Divorce Lawyer for Foreigners in Nha Trang & Khánh Hòa

If you’re a foreigner considering divorce in Nha Trang or Khánh Hòa, the short answer is yes — Vietnamese courts can hear your case whether your spouse is Vietnamese or foreign, and even if one of you already lives abroad. What trips people up isn’t the right to divorce; it’s getting the process right. Vietnam overhauled its entire court system in 2025 and merged Khánh Hòa with Ninh Thuận, so a divorce lawyer in Nha Trang who hasn’t updated their advice can point you to a court that no longer has jurisdiction, or miss a document rule that is about to change again in September 2026. This guide from Nam Sơn Law Firm walks you through exactly which court now handles a foreign-element divorce in Khánh Hòa, what paperwork you need, whether Apostille has replaced consular legalization yet, whether you must appear in Vietnam in person, and how courts decide custody and divide property — including real estate — when a foreign national is involved.

Reviewed by Lawyer Trần Hiểu, Nam Sơn Law Firm — checked against Vietnam’s 2025–2026 court and civil-law reforms.

Can a Foreigner Get Divorced in Nha Trang or Khánh Hòa?

Yes. Vietnamese courts have jurisdiction over a divorce whenever at least one spouse is Vietnamese, or when either spouse is living in Vietnam — regardless of nationality.

Vietnamese law calls this a case with a “foreign element” (yếu tố nước ngoài) — meaning at least one party is a foreign citizen, one party lives abroad, or the couple’s property is located in more than one country. Nam Sơn Law Firm’s team in Nha Trang and Khánh Hòa regularly handles three situations:

• A foreign national married to a Vietnamese citizen who now wants to divorce, whether both of you live in Vietnam or one of you has moved abroad.
• Two foreign nationals who married elsewhere but are living in Vietnam and want (or need) to divorce here.
• Someone who already has a foreign divorce judgment and needs it formally recognized in Vietnam — covered separately later in this guide.

This is more common than many people expect. Nha Trang’s foreign community has grown substantially in recent years, with residents drawn especially from South Korea, Russia, and a mix of Western countries — so a divorce lawyer in Nha Trang who works with foreign clients regularly, not occasionally, matters.

Which Court Now Handles a Foreigner’s Divorce in Khánh Hòa?

Updated for the 2025 court reform

Since 1 July 2025, first-instance jurisdiction belongs to the regional People’s Court (Tòa án nhân dân khu vực) — not the old district or provincial court — and for central Nha Trang, that is Regional People’s Court No. 1 – Khánh Hòa.

This is the single most important — and most commonly outdated — piece of information in any divorce guide written for foreigners in Vietnam right now. Under the old rules, a case involving a foreign element (including one where a spouse or assets were abroad) had to start at the provincial court, never the district court. That rule no longer applies.

What Changed After the 2025 Court Reform and the Khánh Hòa–Ninh Thuận Merger?

Two reforms moved together. First, Luật số 81/2025/QH15 and Nghị quyết 81/2025/UBTVQH15 abolished district-level courts nationwide from 1 July 2025 and replaced them with 355 regional courts under a leaner two-tier structure (provincial and regional). Second, Luật số 85/2025/QH15 — the amended Civil Procedure Code — removed the old carve-out that automatically sent foreign-element marriage and family cases to the provincial court. Those cases, including ones with a party or assets abroad, now start at the regional court just like domestic cases.

On top of that, Khánh Hòa itself changed shape: under Nghị quyết 202/2025/QH15, Ninh Thuận merged into an enlarged Khánh Hòa province from 1 July 2025, which now covers 65 commune-level units, including Trường Sa. The merged province was organized into eight regional courts. For divorces connected to central Nha Trang, the competent first-instance court is now Regional People’s Court No. 1 – Khánh Hòa, which took over the caseload of the former Nha Trang City People’s Court; the old provincial court now sits mainly as the appellate and supervisory court for the province.

What Documents Do You Need — Consular Legalization or Apostille?

At minimum you’ll need your passport, your original marriage certificate, and — if you can’t attend in person — a power of attorney; every foreign document must currently be consular-legalized and translated into Vietnamese, though that requirement is about to get simpler for many countries.

A typical foreigner’s divorce file in Nha Trang or Khánh Hòa includes:

• Valid passport, plus your visa or temporary/permanent residence card if applicable
• Original marriage certificate, legalized and translated into Vietnamese
• Vietnamese-translated, notarized copies of any other foreign civil documents you rely on
• For mutual consent cases: a written agreement on children and property, if you’ve reached one
• For contested cases: evidence supporting the grounds for your petition
• A legalized power of attorney, if you’ll be filing or attending from outside Vietnam

What Changes From 11 September 2026 Under the Apostille Convention?

What’s the Difference Between Mutual Consent and Unilateral Divorce?

Mutual consent divorce (thuận tình ly hôn) only requires both spouses to agree the marriage is over and on arrangements for children and property; unilateral divorce (đơn phương ly hôn) is filed by one spouse and requires proving the marriage has broken down seriously.

Both routes go through the same court and both require a mediation attempt first — the difference is what you need to show, and how much the process depends on your spouse’s cooperation.

Do You Have to Be Physically Present in Vietnam to Divorce?

Not necessarily. Vietnamese law treats the decision to divorce as a personal right you can’t hand to someone else, but you can ask the court to proceed in your absence and let a lawyer represent you procedurally through a power of attorney.

