The French embassy in Vietnam has announced that it will recognize the new Vietnamese passports and issue Schengen visas to holders of these passports as normal, despite a push by the German authorities not to recognize them.
A statement published by the French Embassy on its official website on June 28 notes that for the time being and until further notice, the French authorities will continue to recognize the new Vietnamese passport and issue visas normally. SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“The German authorities recently announced that they do not currently recognize the new passport model issued by the Vietnamese authorities since July 1, 2022, as certain identity information such as the province of birth no longer appears there. The German authorities therefore do not issue visas (C-, D-) on these new passports“, the statement said.
However, the Embassy has warned Vietnamese citizens who obtain a French visa with their new passport at the French Embassy in Hanoi and the French Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City that they cannot enter Germany with the same visa.
“Visa applicants with a new Vietnamese passport must therefore adjust their stay in order to exclude a stay or transit in Germany. Holders of already issued passports are not affected‘ the embassy explains in its statement.
In this week, SchengenVisaInfo.com has reported that Germany does not recognize the new blue Vietnamese passports due to the lack of place of birth information in these passports and consequently does not issue visas to holders of such passports.
The decision was made by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and is valid until a reversal decision.
“If your visa has already been issued, we strongly advise against entering Germany. There is a risk that you will be rejected at the border. We will contact you individually“, explains an FAQ published on the website of the German Embassy in Vietnam.
Vietnamese authorities started issuing the new passport on July 1, 2022, and an official at the Department of Public Security’s Immigration Service has told Tuoi Tre newspaper that Vietnam’s new passport is in line with regulations and international practices.
According to this, the Vietnamese authorities are working with the German missions abroad to have them recognize the new passports after they have received a notification that the new passport model does not contain any information on the place of birth, which makes it difficult to identify the passport holder. especially if several holders have the same surname.
