US to accept new Vietnam passport with birthplace info

"Beginning October 3, all visa applicants with the new blue-covered passports must have the passport endorsed with place of birth before their interview. Applicants who do not have an endorsement in their blue cover passports will not be permitted to interview and will need to reschedule their appointments," the embassy said in a statement.

The requirement was determined by the Department of State after thorough review, it said.

The embassy will continue to interview applicants whose passports lack the endorsement through September 29, it said.

Last month the embassy instructed holders of the new Vietnamese passport to bring along documents proving their place of birth when applying for a visa.

Earlier Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic and Finland had said that they would no longer issue visas to holders of the new Vietnamese passport because it did not include place of birth.

They later announced to accept the passports as long as birthplace information is added and officially stamped.

France and the U.K. have said they have no problems with the new passport.

Minister of Public Security To Lam said that while information regarding place of birth would be added to the new passport to make it convenient for users, it 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, he said.

In the meantime, birthplace info would be added to the new passports manually and citizens could go to the local immigration office or Vietnamese representative agencies abroad to get this done.

The new Vietnamese passport, with decorations on its pages and covers, has been in use since July 1 this year. The old, green cover passports will continue to be valid till they expire.