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Hello there..
I wanted to stay with my girlfriend in an apartment together, but my employer told me it is illegal in Viet Nam for a couple to live together if they are not married! Is that true???
housing Romance (add tags) Why? Details of tags
answered about 8 months ago by teacherman
Haha, that's a new one. Your landlord may be an 'stick in the mud'. But the police could care less, they've much more serious things to worry about.
answered about 8 months ago by HiHo
OMG!Im Vietnamese but I never ever heard about that before.There is no rule...
answered about 8 months ago by alpha
Actually, it is the law. If neither of you are Vietnamese, it can be got around. Landlords that deal with this on a regular basis have an arrangement with the police that involves everyone looking the other way. I've never known an employer who was so concerned about sticking to the letter of the law, but I have known landlords who were not used to having foreign tenants and who were not too thrilled with the idea. It took a little extra cash and a visit or two to the local police station. I've heard that this is being relaxed a bit, even with Vietnamese couples. I haven't personally seen many signs of it though. My wife (Vietnamese) and I still have to take our marriage license with us when we travel domestically. If we don't have it, they make quite a fuss and threaten to not let us stay in the same room. It's nothing that can't be got around, but the issue obviously still exists.
answered about 8 months ago by caitlin
Yep, officially this is the law. Although I've been living here with my partner for seven years and have never had a problem. If you are both foreigners you'll probably be fine, the police don't seem to care as much as if one partner is Vietnamese. As Alpha said, you should be able to find a landlord who is OK.
answered about 8 months ago by pepperdex
Yes it's the law. But this is Vietnam. What is law? If you are a foreign couple there shouldn't be an issue. If you are a foreigner with a local there could be problems. There are a few ways to get around them. One, just say you're friends. Two, if you're a man with a Vietnamese G/F, you can register her as a worker for the residence. I know this sounds terrible, but it actually gets the police of your back and is 100% legal. If you're female with a Vietnamese boyfriend, you can pretend you're just friends sharing a house. Both these situations can done in a small house or flat. Personally I wouldn't want to tell the police my girlfriend's my maid. But sometimes you have to play that annoying game that is "living in Vietnam". good luck!
answered about 8 months ago by princekookie
Hello guys.. Thanks you all.. I really appreciate your answers.. and it feels good to know there is a helpful, active and funny community like "NewHanoians" waiting for me.. I understood that it will not be a problem staying together as long as we arrange everything with the landlord. But I recently contacted a real estate company in Hanoi and they seem pretty formal.. they want me to fill applications and to give papers.. I think they will as about the marriage certificate too! Well, I started thinking of another idea: living in two separate apartments but in the same building.. so this way, we are officially living separately.. but can have "long" visits to each other.. is there anything wrong with that? A nice trick, isn't it?! Thanks, Karim
answered about 7 months ago by farside
What's in a name? A friend had his maid living with him.
She had one room in the house, her room. And that was acceptable to the landlord that a business guy had a live in maid or personal assistant, or business partenr who travels with him and works in the home office. Whatever works.
answered about 7 months ago by hanoikiwi
Hi Guess it has been answered already but the main thing is to rent a house that is licenced for foreigners - ie is registered with the Tax Department. My partner rented a house but the Immigration DEpt got involved and said as it wasnt registered for foreigners I couldnt live there!!! Well some money was probably required but..... I now live in a registered house with my partner and we are not married so all is okay.
answered about 7 months ago by potato_princess
I can't stop laughing... Just relax and take it easy. Hundreds of Vnese couple live together without married but no one ask them to move or anything. You are foreigner and you don't do anything wrong so then who can say that it's illegal... It's private life, you can't be put in jail for that ^^
