On the afternoon of May 12 at the National Assembly House, continuing the 23rd Session, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on the 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.
Attending the meeting were Politburo member, General To Lam, Minister of Public Security; representatives of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and a number of relevant agencies.
Drafting the Law to meet the Party's guidelines and policies
Briefly presenting the Proposal for the Law Project 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, Minister of Public Security To Lam stated the necessity, purpose, guiding viewpoints for the development of the Law, and the process of preparing the dossier to propose the development of the Law project.
Accordingly, in the past time, the 13th Party Central Committee and the Politburo have issued many resolutions and directives to request state agencies to proactively apply and develop information technology to meet the requirements of sustainable development and proactively participate in the fourth industrial revolution with the goal of "By 2030, striving to complete the construction of a digital government, ranking among the top 50 countries in the world and ranking third in the ASEAN region in e-government and digital economy".
At the same time, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 08-NQ/TW dated January 16, 2017 on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector. However, after reviewing the provisions of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, they have not met the Party's policies and guidelines, so it is necessary to study and amend them to promptly institutionalize these policies and guidelines.
The development of the Law aims to ensure the following purposes: Contribute to simplifying procedures, promoting the implementation of administrative procedures in the electronic environment, continuing to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese citizens in issuing entry and exit documents and foreigners entering, exiting, transiting and residing in Vietnam; contributing to socio-economic development; both protecting national security and ensuring social order and safety. Completing the legal basis, ensuring synchronization, unity and improving the effectiveness of state management of entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners in Vietnam, contributing to making tourism a key economic sector, creating conditions for investors to explore the market and invest.
Regarding the structure and basic content of the draft Law, there are 03 articles. Specifically: Article 1 amends 13 articles and clauses of the 2019 Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens; focusing on 02 groups of contents: Group of contents to reform administrative procedures, perfect regulations on the implementation of administrative procedures in the field of exit and entry management in the electronic environment; Group of amended contents to facilitate citizens in applying for visas to enter foreign countries, issuing ordinary passports according to simplified procedures; improving the effectiveness of state management in the field of exit and entry of Vietnamese citizens and the synchronization and unity of the legal system.
Article 2 amends 07 articles and clauses of the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam 2014 (amended and supplemented in 2019), focusing on 02 groups of contents: Group of contents amending the provisions of the Law to continue to create more favorable conditions for foreigners to enter and exit Vietnam; Group of contents amending to manage the residence of foreigners in Vietnam, contributing to protecting national security and ensuring social order and safety.
Article 3 of the 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 stipulates the effective date.
The Law Project helps improve the effectiveness of foreign affairs activities
Reporting on the review of the draft Law at the meeting, Chairman of the National Defense and Security Committee Le Tan Toi said that the National Defense and Security Committee basically agreed on the necessity of amending and supplementing the Law with political, legal and practical bases as stated in the Government's Submission.
The amendment and supplementation of a number of provisions of current laws on entry and exit contribute to the implementation of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress on improving the effectiveness of foreign affairs activities, proactively integrating into the international community, creating a peaceful environment and favorable conditions for national development; Resolution No. 08 of the Politburo on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector; promptly overcoming shortcomings and limitations in the practical implementation of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens and the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam; continuing to reform administrative procedures in the field of entry and exit to suit current realities; creating favorable conditions and attracting more foreigners to enter Vietnam...
Regarding the draft Law dossier, the National Defense and Security Committee found that the Government has promptly completed the draft Law dossier, following the procedures prescribed by the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents, the documents in the dossier are basically complete, many documents are carefully prepared, detailed, of high quality; qualified to report to the National Assembly Standing Committee and submit to the National Assembly.
Regarding the amendments and supplements to a number of articles of the Law on Exit and Entry of Vietnamese Citizens, Chairman of the National Defense and Security Committee Le Tan Toi affirmed that the National Defense and Security Committee agrees with the addition of “Other documents as prescribed in international treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member” to ensure compliance with the Border Agreements signed by Vietnam with other countries; adding information about “place of birth” to exit and entry documents to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens.
The National Defense and Security Committee also agreed with the proposal to remove points a and c, Clause 2, Article 15 of the current Law, which stipulates the direct submission of documents proving basic personal information, and added Clause 9, which allows applicants for ordinary passports to submit their applications electronically; agreed with the proposal to expand the subjects eligible for ordinary passports under the simplified procedure in the draft Law...
Regarding the amendment and supplementation of a number of articles of the Law on Entry, Exit, Transit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam, the National Defense and Security Committee agreed with the regulation that electronic visas (code EV) are valid for multiple entries instead of only valid for one entry as before; increasing the duration of electronic visas from no more than 30 days to no more than 03 months. At the same time, it agreed with the content of the amendment and supplementation to expand the scope of electronic visa issuance for citizens of territories compared to only the scope of issuance for citizens of other countries as before; expand the conditions of application "on the basis of ensuring national defense, national security, social order and safety, in accordance with Vietnam's foreign policy and socio-economic development".
