Divorce in Vietnam

Hello,

My wife and I married in Vietnam in 2006 but we never live together because she wants to live in Vietnam only so, I came to visit her every year in Vietnam but at in the end our married is doesn't work any more, the last time we met together is in 2009.  Now we want to divorece,

The problem is I can not go to Vietnam, I live in Europe now.
Do any one know about divorce law in Vietnam?
Do any one know lawyer office, who is not charge too much .... I had asked my wife to find a lawyer , she said cost 5,000 usd.  She lives in Vung Tau city or also ok is in Ho Chi Minh city.

I don't know is in Vietnam has lawyers government, for helping people who has not much money to hire a lawyer.
If any one know, please tell me, what should I do? or where can I find a good price a lawyer in Vietnam.

Best regards,

Harry

does she also want that?

$5000 for a divorce fee is bullshit.  It costs pennies..

If you've bought a house and Assetts in her name ,it's a different matter.   But the actual divorce filing is only pennies..bugger all.

Yes, of course because she has a new Vietnam's boyfriend and also she has a baby with him.
I asked her to find a lawyer, she told me 5,000 USD.  I think she makes her own price that why I decide to find by myself. 

Do you know lawyer office in Vung Tau or Ho chi Minh city?

Yes, Yogi007.

I think 5000 USD, that is the price my wife makes !   I had transferred some money to her for starting divorce but nothing happened. no news , no any documents that why I want to contact a lawyer by myself.

Could you tell me please ,  normally how much for hire a lawyer in Vietnam? for divorce case....
Where can I find ?

It all depends if you have a house and other money invested here. A friend of mine is divorcing and his wife does not let anybody come close, or in the house. Period. He's trying to sell and she has agreed?????. She has her whole family in there now and what they do is, only take care of her and her family future. He's got a lawyer from HCM, but do you know what happens under the table??. I think '' He's toasted''.
    Referring to the link ''are the chances to find a Vietnamese wife good to marry, on this same site: Think again, Vietnam women like to go abroad but if there is  an other boyfriend involved better watch out. I have seen that as well and they were milking him to the bone.
Regards Ron.

(Moderated: free advertising not allowed + register in the business directory )

Yes, very nice to hear.  Thank you very much.  How can I contact you? Do you have e-mail ?

I have read in divorce vietnam law,, Actually my wife can ask for divorce by herself with Department of External Relations, Ho Chi Minh City ??? because we are not live together, the last time we met in 2009. with out a lawyer.
Is it truth?

Hello Tam,

Thank you for your offer, I would like to contact with you. How can I ?
please give me your e-mail please.....

If a Vietnamese couple want to divorce, the only thing they have to do is to write a divorce agreement/ request --> sign (both sign is best, but it's still fine with only 1 signature) --> bring it to the court in residental district and pay some fee (about $25 or less) --> someone at the course will be assigned to persuade them not to divorce and they have to wait for 2 or 3 months to think over it --> if they still want to divorce, the court will take their will, and help them in dividing their assets --> done, they are free from each other. It will be easier if they don't both possess anything, don't have any children. If they do, they should talk about it in advance and state their will about their assets in the divorce agreement.

You are a foreigner who wants to divorce a Vietnamese, i think it will be a little more complicated, maybe you will need to write a divorce request, ask a translation company to make a notarized Vietnamese copy (translate it and bring it to the notary public's office to ask for provement), we call it "notarized translation", then bring it to the court --> ... , I don't think it will cost you more than $100 in total for the divorce, but I think you will have to come here. Anyway, you can contact this company, maybe you will find a good lawyer here.
http://www.lyhondonphuong.com/dich-vu-t … ngoai.html

Harry,
Did you buy her a house???
What Assetts do you have in Vietnam that are in Joint names...ie bank accounts.

If you have nothing here , why are you worrying. 

If you just want to file the divorce papers , $5000 is ridiculous.   I have a friend here who luckily was renting a house  and had no joint bank accounts.   It cost him a few pennies to file the divorce application.  If there's no Assetts in the marriage why worry.   Let her stew.

Thank Yogi007

I don't have a house and no join bank account with her.  the peoblem is I can not go there.


Actually, I think my wife can ask for divorce because we are not live together. the last time we met in 2012 in Vietnam.
now, she has a new family with her boyfriend, I only wnat to start a new life.
Where can she ask for divorce? she lives in Ho Chi Minh.

Could you tell me, where can I find a divorce application?

Thank you very much, Thanh84

I think actually my wife can ask for divorce because we are not live together. last time we met in 2012, that 3 years ago.

Could you tell me please?  Where is my wife can get a divorce application?  she lives in Ho Chi Minh city.
Where can she start apply for divorce? I will tell her to go there.

