US urges Vietnamese to add birthplace into new passport

It said that starting August 15, new applicants must make sure to write their place of birth when completing the DS-160 application or DS-260 application.

The DS-160 is a nonimmigrant visa application for people traveling or studying in the U.S. while the DS-260 is an application for a visa to the U.S. for the purpose of permanent residence.

For applicants that already have scheduled interviews, the embassy said starting August 15, they must bring an original birth certificate to the interview.

“If you do not have an original birth certificate but do have an old (green) passport that shows your place of birth, then bring the old passport along with your new blue one.

If you have received the new passport, we strongly suggest that you request that the place of birth be added as an endorsement prior to your interview,” it said in a statement on its website on Friday.

“Do not write your place of origin or your place of birth registration. Write the name of the city/province and country where your mother gave birth to you,” it said.

Vietnamese new passport has been in use since July 1 this year. The old, green cover passports will continue to be valid till they expire.

“The U.S. government continues to review the new Vietnamese blue passport […] to determine if it meets U.S. requirements for visa issuance and travel. We expect a determination to be made soon,” the U.S. Embassy said.

Earlier the new Vietnamese passport was rejected by four Schengen countries Germany, Spain, Finland and the Czech Republic due to the lack of birthplace information.

However, the Spanish Embassy in Hanoi, said on Monday that it would accept Vietnam’s new passport following consultation with Spanish authorities. But those who wish to apply for visa need to bring both their new passports and valid identity cards to verify their places of birth, it added.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security said information regarding places of birth would be added to Vietnam’s new passports to make it convenient for citizens. For now, such information would be manually added to the new passports upon request, and in the long run, there would be adjustments to the new passports so that one’s place of birth would be included, said public security minister To Lam.