Marriage to a Vietnamese citizen

Interesting.  I haven't heard that one before but I suppose it's possible you can't work for the government and be married to a foreigner.  I'd ask her to show you the law or statute.

SteinNebraska wrote:

Interesting.  I haven't heard that one before but I suppose it's possible you can't work for the government and be married to a foreigner.  I'd ask her to show you the law or statute.

A friend of mine who worked for the UBND told me she had to resign due to marrying a foreigner.

Being a nurse is a completely different scenario, I would get your gf to double check the law.

It may not be law but party rules.  I do know that not all teachers are party members but that virtually all principals are.  Perhaps the gf is more than just a nurse but in some supervisory position that requires party membership, if not legally, at least practically.  Parenthetically, I know that one of my brothers-in-law was a party member while he held a civil service job but quit the party when he quit the job and started a bushiness, becoming in a sense a capitalist.

Below is the answer from the horse's mouth, a retired government employee (head of an important department in Saigon) and a Party member in good standing with *relatively* high ranking.  He's incredibly honest and trustworthy; I believe everything he says implicitly. (Colin knows who he is.)

"It's not true what she said.  Nurses, no matter in which department they work or position they hold, are only important to the hospitals or the patients  to whom they care.  They do not have access to national security, therefore, there's no marital impediment.  She needs to submit a request for permission, but that's just a formality.  It's the same as an American military member stationed overseas has to do to secure his commander's permission before he can marry a local or other foreign national."

(The translation is mine, BTW.)

PsiCorps wrote:

She has informed me that if we legally marry she cannot remain in employment as a nurse. As I understand it the same would apply if we were to live together without marrying. She now worries that she will not be able to pass the IELTS level 1 test required for her to come to the U.K.

I assume the last sentence of that paragraph is only your passing thought, not something she believes is related to her employment.

In addition to the inquiry above, I asked him whether he could've married a foreigner.  His answer:

"Yes, I could if I was in love with one.  I would've to submit a lot of paperwork to prove that she was qualified in the eyes of the laws -- no previous criminal record, not associated with unwanted organisations nor related to a family member who was, not a threat to the government in any which way, etc.  It's the same thing I had to do when I married to my wife (a Vietnamese national), but the investigation would've been more intense with the foreigner because of my position.  If they were not happy with the result, I might be asked to leave the Party but I would not have to resign from my job."

In the same vein, here's the answer from the office of VALAW in Hanoi:

"Marriage is the act of free will between men and women, no one can prevent or coerce.  The Party regulations only prohibit illegal marriages, not Party members marrying to foreigners."

Just finished reading the "Implementation of Regulation N. 47- QĐ/TW, November 1, 2011 of the Central Administrative Board on What Party Members Must Not Do"  (I swear that's the real title !)

There's not one sentence or even part of one sentence saying Party members cannot mary foreigners, but there are many lines saying Party members would be reprimanded if their relationships with foreigners violate the rules. 

The two things those rules have in common are:

- the potential partner was an undesirable person
- the member did not ask for permission ahead of time

That's the rules for Party members.  If the OP's gf doesn't belong to that group, then no worries, mates.

Ciambella wrote:

Just finished reading the "Implementation of Regulation N. 47- QĐ/TW, November 1, 2011 of the Central Administrative Board on What Party Members Must Not Do"  (I swear that's the real title !)

There's not one sentence or even part of one sentence saying Party members cannot mary foreigners, but there are many lines saying Party members would be reprimanded if their relationships with foreigners violate the rules.  The two things those rules have in
common are:

- the potential spouse was an undesirable person in the eyes of the Party.
- the member did not ask for permission ahead of time.

That's the rules for Party members.  If the OP's gf doesn't belong to that group, then no worries, mates.

VN regulations, as clear as mud, lol.

Thank you all so much for your answers, I will go back to my fiancé and let her know what she needs to do. Everything she has been told has come from work colleagues.

Very interesting discussion. I myself gave up marrying a VN woman due to the immensity of paper work and due to costs. The local VN embassy in my country demanded some 2,5 mill dong to translate one A4 page and it was more than 20 of them.

I rather marry her in my home country. So then I have to live for another 5 years so she can get my pension after I'm dead. That is the purpose of the whole transaction. Not romantic, but practical and realistic.

RealPommy wrote:

Very interesting discussion. I myself gave up marrying a VN woman due to the immensity of paper work and due to costs. The local VN embassy in my country demanded some 2,5 mill dong to translate one A4 page and it was more than 20 of them.

I rather marry her in my home country. So then I have to live for another 5 years so she can get my pension after I'm dead. That is the purpose of the whole transaction. Not romantic, but practical and realistic.

Just wondering why you would get paperwork done in your home country if you are getting married here. The process here is not that difficult, we did it and it cost around 3 million vnd.

Translation of documents is cheap in hcm. We got my wifes paperwork  done at the peoples committee for her visitor visa and immigration to Canada. Very reasonable cost. I married my wife in Canada

Vaneric wrote:

Translation of documents is cheap in hcm. We got my wifes paperwork  done at the peoples committee for her visitor visa and immigration to Canada. Very reasonable cost. I married my wife in Canada

I believe that Canada ended the fiance visa maybe over a decade ago.  By admitting that you obtained a tourist visa for your then fiance and subsequently married her once she was in Canada, aren't you admitting to having violated at least the spirit if not the letter of national law?  A visitor visa is not intended to be a mode of immigration.  By engaging in your plan, aren't you jumping the line on Canadians who marry Vietnamese spouses in Vietnam and then wait their turn?  In addition, "jumping" on a tourist visa makes it all the more difficult for people who legitimately want a tourist visa to visit the country or relatives and to then return to Vietnam.

Maybe in spirit. But no laws were  broken.
Just provide all documents and letters of guarantee. Things maybe different  now.
We have been  happily married for 12 years.
No regretts
Our method was followed from a informative Consulate  employee

To visit Canada now. Visitor visa. You just need to have money and assets in Vietnam to quarantee your  return