Birthplace info to be added to Vietnam's passports

The National Assembly has assigned the government to instruct relevant entities to make adjustments to legal documents, among other steps, to realize the change.

Previously, Minister of Public Security To Lam said after Vietnam's new passports began to be issued starting July, certain countries like Germany announced a suspension to visa issuance for the passport holders as they lacked places of birth.

As a temporary solution, the government requested the public security ministry and other entities representing Vietnam in foreign countries to manually add places of birth to the new passports' note section, upon request.

The government deemed that the birthplace information should be added to the main information page of the passport and the addition needs to be done before January 1 next year, to save Vietnamese residents from further visa trouble.

Lam has said that the addition would not incur any extra procedures or costs.

Each page of the new Vietnamese passport is printed with images of popular Vietnamese scenic landscapes and cultural heritages. The old, green cover passports will continue to be valid till they expire.