The National Defense and Security Committee also agreed to increase the time limit for granting temporary residence certificates at border gates for people entering under unilateral visa exemption from 15 days to 45 days, which is suitable for the current situation when the demand for long-term entry into Vietnam increases, especially for foreigners coming to invest, work with agencies, businesses, other organizations, travel or carry out other activities.
At the meeting, delegates focused on giving opinions and clarifying the urgency of building laws to improve administrative management efficiency in open conditions; the law's conformity with the Party's policies and guidelines, with international treaties that Vietnam has participated in, on the constitutionality, legality and consistency in legal regulations in this field.
In addition, delegates gave their opinions on the draft law; the impact assessment report; whether the consultation, appraisal and examination were convincing enough; whether the name and scope of the law were reasonable; and specific provisions in the law on the issuance of ordinary passports under simplified procedures, the addition of passport validity, the validity period of electronic visas, the expansion of electronic visa issuance, the extension of temporary residence, regulations on temporary residence declaration... and a number of issues that delegates were interested in.
Facilitate citizens to enter and exit the country
National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue acknowledged that the draft law dossier was prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Promulgation of Legal Documents. The documents were carefully prepared, detailed and of high quality; qualified to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and decision on addition to the 2023 Law and Ordinance Development Program, and at the same time for discussion and approval at a session.
The National Assembly Chairman said that the draft law dossier proposing four policies has ensured compliance with the Constitution on the current legal system, ensured compatibility with relevant international treaties to which Vietnam is a member, ensured the feasibility and predictability of the policy content, solutions and conditions to ensure policy implementation have been assessed by the Government and the drafting agency for relatively comprehensive impact and are relatively fully expressed in the draft Law.
The National Assembly Chairman expressed his support for this law amendment and clarified the post-pandemic trend, in which countries around the world are trying to create the most favorable conditions for economic and social recovery, creating conditions for their own citizens and foreign citizens in the issue of visas for entry and exit. The National Assembly Chairman also noted that when submitting to the National Assembly, he tried to clarify the content on negotiating and signing international treaties and international agreements related to receiving and transferring Vietnamese citizens who are not allowed to reside abroad; suggested having more solid arguments so that when submitting to the National Assembly, there would be high consensus and unity.
The National Assembly Chairman clarified a number of issues such as canceling passports when citizens do not come to receive them, considering solutions in cases of force majeure, researching and expanding the form of transferring passports to citizens in the form of guaranteed delivery... to provide maximum support to citizens.
The National Assembly Chairman expressed his basic agreement with the content of increasing the temporary residence period and said that the related regulations have many reforms and incentives. However, compared to some countries, the temporary residence period of Vietnam is lower than that of some countries in the region, and many countries also apply unilateral visa exemptions. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen e-visas, extend and increase the temporary residence period and propose that there should be convincing arguments for National Assembly deputies.
The National Assembly Chairman agreed to add content to the Program and proposed to the National Assembly to use one law to simultaneously amend two laws in a shortened format. The submitting agency and the reviewing agency accepted the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee to continue perfecting the draft law to be submitted to the National Assembly, contributing positively to the recovery and development of the socio-economy, especially issues related to tourism.
Actively receive opinions from delegates to complete the draft Law dossier .
Minister of Public Security To Lam accepted the opinions of the National Assembly Standing Committee and said that he would review and make technical adjustments to the legislation, report to the Government, and complete the draft law to be submitted to the National Assembly at the 5th Session of the 15th National Assembly. The Minister thanked the National Assembly Chairman for his comments, expressed his high consensus, and encouraged the forces participating in this work.
Regarding the opinion of the National Assembly's Judiciary Committee, the Minister said that non-Vietnamese people are not subject to the law, so it does not conflict with the Law on Identification.
Regarding the form of declaration, basically declaration in the electronic environment is encouraged, but there are still subjects that do not perform electronically, so it is necessary to regulate the form of declaration by registration form as in the draft law to create favorable conditions for people and management work.
Concluding the discussion, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Quang Phuong stated that the National Assembly Standing Committee highly appreciated the drafting agency for completing the draft law in a short time, and the National Defense and Security Committee for reviewing it in accordance with legal regulations.
The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly suggested clarifying the urgency of amending the law to restore socio-economic development after the pandemic, meeting the requirements of domestic and foreign tourism development. The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly said that the draft law is basically in accordance with the provisions of the law, consistent with the Party's policies and guidelines, ensuring constitutionality, legality, consistency, and consistency with other provisions of the law, and compatible with international treaties to which Vietnam is a member.
In addition, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly suggested studying and supplementing some transitional regulations to avoid difficulties in implementation, clearly defining the effective time to ensure specific clarity, studying international treaties to continue ensuring the consistency of the draft law, ensuring the draft law's dossier is tight and feasible.
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