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As of July 1, 2025, Decree 191/2025/ND-CP is the new guiding document for naturalization in Vietnam. The Decree detailing a number of articles and providing measures to organize and guide the implementation of the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship (the Law) specifies conditions to be naturalized in Vietnam and cases where certain requirements are waived.
Under the Decree, to be naturalized in Vietnam under Article 19 of the Law (revised in 2025), applicants must:
- Understand Vietnamese language enough to integrate themselves into the Vietnamese community, which means their Vietnamese listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing skills are suitable to their living and working environments.
- Reside in Vietnam and have been granted permanent residence cards by competent Vietnamese public security offices with their permanent residence periods calculated from the card issuance date.
- Be able to earn their livelihood in Vietnam. This condition may be proven with their assets, legal income sources or guarantee of organizations or individuals in Vietnam.
The Decree states that the revised Law on Vietnamese Citizenship allows persons with special merits and contributions to the building and defense of the Vietnam Fatherland and those beneficial to the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to be naturalized without having to satisfy the above conditions.
To be regarded as having made special merits and contributions to the building and defense of the Vietnam Fatherland, a person must be awarded an order, a medal or another honorable title of the State of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam or the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam or have his/her special merits certified by a Vietnamese authority on the basis of records and opinions of related agencies and organizations and provisions of specialized laws.
Individuals beneficial to the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam include (i) those who have outstanding talents in the fields of science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, economics, law, culture, society, arts, sports, healthcare, education, among others, and have their talents certified by ministerial-level agencies or have won international prizes or been awarded orders or medals and there are grounds to believe that they can bring about long-term contributions to the development of the above fields of Vietnam; and (ii) individual entrepreneurs or investors carrying out business or investment activities in Vietnam whose potential for making long-term contributions to the nationals development has been certified by ministerial-level agencies.
The Decree also allows competent agencies to employ Vietnamese citizens with dual citizenships provided their employment serves the interests of the State.
By VLLF
