Vietnam considers adding citizen’s place of birth in new passport

Addressing a press briefing of the Government in Hanoi on August 3, Lieut. Gen. Xo noted that the new-style Vietnamese passport that has been issued since July 1 meets the conditions and standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Currently, many countries such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Mongolia, and Saudi Arabia do not have the phrase ‘the place of birth’ in their passports.

A majority of countries have recognized the newly issued Vietnamese passport, except for Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic, said Lieut. Gen. Xo.

The three countries in the Schengen area have refused to grant visas to holders of the new passport, reasoning that their passports lack information regarding the place of birth.

These are technical issues and the Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are coordinating with relevant agencies of the three countries to solve the issues, said the Vietnamese General.

For the time being, he said the Ministry of Public Security will write an additional note on the citizen’s place of birth in the passport, and if there is a need, the citizens can go to the Immigration Department under the Ministry of Public Security or the Vietnamese representative missions abroad to have the note added.

The Ministry of Public Security will also coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to study legal provisions so that the citizen’s place of birth can be added to the personal section of the new passport, affirmed Lieut. Gen. Xo.

At a regular monthly cabinet meeting for July held in Hanoi on August 3, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked the Ministry of Public Security to devise solutions to issues relating to the new passport model in order to avoid adverse impacts, especially when Vietnam is reopening to the world.