On the afternoon of May 29, the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Vietnamese nationality.
Explaining the opinion of the National Assembly deputies stated, Minister of Justice Nguyen Hai Ninh said that the amendment of this nationality law in order to concretize the Party's policy in Resolution 36 of the Politburo on overseas Vietnamese work in the new situation, the Directive 40 and 45 of the Central Executive Committee, as well as Resolution 57 of the Politburo on scientific and technological development, innovation and transformation.
Regarding the relationship between the State and citizens, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh said that Clause 5, Article 5 of the draft law stipulates that some groups of subjects such as candidates, elected, approved, appointed to hold positions according to the term; people working in state agencies, socio-political organizations at the central and local levels; people working in public service units; people working in key organizations; people participating in armed forces... must be people with only one nationality, Vietnamese nationality and must have permanent residence in Vietnam.
However, the draft also stipulates flexibility "except in cases that are beneficial to the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and do not harm national interests". This content is assigned to the Government to specify in detail.
The Minister of Justice emphasized that the issue of nationality is of political and legal nature. The National Assembly Law throughout the year still maintains the principle of one nationality.
However, to attract people of Vietnamese origin and people with high qualifications to serve the country's development, the draft loosens conditions and is more open to naturalization. However, some public areas require stricter conditions.
Regarding the opinions of delegates related to the decision of a competent state agency of nationality, it is not allowed to complain and denounce, and propose to abandon the phrase "decision" to only keep the "final decision", Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh said that in the practice of the national law, there are elements related to national security, there are cases where the application is complete but still cannot be granted nationality due to the risk of national security. If it is allowed to complain and denunciation, it will be difficult to explain and handle according to the law.
The Minister cited the following evidence: "Other countries also have very clear regulations on nationality to ensure absolute sovereignty. When we go to a visa of some countries, people have the right to say or not to say, have the right to accept or reject and they don't give a reason."
Regarding documents proving Vietnamese nationality, some delegates proposed adding a method of verification using digital data to suit the current context; Regulations on nationality of children born with Vietnamese parents (Articles 11 and 16). The Minister of Justice said that he would absorb and specify in detail in the Government's Decree.
Regarding Vietnamese names or ethnic minority names, some National Assembly deputies suggested allowing the same name, Minister Nguyen Hai Ninh assessed this as a reasonable suggestion and said that he would accept it to report to the Government and the National Assembly Standing Committee.
