It is necessary to amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam.

(HBĐT) - The Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens (Law No. 49/2019/QH14) takes effect on July 1, 2020. The Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam (Law No. 47/2014/QH13), takes effect from January 1, 2015 and is amended and supplemented by Law No. 51/2019/QH14, takes effect from July 1, 2020. Since the Law took effect, it has been an important legal basis for State agencies to perform the function of State management of entry and exit, while making an important contribution to protecting national security and maintaining social order and safety. The contents of the Law are specific, clear, easy to understand and easy to implement, thereby being welcomed and highly appreciated by all organizations and individuals. However, up to now, there are some contents of the above 2 Laws that need to be amended and adjusted to suit new regulations, as well as the requirements of the current new situation.

The Party Central Committee, the 13th Politburo , and the National Assembly have issued many Resolutions and Directives related to the management of entry and exit of Vietnamese citizens and foreigners entering Vietnam, such as: Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW dated January 16, 2017 of the Politburo on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector; Resolution No. 51-NQ/TW dated September 5, 2019 of the Politburo on national security protection strategy; Resolution No. 27/NQ-TW dated November 9, 2022 of the 6th Conference of the 13th Party Central Committee on continuing to build and perfect the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the new period; Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW dated July 1, 2014 of the Politburo on promoting the application and development of information technology to meet the requirements of sustainable development and international integration; Resolution No. 52-NQ/TW dated September 27, 2019 of the Politburo on a number of guidelines and policies to proactively participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution; Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW dated October 25, 2017 of the 12th Party Central Committee on a number of issues to continue innovating and streamlining the apparatus of the political system to be streamlined and operate effectively and efficiently; Resolution No. 76/2022/QH15 dated November 15, 2022 of the National Assembly on the 4th Session of the 15th National Assembly, according to which the National Assembly agreed to add information about "place of birth" to passports issued to Vietnamese citizens... Along with that, the Government and the Prime Minister have issued many directives aimed at promoting tourism development as a key economic sector. In order to create more favorable conditions for Vietnamese citizens to enter and exit the country and foreigners to enter, exit, transit and reside in Vietnam to meet practical requirements and serve the country's socio-economic development, the development of a draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam is urgent in the current situation. In addition, the crime situation in the field of entry and exit has many new complicated developments, the illegal entry and exit situation is still on the rise with more sophistication and complicated tricks, so strict regulations are needed to prevent, combat and strictly handle crimes.

For the above reasons, the amendment and supplementation of the two Laws on Immigration of Vietnamese Citizens and Foreigners is extremely necessary, in accordance with the requirements of the current situation. The amendment of the law is to specify the Party's guidelines and policies, to specify the steps to simplify administrative procedures, and to be the basis for moving towards receiving information and managing completely in the electronic environment; at the same time, continuing to create more favorable conditions for Vietnamese citizens and foreigners to enter, exit, transit, and reside in Vietnam. To promote the responsibility of agencies, organizations, and individuals in immigration management. And to meet the requirements and tasks of firmly protecting national security and maintaining social order and safety in the current new situation.

The Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam focuses on amending 2 groups of contents:

+ Continue to create more favorable conditions for foreigners to enter Vietnam, contributing to promoting Vietnam's socio -economic development in the context of deep integration today. The goal of this group of policies is to expand the scope of application, increase the value and duration of e-visas; increase the length of stay for those entering under unilateral visa exemption. On that basis, attract foreigners to enter Vietnam, especially foreigners who need to enter Vietnam for tourism, market research, investment opportunities, etc. to meet the requirements of international integration, while ensuring national security, order and social safety. Specifically:

- Amend regulations on conditions for applying for electronic visas to ensure a legal basis for the Government to decide to grant electronic visas to citizens of all countries and territories if it does not affect national defense, security, and social order and safety. ( Currently, electronic visas are being granted to citizens of 80 countries ).

- Amend the regulation on increasing the duration of electronic visa from 30 days to 90 days, valid for one or multiple entries at the request of foreigners to facilitate foreigners who need to enter Vietnam for up to 3 months.

- Amend the regulation on unilateral visa exemption period from 15 days to 30 days to help attract more foreigners who are citizens of countries unilaterally exempted from visas to enter Vietnam, creating favorable conditions for them to have more options: If entering for a short time, they can enter under unilateral visa exemption, if staying for a longer time (90 days), they can choose an electronic visa. ( Currently, we are unilaterally granting electronic visas to 13 countries).

