Stateless Parents, Child Born in Vietnam: Nationality Rules

Lawyer Phan Mau Ninh (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) explained: Under Article 16 of the Law on Vietnamese Nationality 2008 (amended 2025) and Article 9 of Decree 191/2025, a child born in Vietnam to stateless parents who are legally registered as permanent or temporary residents in Vietnam will automatically acquire Vietnamese nationality.

In such cases, when the child’s birth is registered at the local People’s Committee, the civil status authority will record Vietnamese nationality directly on the birth certificate and update the national database. This ensures the child has full citizenship rights from birth, without the need for a separate naturalization procedure.

However, if the parents are not lawfully registered as permanent or temporary residents in Vietnam, the child’s nationality will instead be determined based on international treaties to which Vietnam is a party, or later through the naturalization process.

In short, for a child born in Vietnam to be recognized as a Vietnamese citizen at birth, the parents must have valid permanent or temporary residence registration in Vietnam before the child is born.