Vietnam lawmakers to vote next week on adding birthplace info to passports

Minister To Lam told the NA Monday that adding birthplace information into Vietnamese new passports should be done by the end of the year to facilitate Vietnamese residents’ travel overseas, especially to Schengen countries.

The block often operates with consensus between members and visa rejection from one can be followed by others’, he said.

“The addition of birthplace information will not create extra cost or procedures as the information is available in the application forms,” Lam said.

Less than a month after Vietnam’s new passport was issued on July 1, Germany said it would not grant visa to the passport holders because the lack of birthplace information.

Several European countries followed suit, while the U.S. demanded that people applying for U.S. visas should bring documents starting their birthplaces for interviews.

The government then ordered the ministry to add the information manually into the passports’ note section.

Lam said that was only a temporary measure and that birthplace information should be added to the information page, to avoid further trouble with visa issuance.

The ongoing NA session will discuss the addition on Wednesday and make a final decision on the session’ final day on Tuesday next week.

Birthplace information was not an absolute requirement under International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) regulations.

It is not mandated by the Law on Entry and Exit of Vietnamese Citizens either.