HCMC – Germany has officially recognized the new Vietnamese passport that contains the birthplace field on the personal identification page, meaning the holder of this passport can now apply for Schengen visa.

The German Embassy in Vietnam announced the above information on February 16, saying that Germany will issue Type C visa for the holder of the revised passport and this type of visa will allow for a maximum stay of 90 days in the Schengen Area, the local media reported.

Germany also recognizes all Vietnamese passports that were issued from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 even though the Place of Birth (POB) field was added on the Observations page. These passports contain no POB field on the personal identification page as seen in the old version of passport.

The old passports that are still valid are also recognized by Germany when they are used to apply for Schengen visa.

Germany was one of the countries to temporarily suspend issuing visas to Vietnamese citizens holding the passports that lack the POB field.

After several meetings between Vietnamese and German authorities in August 2022, this country temporarily recognized the passport, but still suspended issuing Type C visa.

Vietnam’s National Assembly later approved the addition of the POB field on the personal identification page of the passport.

Therefore, the passports issued since January 1, 2023 have the POB field on the personal identification page and the full name of the passport holder is split into two lines as per international practices, with the first line for surname and the second for given name.

The Ministry of Public Security plans to issue for Vietnamese people from March 1 this year. Those with an ordinary passport without an electronic chip can continue using it until expiration.