How do you divorce a spouse who is abroad or has disappeared without news?

You can still divorce in Vietnam when your husband or wife is abroad, because Vietnamese courts have jurisdiction when one side is a Vietnamese citizen (Article 469(1)(d) of the Civil Procedure Code (Đ.469 khoản 1 điểm d BLTTDS)). You file at the Regional People's Court (Tòa án nhân dân khu vực) where you live. The procedure takes longer than usual, often over a year, because the court has to send papers abroad. If the other person has disappeared for 2 years or more, you can ask the court to declare them missing (tuyên bố mất tích), after which the court grants the divorce (Article 56(2) of the Law on Marriage and Family (Đ.56 khoản 2 Luật HN&GĐ)).

If the other person is abroad, which court do you file at?

A divorce where one side is abroad is a case with a foreign element (có yếu tố nước ngoài). From 1/7/2025, the Regional People's Court hears these cases at first instance too, and provincial courts only hear appeals (Đ.35, 37 BLTTDS as amended by Law 85/2025/QH15).

As to location, if the defendant has no residence or workplace in Vietnam, you may choose the court where you live or work (Đ.40 khoản 1 điểm c BLTTDS). Find the regional court for your commune or ward in the court directory.

A divorce between a Vietnamese citizen and a foreigner is resolved under Vietnam's Law on Marriage and Family. Real estate abroad, however, is divided under the law of the country where it is located (Đ.127 khoản 1, 3 Luật HN&GĐ).

How does the procedure differ from a domestic divorce?

The petition must give the full address abroad. You state the other person's full name, address and nationality and attach documents proving them, for example letters, a tenancy agreement, a copy of their passport. If anything is missing, you must supplement it within the time the court sets (Đ.473 khoản 1 BLTTDS).

The court sends papers abroad. The court serves documents under international treaties, through diplomatic channels, by post if that country allows it, or through a Vietnamese representative mission if the other person is a Vietnamese citizen (Đ.474 khoản 1). If none of these work, the court posts a public notice for 1 month at the Vietnamese representative mission abroad, at the court, or at their last place of residence in Vietnam (Đ.474 khoản 3).

Long schedule. The mediation session is held no earlier than 6 months and no later than 8 months, and the hearing no earlier than 9 months and no later than 12 months, from the date the court issues the notice of acceptance (Đ.476 khoản 2).

Trial in absence. The court tries the person abroad in their absence when they have received the papers, sent a statement and asked for trial in their absence, or when the court has posted a public notice, or when no notice of the result of service is received under the statutory procedure (Đ.477 khoản 5).

If the other person agrees to the divorce, the faster way in practice is for them to send back a written statement agreeing and asking the court to try the case in their absence. Documents made by foreign authorities must be consularly legalised (hợp pháp hóa lãnh sự), unless exempt (Đ.124 Luật HN&GĐ). The signature of the person abroad is usually certified at a Vietnamese representative mission; this is common practice, and you should check first with the court that will receive the file.

What if you do not know the other person's address abroad?

You can ask the court to request the competent foreign authority to locate the address, ask for a notice to search for an absent person, or ask for the person to be declared missing (Đ.473 khoản 2 BLTTDS).

Note: if the foreign authority replies that the address cannot be found, or does not reply after 6 months, the court returns the petition (Đ.473 khoản 2). So when contact has been lost for a long time, the route of a declaration of missing status is usually more certain.

How do you divorce a husband or wife who has disappeared?

There are two situations:

1. The other person is still in Vietnam but deliberately hides their address. You give their correct last address. If they keep moving without declaring it to evade the court, the judge does not return the petition but finds that they are deliberately hiding their address and accepts the case as normal (Đ.192 khoản 1 điểm e BLTTDS). If you do not know where they are, you can file at the court where they last lived or worked or where they have property (Đ.40 khoản 1 điểm a).
2. The other person has disappeared and nobody has any news. When a person has been missing for 2 consecutive years or more and a search notice has been issued under procedural rules without reliable news, the court may declare them missing; the 2 years run from the date of the last news (Article 68(1) of the Civil Code 2015 (Đ.68 khoản 1 BLDS 2015)). Then, when the wife or husband of the person declared missing applies for divorce, the court grants it (Đ.68 khoản 2 BLDS; Đ.56 khoản 2 Luật HN&GĐ).

The request to declare a person missing is filed at the court where the missing person last lived (Đ.39 khoản 2 điểm b BLTTDS). This is a civil matter (việc dân sự), with a first-instance fee of 300,000 đồng (Danh mục B NQ 326/2016).

What papers do you need?

• The divorce petition, stating your requests about children and property if any.
• The original marriage certificate, or an extract of the marriage record if lost.
• A copy of your citizen ID; papers on the other person's identity and address abroad.
• Birth certificates of your children, papers on joint property.
• If the other person has disappeared: papers showing they have left their place of residence, confirmation from the police or the residential group, last messages and calls.
• Papers in a foreign language must be translated into Vietnamese and consularly legalised unless exempt.

For court fees, steps and general time limits, see the page unilateral divorce procedure.

When to ask a lawyer

• The other person is a foreigner and the two of you have property both in Vietnam and abroad.
• You already have a divorce judgment from a foreign court and need it recorded in Vietnam's civil status records.
• The court has notified you that it is returning the petition because the address cannot be found.
• There is a custody dispute, especially when the child is abroad with the other person.