My partner, Andy, and I just got married in HCMC. There wasn't a huge amount of information available online about how to navigate this process, and the information we could find was often incomplete or out of date. So, we put together this comprehensive guide to help any others who might be looking to tie the knot here! Just a quick caveat - from what I understand, the process can look a little different depending on your district and nationality, so please do look into your own country's requirements if you aren't British or American!
This part was really straightforward! I downloaded the affidavit from the US Consulate website. The American version is already translated into Vietnamese, which makes step 2 both easier and cheaper! I made an appointment with the Consulate, paid my $100 ($50 for the passport copy and $50 for the affidavit), and walked out with my documents. Easy peasy :)
Andy already had a certified copy of his passport (the UK consulate can make a notarised copy for GBP25), so he just had to make an appointment and get his affidavit notarized. The UK government website (linked) has the form and instructions on how to fill it in. However, they do provide the form at the consulate so you don’t need to print it out yourself. Unfortunately, the affidavit available from the British Consulate is only in English, so Andy’s step 2 was a little more complicated than mine! Andy paid GBP 50 for the affidavit and GBP 25 for the certified passport copy. Local notary offices in Saigon can make notarized copies of passports, which may be less expensive than at the consulate.
US Consulate General in HCMC: 4 Le Duan Blvd., Dist. 1
British Consulate General in HCMC: 25 Le Duan Blvd., Dist. 1
Step 2: Foreign affairs office (Affidavit of single status and certified copy of passport, continued)
The next part was a little harder. I had to take my affidavit and passport copy to the foreign affairs office on Pasteur Street to be certified. This took three trips. However, if I’d timed it right, it might have only taken two. Basically, you have to make a photocopy of your documents at the front (there’s a copy machine with just a small fee), then file them at two different desks. However, the second desk where you need to take your documents has limited operating hours. I arrived at the first desk close to 10 AM, and by the time I finished up there (just after 10), the second desk had closed for midday and was not taking any more documents until 1:30 PM. When I returned the next day, I was told I needed to leave my documents and could come back the following day to pick them up. There’s no way to get them back the same day, apparently. So, three trips where it could have been two, but not too much hassle overall.
Andy’s visit to the Foreign affairs office was a bit more complicated because, as I mentioned, his documents from the British consulate were not already translated. He had to do all the same things as me, except it took several more days before he was able to pick his documents back up. Fortunately, the Foreign affairs office can handle any translation for you and once you have paid, anybody who has the receipt can go to collect the documents. So you could send a friend if you were unable to go yourself.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 184bis. Pasteur Street. Dist. 1
Step 3: Psychiatric hospital (Certification of mental health)
Here’s something no one told us before we went to the Psychiatric hospital - You need loads of passport photos! So we actually made two trips here because we had to leave, get our passport photos, then come back later the same day. However, this part was pretty straightforward apart from that. I’ve seen people on online forums saying it’s impossible to go here without a Vietnamese friend to help translate, but we go on just fine on our own. We used Google translate to navigate when necessary, and our beginner level Vietnamese otherwise. We were directed to a small office on the second floor to fill out some paperwork with a very nice nurse. Then the doctor arrived, asked us a couple of questions about our parents, signed our form, and sent us on our way with four copies each of our certification. We had to pay a fee here as well - I think it was about VND 800.000 (although neither of us can remember exactly).
Psychiatric Hospital: 766 Vo Van Kiet St., Dist. 5
Step 4: District 7 People’s Committee (Marriage license application)
Something you should know about visiting the People’s Committee: They have a dress code! Specifically, women need to be in a skirt or trousers, and men need to be in trousers. No shorts allowed!
This step took two trips, but I think it could have been done in one if we’d had all our paperwork together already.
The first time we went, we thought we’d be able to navigate everything with Google translate and our survival-level Vietnamese. However, the man working at the office did not want to speak to us without a translator, so we had to wait until someone arrived who could help. She went through the checklist with me and gave me the marriage license application form.
The next time we went, we brought a Vietnamese-speaking friend to help, which really streamlined the process (thanks, Thanh!). I think if we’d had all our paperwork and passport photos already and had brought a friend the first time, we could have filed everything right then.
We handed over all our paperwork to the man behind counter 3, and he gave us a receipt with our appointment date and time to come pick up our marriage license.
Checklist for this step:
Certified copies of passports, stamped by the foreign affairs office
Affidavits of single status, translated and stamped by the foreign affairs office
Certificate of mental health
Passport photos (yes, more)
Pink book
District 7 People’s Committee: 9 Tan Phu St., Dist. 7
Step 5: District 7 People’s Committee, again
Again, we asked a Vietnamese friend to join us which was a huge help (thanks, Van!). We were a bit early for our 10:40 appointment because many government offices close at 11:00 for lunch. We gave our receipt from the last visit and VND 1.000.000 to the man at the desk, and he gave us another receipt to take to another part of the building. There’s a room set up with a big backdrop for you to sign your marriage license and the register. A woman named Ms. Hung was in that room to help, and she speaks English. She copied the details of our marriage license into the registry book, and then invited the Leader of the District People’s Committee into the room. He presented us with our marriage license, shook our hands, and wished us well. Van took a bunch of photos of us, and then it was done and dusted!
A note appointment times for the People’s Committee - we were pretty convinced when we received the appointment time that it was non-negotiable, so we made arrangements to have the morning off of work to pick up our license. The day before we were supposed to go, we had a call from Ms. Hung asking to change our appointment time. I wasn’t able to change because I had an event at school that day, but obviously the appointment time is more flexible than we thought! So, if you get an appointment time that doesn’t work for you, send Ms. Hung (or whoever you’re in contact with) a message and see if you can change.
Final tally of cost:
2x notarized affidavits - USD 118
2x certified passport copies - USD 84
4x photocopies at foreign affairs office - VND 8.000
4x Stamps from foreign affairs office (plus one doc translated) - ~ VND 600.000
12x passport photos - VND 360.000
Certificates from psychiatric hospital - ~ VND 800.000
Marriage license - VND 1.000.000
TOTAL: approx. VND 7.500.000
Final thoughts:
While this process really wasn’t too difficult, it was time-consuming. All told, it took about a month from start to finish. We did most of the legwork (steps 1-3 and part of step 4) while we were both on winter break from school, and getting all of that paperwork together took the better part of three days. However, we didn’t have this handy dandy guide to help us streamline the process!
I think the whole process would have taken us a lot longer (and been a lot more frustrating!) if we were trying to make it all happen around a normal work day schedule. I’d recommend taking a full day off of work and trying to get as much done as you can on that day, knowing you might have to pop out early once or twice more for follow up trips to places like the foreign affairs office.
If you’re considering tying the knot here in Vietnam, very best of luck to you! I hope this guide is helpful. Leave a comment if you have any questions!