In practice this means a lawyer can’t decide for you to divorce, sign your consent on your behalf out of thin air, or testify as if they were you — but they absolutely can file your petition, submit evidence, attend hearings, and manage the case on your behalf, provided you’ve formally requested trial in your absence and issued a properly legalized power of attorney. This is the normal path for clients who live abroad, or who simply can’t take extended time away from work or family to be in Vietnam for the full process.

There’s also a newer option worth knowing about: from 1 March 2026, Vietnam’s courts began rolling out online filing under Nghị quyết 01/2026/NQ-HĐTP, allowing petitions, evidence, and fees to be submitted and tracked digitally in some cases. Availability is still expanding court by court, so ask us whether it applies to your specific filing.

Who Gets Custody, and How Is Child Support Decided?

Vietnamese courts decide custody based on the child’s best interests, weighing seven factors set out in binding 2024 guidance — not automatically in favor of either parent because of nationality or gender.

Under Nghị quyết 01/2024/NQ-HĐTP, a court looks at:

• Each parent’s actual ability to care for, raise, and educate the child, including protecting the child from harm
• The child’s right to stay meaningfully connected to both parents, even while living mainly with one
• How attached the child already is to each parent
• How much genuine time and attention each parent has given the child
• Keeping the child’s home and school life as stable as possible
• Whether the child wishes to stay together with siblings
• The child’s own wishes about living with their mother or father, weighed more heavily as the child gets older

Children under 36 months are presumed to stay with the mother, though a court can decide otherwise if that is clearly in the child’s interest or the mother is unable to care for the child. Child support is set based on the paying parent’s income and ability, and the child’s actual needs — either agreed between the parents or decided by the court if they can’t agree.

How Is Property — Including Real Estate — Divided?

Assets acquired during the marriage are presumed to belong to both spouses jointly, but a foreign spouse’s options for owning Vietnamese real estate directly are more limited than a Vietnamese citizen’s.

Vietnamese courts divide marital property based on equality, each spouse’s actual contribution, and protecting the party who takes on more childcare responsibility — property acquired before marriage or received individually as a gift or inheritance is generally treated as separate property, provided that can be shown clearly.

Real estate needs its own explanation. Foreign individuals cannot hold long-term land-use rights the way Vietnamese citizens can, but Vietnamese law does allow a foreign national to own housing — an apartment, or in eligible projects a house — subject to caps: no more than 30% of the units in a given apartment building, or up to 250 houses within an area equivalent to a ward, and only for a term of 50 years, renewable once. Property located abroad is divided under the law of the country where it’s located, not Vietnamese law.

How Long Does It Take, and What Does It Cost?

There’s no timeline the court guarantees, but as a general pattern, a straightforward mutual consent case can sometimes conclude in a few months, while contested cases or ones needing overseas paperwork often take a year or more.

Several factors typically stretch out a foreigner’s divorce timeline: legalizing and translating documents from abroad, locating or formally notifying a spouse who has left Vietnam, disagreement over children or property, and ordinary court caseload following the 2025 reorganization. None of these are within a law firm’s control to guarantee away — treat any promised timeline with caution.

On cost: the court fee itself is fixed by law — currently 300,000 VND for a no-value mutual consent divorce (typically split between the spouses) under Nghị quyết 326/2016/UBTVQH14, with additional value-based fees if property is contested. Legal fees are separate and depend on your case’s complexity — whether it’s contested, how much foreign paperwork is involved, and whether property or custody is disputed. Contact us for a case-specific quote rather than relying on a generic number.

Can a Divorce Already Granted Abroad Be Recognized in Vietnam?

Yes — a divorce judgment issued by a foreign court can be recognized in Vietnam through a formal court procedure, after which it must also be recorded in Vietnam’s civil status register.

This is a distinct process from getting divorced in a Vietnamese court, and it’s common for foreigners who divorced in, say, Korea, Russia, or elsewhere and later need their Vietnamese paperwork — residence documents, property records, or a future marriage registration — to reflect that they’re legally divorced. The process has two steps: petitioning a Vietnamese court to recognize the foreign judgment, then registering the outcome with the local civil status authority. Since 2025, that registration (ghi chú ly hôn) is handled at the commune-level People’s Committee under Nghị định 120/2025/NĐ-CP, rather than at the old district level.

Why Work With Nam Sơn Law Firm in Nha Trang and Khánh Hòa?

Because your case sits exactly where Vietnam’s legal map just changed, and getting the court, the paperwork rules, and the timing right the first time saves you months.

Nam Sơn Law Firm (Công ty Luật TNHH MTV Nam Sơn) has a presence in Nha Trang and Khánh Hòa alongside a wider network across Ho Chi Minh City, Hà Nội, and Quảng Ngãi — so if your case touches more than one province (a relocated spouse, or property elsewhere in Vietnam), you don’t need to switch firms partway through. Our team tracks Vietnam’s 2025–2026 court and civil-law reforms closely, communicates with foreign clients in English throughout, and is set up to handle cases remotely through power of attorney when you can’t be in Vietnam for the full process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to Move Forward With Your Case?

Divorce law for foreigners in Vietnam changed more in the past year than in the previous decade — the right court, the right documents, and the right process all shifted at once. The safest move is to get advice that already reflects those changes, rather than finding out the hard way that a filing needs to be redone.

Nam Sơn Law Firm can review your situation, confirm the correct regional court, and explain what to prepare — including if you’re currently outside Vietnam.

This article provides general legal information for foreign nationals in Vietnam and is not legal advice for any specific case. Vietnamese law changes frequently; the information above reflects the rules in force as of August 2026, including reforms not yet in effect, such as the Apostille Convention (effective 11 September 2026). For advice on your own situation, please contact Nam Sơn Law Firm directly.