Regards,

Harry

Harry,
Don't send a cent.. Let the boyfriend pay.
They only want to marry to formalise their family.  They've already shown their dishonesty by bullshitting you about $5000, 

Tell them to prepare the papers, and send them to you to sign. If they don't accept that, just ignore them.

Tell her she can go to her grave as your wife otherwise.

I've been through several court cases over the years for all sorts of reasons, personal, business etc.....it's amazing what happens when you ignore people.  They soon find a way to settle the matter on your terms.

DONT SEND MONEY

BUT , if you want to marry again it may be a different story..

Can you get a divorce in your home country citing spouse's refusal and not having met more than 3 years? The divorce might not be legal in Vietnam but at least legal in your home country if they allow it and you don't intend to marry in Vietnam again.

Just an option to explore.

Thank you, I also think about this  too.

harry110 wrote:

Thank you very much, Thanh84

I think actually my wife can ask for divorce because we are not live together. last time we met in 2012, that 3 years ago.

Could you tell me please?  Where is my wife can get a divorce application?  she lives in Ho Chi Minh city.
Where can she start apply for divorce? I will tell her to go there.

Regards,

Harry


There is a court in every district in Ho Chi Minh city. Just ask her to go to the court in her district to say that she wants to divorce you, and ask for the divorce application form to fill in. From there, she will be instructed what to do next...  You don't need to come here as long as she tells them it's her will and she hasn't seen you for years now, but it will take at least 6 months for her divorce to be done without you coming here. Goodluck.

The fee for divorce is only 200k for Vietnamse couple. When I got divorced, my ex paid it, I didn't know about, I've just search Googe :D.

Harry ... Do you have a Vietnamese marriage certificate? What is your nationality?

Hello ddn_ro,




I am Dutch. I don't have but my wife has it.   I think my wife can ask for divorce in Vietnam , we are not see together a long time ( 3 years )

OK ... You should check with the competent authorities in your country if you appear as married. Probably you are still single, at least in your country! Do you have goods bought during the marriage time that you want to share? You don't even need a lawyer for getting a divorce! If she really wants to divorce then she can start the procedure by herself very easily ... and it is very cheap! You can contact me via my website eslvietnamzone.com (use the contact form) and I can ask a Vietnamese lawyer about your problem. I am Romanian but I live in Vietnam (Saigon).

Harry ... take a look at this article http://vietnamlawmagazine.vn/news/divor … 4849a.html

Harry,
you're Dutch, living in Oz for a while, but are right now back in Europe, is that correct ?
If so, it appears you're thinking of divorce laws like they are in Oz where the man gets totally ripped off for just about every cent he has by the Australian  Family Law Court the vast majority of the time and the lawyers are the ones who get richer from every divorce. Let's face it - 'western' divorce laws are total rip-offs in 99.9% of countries as far as the man goes anyway. ( Been there and had that done already.)

FORGET IT !    The divorce laws in Viet Nam are totally different. 
For a start you don't really need a lawyer at all if you don't have any property or things like joint bank accounts. You'll probably find this $5000 she's asking you for will be going into her or her new b/f's bank account. 

Yogi007, Thanh 84 and ngatt are correct - a divorce in the VN courts costs you next to nothing. The most expensive part (according to my wife) would be getting all the required documents translated (for yourself to keep as proof in the future) and notarized by the appropriate VN government approved people.


A long time ago, before getting married again, I had friends, and my then g/f, check over all the details we could find about the laws for just about everything we could think of regarding all things to do with any relationship between a VN female and a male expat living in Viet Nam.
Basically it came down to whatever each of the parties owned before they got married, they kept for themselves after the divorce. Anything accumulated together, while married, is split 50 / 50. If an agreement on the value of these things can't be reached, the court will decide who gets what or how much. Unlike in Oz, it seems to be a very honest and fair splitting up of any assets.

ddn_ro's advice one where to look for more details is excellent ! - - - http://vietnamlawmagazine.vn/news/divor … 4849a.html

Not being able to return to Viet Nam and go through these steps yourself in person could turn out to be a disadvantage for you.
The time taken to push the paper work through varies from District to District, (in tp H.C.M.- as does the coffee money 'donations') but it can be done without you returning to Viet Nam in person yourself.

Once again as Yogi007 advised you - DON'T YOU SEND HER EVEN ONE CENT !!!  LET HER BOYFRIEND PAY FOR EVERYTHING !
Why should you help the two of them in any way at all ???

I first met my wife back in early '08 - it took until very late in '11 before her Mom would even acknowledge I even existed.
We got married in '12 and haven't had any problems with her family since.

GOOD LUCK solving your divorce hasslings mate !    DON'T let her BS you ! 

