National Archive Centre II
In April this year (2025), I visited HCMC Vietnam with the help of my adoptive country government, Australia. They were assisting me with attempting to trace down any documentation that was created in order to facilitate my departure from Vietnam as a 5 month old infant. I was flown out of Vietnam in Dec 1973.
Up until this trip to Vietnam in April, I had not know there were a number of archives in Vietnam that were still accessible, which continue to hold information that was sent between government departments in those years, in order to facilitate our adoptions.
My Australian consulate based in Vietnam met with me and had pre-arranged for me to gain access to and visit the National Archive Centre II.
The address for this is 17a Le Duan Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, HCMC.
You have to be signed in at the entrance gate in order to enter the building at the Level 4, where registration also occurs.
What I uncovered were documents sent between the Ministry of Justice and the President, seeking approval for various children (us) to leave Vietnam because our adoptive parents did NOT meet the adoption legislation criteria at the time.
The adoption laws at the time (1973) required special permission to be given by the President of Vietnam if any of these 5 conditions existed:
1. adoptive parent had to be over 35 years of age
2. adoptive parents had to be married for at least 10 years
3. adoptive parents were not supposed to have any prior children
4. adoptive parents wanted to apply to adopt more than 1 children
5. birth parents of the adoptee, still known and alive
Unfortunately despite going thru many photos (yes, their archives are all photos of our documents which makes them difficult to search and you have to read every single one, they’re in Vietnamese), I did not find any about myself.
So if you are adopted out of Vietnam prior to 1975 and your adoptive parents failed to meet any of these criteria at the time, it is possible documents pertaining to you are in this archive.
I did take over 300 photos of documents I came across and you are welcome to write to me with your details (your adoptive father full name and nationality, your Vietnamese birth name and dob, institution where you were looked after). I only took photos of the files that listed a birth parent name and only for documents processed between beginning of 1973 and mid 1974. For most documents, it’s really clear it appears to be your birth parent listed. I didn’t take photos for documents that listed “unknown mother or father”.
The photos I’ve got are for adoptees sent to Australia, Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, and the USA.
Contact me if you want me to check if I have any photo relating to your adoption. I can search through the photos I have and send you what I have. You would only bother to do this if you do not already have a birth mother name in your existing documentation from Vietnam, and approval for you to leave Vietnam was completed prior to 1975, but your age could vary. I did see some documents with adoptees whose birth year was 1958 right up to 1974 in this dataset.
Since returning, I sought information to share with the wider community on how you can access these archives as I believe this information could be of immense value to some adoptees like me who have NOTHING!
Here is what has been provided, dated July 2025, huge thanks to the Australian Dept of Home Affairs!!
Record holdings of Vietnam’s National Archives
There are four National Archive Centres in different locations across Vietnam. The National Archives Centre II contains records from the era of the Republic of Vietnam from 1955-1975. If people are seeking records after this period, they may need to contact Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice or the local People’s Committees.
For further information on what records the National Archives Centre II may contain, there is a dedicated website with an enquiry/contact us page at Trung tâm lưu trữ quốc gia II – Không gian triển lãm trực tuyến (https://www.nac2.gov.vn/about.html).
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s website for Ministry of Justice is at Ministry of Justice and this includes contact details.
Who can access the National Archives and what is the process
Under Vietnam’s Law on Archives, the public is eligible to have access to documents and information held at their National Archives Centres. Both Vietnamese and foreign citizens can request access to a National Archive Centre. For foreign citizens, they will need to present their passports to register for the Reader Cards to access the Reading Room. If the person is working for an organisation or institute (such as a scholar/historian), they should present an introduction letter.
I hope this information is of some help to my fellow adoptees. I know how meaningful it is to find anything, a fragment of information about our origins after more than 50 years!
Resources
ICAVs previous meeting with the Ministry of Justice
ICAVs prior info on Searching
Information provided 23/1/24 from Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice to Lynelle Long, which she shared on social media at the time
Category 1: cases processed before 1992
We currently do not have a database of adoptions for this period, so it is impossible to provide information about the adoptees’ family of origin.
Category 2: cases processed after 1992
To strike the balance between the right to privacy and the right to identity, and to ensure that information on the origin of adoptees can be provided in a convenient, reliable, and confidential manner, the Department of Adoption of Vietnam requests the Central Authorities in the countries which the adoptions were processed to be the focal point and co-operate with the Department of Adoption of Vietnam in exchanging and providing information on Vietnamese adoptees’ origin at the request of the adoptees or their adoptive parents.
The Central Authorities of adoptive countries will collect and send to the Department of Adoption of Vietnam documents and files, that provide basic information about the adoption, such as a copy of the decision/agreement on the intercountry adoption, a copy of the child entrustment minutes, a copy of the birth certificate, and other supporting papers in the dossier of the adopted child, if any.
Adoptees are advised to send their request to the Central Authority on Adoption in their adoptive country where the adoption was processed. The Central Authority in adopting country, after verifying the case, will send the request to the Department of Adoption of Vietnam with the documents attached.
Upon receiving requests from adoptive parents, adoptees, or the Central authorities of the receiving countries with the verification from the Central Authorities, the Dept of Adoption provides information about the origins when having sufficient information. When not having such information, Dept of Adoption requests the province-level Departments of Justice where the adoptions were registered to verify and provide information on adoptees’ origins before responding to the requesters.
The Department of Justice will inform the requesters when receiving responses from the provinces whether the families of origin can be found or not.
You will be kept updated on the information related to the search of origins from the Department of Adoption.
Regards,
Nguyen Minh Phuong.
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Nguyen Minh Phuong (Ms.)
Legal Official
Department of Adoption
Ministry of Justice
Community Recommended Searching Organisations & Individuals
If you would like a list of recommended search orgs in Vietnam, ICAV maintains a list of organisations, private individuals, and media outlets recommended by ICAV members around the world. This includes DNA testing. You can contact me here.
Searching Resources
ICAVs collection of searching resources specific in intercountry adoption from ICAV and our members around the world. This can help better prepare you emotionally and logistically for what you are undertaking, including Reunion and Beyond.