Any experience renewing their UK passport from Saigon Passport Office

knav2013

21 November 2017 12:57:25

Ho Chi Minh City

My passport is running out of pages. I searched online and saw that we can apply to renew passport from Saigon. Last week I visited the HM Passport Office at:

UK Visa Application Centre,
2nd Floor,
Resco Building,
94-96 Nguyen Du Street,
Ben Nghe Ward,
District 1, Saigon

and asked what the process was. It was great, they explained everything in plain language and asked me to email for an appointment to hand in application and documents (now confirmed for Wednesday 11 October 2017). They told me a full photocopy of the current passport was needed (all pages including blank ones) and that they will check my original passport with the photocopy (at the appointment) and confirm that it's a true copy. They will then send the form and documents to UK. The info here says we need to provide 1 document with photo ID and :

* one document as evidence of name and address and/or residency within the last year.

One of the items on the list is Visa or resident permit. My passport has the current Vietnam visa stamp, and because we are including a page-by-page attested/confirmed photocopy of passport, would that not count for the evidence of name and address and/or residency within the last year? (I have no idea if and/or means both or one or the other)

If not could I obtain a letter from Vietnam police/justice dept. to confirm my current address?

There is some info here, says that we can obtain our proof of address from from National Center for Judicial Records (Trung Tam Ly Lich Tu Phap Quoc Gia)

The info also says:

According to the Circular No.07/TTLT-BTP-BCA of Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Public Security dated 08/02/1999, foreigners are entitled to obtain information about themselves while residing in Vietnam.

Sorry about the long post, but i'm really fretting about this, as I really don't want the passport application delayed because of lack of documents. Especially because HM Passport office in Saigon have told me that once the application is submitted, you cannot travel on your "old" passport. You can only use it for ID purposes.

There is a related (old) post about the same topic here.

senwl

21 November 2017 16:29:44

820

Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh

Proof of address in Vietnam can be obtained from the local ward-level police station.
Your landlord must have registered you with the ward police in his blue book.

You should go to the local PS and ask for the appropriate Form.
The form is in Vietnamese, you need a local to help you in filling up that form.
They may ask you why you need proof of residence.
It's wise to have a copy of your landlord's blue book, especially those pages where the police put your name, PP no., date/s and their stamp, with you.

They may ask you to come back later to collect the document or if you're lucky, they will check their register and issue the certificate (document) then and there with a signature of the SHO (Station House Officer) and seal.
That proof of residence is a Vietnamese document.

The UK consulate office may not accept a local Vietnamese document directly.

For that, you need to first legalise it from the Dept. of Foreign Affairs at 6 Alexandre de Rhodes, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Ho Chi Minh City (takes 24-36 hours max)

Once legalised, a copy of it needs to be translated into English and the translation to be notarized.

I think the British consulate provides both translation and notarization services.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/notarial-an … in-vietnam

Now you can submit that notarized English copy (and the original VN document if required) as your proof of residence/address in Vietnam.

You mentioned "Justice Dept.". In my understanding we go there for our Vietnamese Police Clearance (Criminal Background Check) certificate, not for proof of residence/address.

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