Might be an idea, if you still have good relationships with anyone in your local VN community where ever you live in Oz, to seek some advice from them as well.
(just a thought - the local VN Buddhist monks kept in constant contact with my wife and did a lot to help my wife's anxiety when I had to first return to Oz for surgery back in late '12)

I agree with the reply here.
Ask her to get the divore paper so you can sign at your country
Without your signature,she cannot marry anybody.

Can a filipino citizen file a divorced in Vietnam to dissolve the marriage in the Philippines?

Genahoney wrote:

Can a filipino citizen file a divorced in Vietnam to dissolve the marriage in the Philippines?


The Vietnamese courts have no authority in the Philippines. If the marriage was entered into in the Philippines it has to be dissolved in the Philippines.

Thanks eodmatt

Philippines is the only country in the world without divorce unless you count Vatican City. There are loopholes for getting an annulment if you can afford the lawyer, also for muslims with sharia marriages.

Another special case is if a filipino is married to a foreigner, the Philippines will recognize a divorce if the foreigner files for it in the foreigner's country.

RECOGNIZING FOREIGN DIVORCE IN THE PHILIPPINES

So true gobot!

When this is between Vietnamese but the wife won't sign, and there is a child involved but no property then do you know if there is a time limit for how long it takes? Or does it simply not happen until she also signs?

jaffacakes85 wrote:

When this is between Vietnamese but the wife won't sign, and there is a child involved but no property then do you know if there is a time limit for how long it takes? Or does it simply not happen until she also signs?


A man is not allowed to file for divorce if his wife is raising a child under 12 months old even if the child is not his.

I don't know about the time limit, but in a unilateral divorce in which the child is older than 12 months, it's up to the judge to dissolve the marriage if there are justifiable reasons (domestic violence, violation of the other spouse's rights, failure to fulfil spousal obligations, purpose of marriage is not achieved, marriage life is seriously impaired, etc.).

The other spouse's signature isn't a necessity in such case.

Do you know where I can find out how long this takes or how we can speed it up successfully? It's already been a few months.

In general, it's 4 months for bilateral divorce and 6 months for unilateral divorce, but it can go for much longer if the case is complex or has objective obstacles, if one party does not agree or have a dispute, etc.  Since you stated that "the wife won't sign, and there is a child involved", objective obstacles may be the factor here.

How to speed up judiciary when it comes to divorce?  It's the same everywhere: things happen faster when both parties cooperate with one another.  I'm not an attorney so you should take what I say with a grain of salt and consult your lawyer, but "a few months" is not such a long time to dissolve a marriage IMHO. Many divorce cases in the US, even the ones without property dispute, take years to reach dissolution.

Having had experience of UK divorce courts I can say that you will be better off killing your wife.*

I'm not joking.

*I am not advocating murder. What I m saying is that as a man, the law  leaves little choice.

jaffacakes85 wrote:

Do you know where I can find out how long this takes or how we can speed it up successfully? It's already been a few months.


No don't kill her. And don't panic. In a couple years you will look back and it will be just a blip of time in your life.

It is a little confusing to try a determine e what it is you want. She has a BF and a child by him. She probably wants a divorce far more than you. At any rate she can file and send the paperwork to you via the Vietnamese consulate in your country. You can respond if you wish and object. If you say nothing and fail to respond she can divorce without you. But for you it does not matter. Justgo on about your life as if you never married. No one is evergojng to know if your marriage here. If you want a good English peaking attorney PM me andI an send you his contact Info. Myself I can not imagine why with no common assets you would want to hire an attorney. The divorce application like has been said here is cheap.

As mentioned above that the splitting of assets is fair in VN. If either side has money this is far from the case and well known in VN. You get back to the old “envelope “ wayof getting things done. Whichever party has the biggest envelope will get the asset(s). Judges are not paid well here either!!!

jaffacakes85 wrote:

Do you know where I can find out how long this takes or how we can speed it up successfully? It's already been a few months.


G'day there Jaffacake, 

Welcome to the world of the “kicked to the curb” serial divorcees of which most of us are seriously “paid up” members.😆

What's the hurry,,,can't wait a few months??   You've found another one haven't ya😆

Take another serial offenders advice here and “ kill em all”.     

Tell em Yogi did it.

What happens if the American man (59) is already married when he married the Vietnamese girl but does not disclose at the consulate in Vietnam when he married the New Vietnamese bride (25 yrs old and already pregnant by him before marriage) her family and she do not know of this oversight on his part. But I do because he is still married to me. What can be done . Will the Vietnamese justice ministry object to this major oversight in granting the marriage? Is that grounds for a divorce?

Yes, there are provision in Vietnamese family law to cover fraudulant marriages. As there are In America also. Nothing to protect the child of a fraudulent mariage in either country that I know of.