As many as 500 overseas Vietnamese who are living, working and doing business in Ho Chi Minh City were updated on changes in the Citizenship and Housing Laws at talks held in the city on Jan. 31.

Representatives from the Construction Ministry, the Justice Ministry, and the HCM City Natural Resources and Environment Department were present at the event to help overseas Vietnamese gain a thorough understanding of new revisions to these laws.

As many participating overseas Vietnamese shared that they met with various difficulties when going through each stage of legal paperwork,
Dr. Nguyen Thai Phuc, Chief of the Justice Ministry’s HCM City Representative Office, admitted that the enforcement of these laws has been varied among localities due to differences in understanding and application among local law enforcement agencies.

He said his ministry and other relevant agencies are responsible for training local law enforcement officials to enable them to fully comprehend these laws and enforce them legally. He also pledged to punish those officials who have deliberately made troubles for overseas Vietnamese.

A number of lawyers who were invited to provide direct consultancy at the talks brought up the reality that many of their overseas Vietnamese clients have not had access to sufficient information and have encountered difficulties because of different applications of the laws.

They, however, affirmed that “it is easy to apply current policies and legal procedures as they are understandable and simple.”

The talks, organised by the Association for Liaison with Overseas Vietnamese – HCM City (ALOV), was coupled with a Tet get-together.

The HCM City Committee for Overseas Vietnamese estimated that a record number of 500,000 overseas Vietnamese will return home for this year’s traditional Tet festival via the city’s Tan Son Nhat airport./.