+ Completing a number of regulations to improve the effectiveness of the management of foreigners' residence in Vietnam, contributing to ensuring national security and social order and safety. The goal of this group of policies is to improve the effectiveness of State management in the field of entry and exit, especially residence management, creating a basis for prevention, timely detection, prevention and handling of acts of taking advantage of Vietnam's open immigration policy to violate the law. Accommodation establishments are responsible for requesting foreigners to present their passports and valid papers of residence in Vietnam to make temporary residence declarations; foreigners are responsible for presenting their passports and valid papers of residence in Vietnam to accommodation establishments to make temporary residence declarations. Agencies, organizations and individuals that only employ foreign workers, organize tourism programs or provide temporary overnight accommodation to foreigners who legally reside in Vietnam, if they detect signs of violations, must notify the nearest police agency.

The Law on exit and entry of Vietnamese citizens focuses on amending 6 contents, specifically:

- Clause 1, Article 15 of the Law stipulates that "A person applying for a passport shall submit a fully filled-in application form, 02 portrait photos and relevant documents as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article; present a valid ID card, Citizen Identification Card or passport ". According to this provision, a person applying for a regular passport in the country must directly apply for a passport at the immigration management agency; therefore, in order to issue a regular passport to citizens at level 4 online public services, it is necessary to supplement regulations on the form, order and procedures for applying for a regular passport via electronic transactions.

- At Point a, Clause 2, Article 28 of the Law stipulates that within 48 hours from the time of discovering the loss of the ordinary passport, the person whose passport is lost must directly submit or send a report of loss according to the form to the Immigration Department at a convenient location, the nearest police agency or the immigration control unit at the border gate or the Vietnamese representative agency abroad at a convenient location. Thus, it is also necessary to study and supplement regulations on the form, order and procedures for reporting the loss of an ordinary passport via electronic transactions to ensure a legal basis for people to easily implement.

- In Decision No. 1015/QD-TTg dated August 30, 2022, the Prime Minister approved the decentralization plan in handling administrative procedures under the management of ministries and ministerial-level agencies; the field of immigration management with procedures for reporting the loss of ordinary passports will be decentralized from the Immigration Department to the provincial-level police, from the provincial-level police to the district-level police, from the district-level police to the commune-level police. Therefore, it is necessary to study and amend Clause 2, Article 28 of the Law accordingly to decentralize appropriately. In the past, this content has been implemented at all levels of police from the commune-level to the provincial-level police.

- In Clause 2, Article 32 of the Law, the person requesting to restore the validity of an ordinary passport must directly submit the declaration and passport to the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Public Security or the Immigration Department of the provincial Public Security where it is convenient. In order to facilitate citizens in implementing the request to restore the validity of an ordinary passport through electronic transactions, it is necessary to study and supplement this provision into the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens.

- On November 15, 2022, the 4th Session of the 15th National Assembly issued Resolution No. 76/2022/QH15, "agreeing to add information about "place of birth " to passports issued to Vietnamese citizens, and at the same time assigning the Government to direct relevant ministries and branches to amend and supplement legal documents under their authority for implementation; urgently study and submit to the National Assembly for consideration and decision on amending Clause 3, Article 6 of the Law, meeting practical requirements". Therefore, amending and supplementing Clause 3, Article 6 of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens in the direction of adding information about place of birth as basic information in exit and entry documents is necessary.

- In the past, the situation of citizens requesting to be issued a passport but not coming to receive the results when the appointment time comes has led to many difficulties in returning passports to citizens, as well as managing issued passports. Therefore, it is necessary to study and supplement Article 27 of the Law to clearly stipulate the time limit for canceling the validity of ordinary passports for cases where passports have been issued but not coming to receive the results to ensure the effectiveness of the work of issuing exit and entry documents in particular, and the work of managing the exit and entry of Vietnamese citizens in general.

It can be seen that submitting to the National Assembly for approval the Law amending and supplementing the Law on Entry and Exit of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam is extremely necessary and is a requirement of current practical management work. The amendment and supplement of the law will not create additional costs for organizations and individuals, but on the contrary, create maximum conditions for the entry and exit activities of citizens and foreigners; contributing to promoting economic, cultural and social development. At the same time, it is a solid legal basis for entry and exit management activities and is consistent with the provisions of international law as well as the trend of diplomatic relations between countries in the world in the present and the future.

Dou Yu Ping

Immigration Department, Hoa Binh Provincial Police

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