reasons and circumstance of the loss of the old passport...

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b/ The overseas Vietnamese representative office shall have to examine the dossiers and consider the re-issuance of passports, as follows:

- For lost passports which were issued by domestic functional agencies or other representative offices:

The representative office shall report personnel-related factors and details on the lost passports (attached with photos) to the agency(ies) which issued such passports for examination. Such passport-issuing agency(ies) shall conduct examination within 20 days. If past this time-limit, no reply is received from the passport-issuing agency(ies), the representative office shall consider and decide the re-issuance of passports and take responsibility for such decision.

If an applicant does not remember exactly the serial number, date of issue, the issuing agency and the code of his/her old passport, the representative office shall request him/her to provide relevant information for clarification of his/her personal identity (the date of his/her exit, the serial numbers of passports of other persons who were on the same trips, the sending agency...) and send all these information to the passport-issuing agency (together with the personnel-related factors and photos as mentioned above). In this case, the representative office shall consider the re-issuance of passport only if the old passport-issuing agency confirmed that it has issued a passport to the involved person.

In cases where personnel-related problems arise, the overseas Vietnamese representative office shall re-issue a passport only after obtaining consent from the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department).

- In cases where a lost passport was formerly issued by the overseas Vietnamese representative office or by a domestic agency or another representative office and the involved person's dossier on citizenship registration is already available at the overseas Vietnamese representative office, such overseas Vietnamese representative office shall compare the new dossier with the old dossier of application for passport or the available citizenship registration dossier of the applicant, confirm the right person and his/her personal identity before considering and issuing a new passport to him/her. If it is unable to confirm the applicant and his/her personal identity, the representative office shall send personnel-related factors and the applicant's photo to the former passport-issuing agency for clarification. The overseas Vietnamese representative office shall issue a new passport only after getting consent from domestic agencies that have been requested to make clarification.

- For a person who has declared the loss of his/her passport and wishes to be granted papers for his/her return to the country, the overseas Vietnamese representative office shall send personnel-related factors and the applicant's photo to the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department). The Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department shall examine and if it is sure that such person is a Vietnamese citizen and has a place of residence in Vietnam before his/her travel abroad for a given time limit, the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department) shall notify the overseas Vietnamese representative office thereof so that the latter may issue the involved person a laissez passer for his/her return to the home country.

In cases where the overseas Vietnamese representative office has already obtained the applicant's citizenship registration dossier, it shall consider and promptly issue him/her a laissez passer to return to the country and inform the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department) thereof.

- Particularly for the diplomatic or official passport holders, who have left Vietnam for 3 months or more, the overseas Vietnamese representative office shall re-issue them new diplomatic or official passports only after getting the message from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (the Consular Department or the Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Affairs Service) confirming that the agencies in charge have affirmed that the involved persons would continue their official missions abroad.

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4. Issue for change of passports in case of change to the trip's purposes:

The issuance for exchange of a passport in cases of change to the trip's purposes shall comply with Point III.1 on a number of provisions on the order and procedures for the settlement of consular affairs (issued together with Decision No.297/NG-QD of September 26, 1996 of the Minister for Foreign Affairs).

5. The sending of lists and dossiers of applicants for the extension, amendment, supplement, issuance for change or re-issuance of passports:

Within five days after the extension, amendment, supplement, issuance for change or re-issuance of passports, the overseas Vietnamese representative offices shall have to send to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (the Consular Department) and the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department):

- Lists of persons having their passports already extended, supplemented or amended (their full names, dates of birth, the serial numbers and types of passports, the dates of issuance, the issuing agencies, the codes of their old passports (if any), extended to what date, month, year, the detailed amendments and supplements and the reasons therefor);

- Lists of persons having their passports issued for change or re-issued with the following columns: the ordinal numbers, full names, dates of birth, places of birth; the sending agencies (if any); the serial numbers and types of passports, dates of issuance, the codes of new passports; and the reasons of the issuance for change or re-issuance.

After that, the overseas Vietnamese representative offices shall send dossiers of the already listed persons to the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department), except for cases where the overseas Vietnamese representative offices have already informed and consulted the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department), as mentioned in Points 1, 2 and 3 of Section VI above.

6. Cases where the extension, amendment, supplement, issuance for change or re-issuance of passports shall not be effected yet:

Vietnamese citizens falling in one of the following cases shall not be entitled to the extension, amendment, supplement, issuance for change or re-issuance of their passports:

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- Being under the refugee status;

- Having used fake passports for their exits;

- Having falsified dossiers for exit or illegally exited;

- Being related to lawsuits or civil, economic or criminal cases where the domestic investigation agency, the procuracy or the court is tracking down him/her or requesting his/her return to the home country for handling and settlement.

- Being engaged in activities detrimental to the national security of Vietnam.

VII. WITHDRAWAL OF PASSPORTS

1. Passports shall be withdrawn in the following cases:

- Passports carried by persons who are not allowed to leave the country as provided for in Section III, Part A, Circular No.02/TT-BNV of April 30, 1995 of the Ministry of the Interior;

- Passports to be canceled under notice of the competent agencies.

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VIII. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs (the Consular Department) shall inform foreign countries of the exemption of exit visas for Vietnamese citizens and inform countries with which Vietnam has signed agreements on visa exemption of the use of symbols for the implementation of the regulation on the entry visa exemption under such agreements.

2. The Entry-Exit Management Department of the Ministry of the Interior and the Consular Department of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs shall study and report to the leaders of the two ministries on the use of fixed codes for different types of passports granted to Vietnamese citizens.

3. Basing themselves on their respective functions and tasks, the Ministry of the Interior (the Entry-Exit Management Department) and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (the Consular Department) shall guide agencies, branches and localities to uniformly implement this Circular; to sum up the situation on Vietnamese citizens' entry and exit in order to report it to the Prime Minister.

4. All earlier guidances of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs which are contrary to this Circular are now annulled.

This Circular takes effect 15 days after its signing.

THE MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR
VICE MINISTER




Nguyen Khanh Toan

THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIR
VICE MINISTER




Nguyen Dy Nien