I.      REQUESTS FOR CONSULTANCY
Unilateral divorce involving foreign elements
II.     LEGAL GROUNDS 
1.    Civil Code No. 91/2015/QH13 enacted on 24 November 2015 by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (“Civil Code 2015”); 
2.    Civil Procedure Code No. 92/2015/QH13 enacted on 25 November 2015 by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (“Civil Procedure Code”);
3.    Law on Marriage and Family No. 52/2014/QH13 enacted on 26 June 2014 by the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (“Law on Marriage and Family”);
4.    Decree No. 126/2014/ND-CP enacted on 31 December 2014 by the Government detailing a number of Articles and measuring for implementation of the law on Marriage and Family 2014 (“Decree No. 126/2014/NĐ-CP”);
5.    Other related documents.
III.     CONSULTANCY CONTENT
(1) Article 127 of Law on Marriage and Family 2014 regulates that:
“Article 127. Divorce involving foreign elements
1. Divorce between a Vietnamese citizen and a foreigner or between two foreigners permanently residing in Vietnam shall be settled at a competent Vietnamese agency in accordance with this Law.
2. In case a partner being a Vietnamese citizen does not permanently reside in Vietnam at the time of request for divorce, the divorce shall be settled in accordance with the law of the country where the husband and wife permanently co-reside; if they do not have a place of permanent co-residence, the Vietnamese law shall apply.
3. The settlement of a divorced couple’s immovables in a foreign country must comply with the law of the country where such immovables are located.”
    Additionally, Article 56 of Law on Marriage and Family 2014 also provides for the unilateral divorce case as follows:
“When a spouse requests a divorce and the conciliation at a court fails, the court shall permit the divorce if it has grounds to believe that a spouse commits domestic violence or seriously infringes upon the rights and obligations of the husband or wife, which seriously deteriorates the marriage and makes their common life no longer impossible and the marriage purposes unachievable.”
    (2) Accordingly, the law on Marriage and Family regulates the conditions to conduct the procedure of unilateral divorce as follows:
- Husband or wife does not love, respect, take care of  and help each other, such as he or she only knows her or his duties, leave his or her wife or husband, which have their relatives or organizations reminded, reconciled many times.
- Husband and wife constantly  abusive or maltreat each other such as frequent beatings or other behaviors that offend the human dignity, prestige of each other which their relatives or organizations reminded or reconciled many times.
- Husband or wife have an adulterous relationship with someone, which have been afflicted by their spouse, relative or organization but continuing to have adultery;
- Between husband and wife without affection and gratitude of husband and wife; inequality of obligations and rights between him and her; Not respecting the honor, his or her dignity and prestige; Not respecting his or her right of freedom of belief and religion; Not helping, facilitating each other to develop all aspects.
(3) Regarding unilateral divorce procedure includes:
you need  prepare a dossier to submit to the provincial-level People's Court, which includes:
- Certificate of Marriage Registration (original or certified copy);
- Wife and husband’s ID card or passport (certified copy);
- Birth certificate of the child(ren) (certified copy);
- Household registration book (certified copy);
- An application for unilateral divorce;
- Document and evidence regarding properties (if any).
After preparing a complete and valid dossier, you must to take the following steps:
Step 1: Submitting the dossier to the Court
- Submitting directly to Court's Head Office; or
- Submitting   by postal service (Post Office); or
- Directly sending in electronic form through the Court's Electronic Portal (if applicable) (Article 16 of Resolution No. 01/2016/NQ-HDTP)
Step 2: The Court issues a notification of payment the advance of Legal Cost (When the application and dossier are valid);
Step 3:  Paying for the advance of Legal Cost in Civil Judgment Execution Department and return the receipt;
Step 4: The Court proceeds to resolve the case in accordance with the unilateral divorce procedure and judgment or decision on resolving the case.