Struggling for nearly a month to get married
Sharing with Lao Dong reporter, mother and daughter Nguyen Thi Huyen (character's name has been changed) said that she had many difficulties when applying for a certificate of marital status.
Ms. Huyen said that in early 2024, her daughter, Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh (character's name has been changed), prepared to register for marriage and prepare documents through the Public Service Portal in a ward, in Hanoi City.
After that, even though she had submitted her application through the Public Service Portal, Ms. Anh still had to go directly to the People's Committee of this ward to request a certificate of marital status. Here, the authorities asked her to return to another ward - where she had resided before 2022.
When the local government - where Ms. Anh always resides before 2022 - issued a certificate of marital status during the period she lived in this area, she returned to her current residence to confirm it again.
Ms. Anh also shared her problems with applying for her marriage certificate such as when submitting an application online, she was constantly reported for errors, missing documents without clearly stating any shortcomings. Therefore, Ms. Anh had to go to the ward to supplement the documents. In total, Ms. Anh had to run around for nearly a month, traveling around many places to get this type of document.
"We have to run back and forth between two wards, each ward requires declaration, submit application, and then wait. Not to mention, when I open the Public Service Portal, I have no right at some points, when I lack, when I have enough of one thing or another that I do not know" - Ms. Anh confided.
Working online still has to... go to the ward
Recently, Ms. Huyen herself has had to go through a journey almost identical to her daughter when applying for a certificate of marital status to sell a car.
"I once asked for a certificate of marriage in my old permanent residence and thought it would be easier for my daughter. But who would have thought that the ward officials would ask me to return to another ward to get the old confirmation that I had made 1-2 years ago. It seems that the authorities do not store people's records and connect data. Therefore, it is very difficult to work with paperwork every time" - Ms. Huyen said.
The story of Ms. Huyen and her children shows the situation of administrative data scattered in the same city, between two adjacent wards. Instead of being able to look up through the system, people still have to hold documents to run from the old ward to the new ward, declare again and wait for a long time.
According to Ms. Huyen, the lack of connection of people's data has caused some difficulties in the process of requesting confirmation. If they only live in one place, people will have less trouble, but if people change their address and transfer their household registration, they must "re-issue" the declaration and confirmation process from the beginning. Not only that, every time she submits an application, her mother and child have to regularly monitor information on the application and the Public Service Portal to check whether the application is accepted or returned.
The story of Ms. Huyen and her daughter is just one of many stories of asking for a certificate of marital status that Lao Dong Newspaper reporters recorded.
Many people have reflected that if they want to do the procedures quickly, they have to have free time and be extremely patient. As for those who are busy, or do not adapt to technology, the current system is like an "Administrative maple", with no clear exit.
At a recent conference on population data cleansing, the Ministry of Public Security said that the marital status is an important component of the national database, affecting many necessary procedures. However, there is currently a lack of synchronous and incomplete data, causing waste of time, costs and effort for both people and public authorities.
The plan to launch a 9-day and night peak period to clean up marriage data and implement a reduction in procedures to confirm marital status starting from May 31 to August 31, 2025 is being highly appreciated and awaited by the people.
