Lan (name changed), a US citizen, asked DEDICA:
"I moved to the United States more than 20 years ago and renounced my Vietnamese citizenship when I naturalized. My mother recently passed away in Dong Nai, leaving a house on land with a title certificate (sổ hồng) but no will. Relatives say that because I am no longer Vietnamese, I cannot be named on the land title and have effectively lost my share. I live in the US and can only return once a year. Do I still have the right to inherit that land, and if so, how do I receive it?"
DEDICA ADVISES You retain your full inheritance rights. Holding US citizenship and having renounced your Vietnamese citizenship does not extinguish your right to inherit from your mother. Vietnamese law determines heirs by bloodline, not by nationality. The only real distinction lies in the FORM in which you receive the estate: for a person of Vietnamese origin residing abroad, the 2024 Land Law allows you to be named on residential land use rights if you are eligible to enter Vietnam; if not, you still receive your share in value. Below are the legal basis and the concrete steps.
Foreign nationality does not extinguish the right to inherit
The most common fear among overseas Vietnamese (Việt kiều), that "once you give up citizenship you lose your share in Vietnam," is in fact a misconception. The right to inherit in Vietnam attaches to your status as an heir, that is, your marital, caregiving, or blood relationship with the deceased, and does not depend on which country's passport you hold.
Your mother passed away without a will, so the estate is divided according to law. As a biological child, you naturally belong to the first rank of heirs and receive an equal share alongside the other heirs of the same rank, such as your siblings or your father if he is still living.
In other words, the right question is not "can you inherit" (the answer is yes), but "in what form will you receive that land." This is precisely where the 2024 Land Law has changed in favor of overseas Vietnamese.
Named on the title or receiving the value: what the 2024 Land Law opened up
Because you have renounced your Vietnamese citizenship, you are legally a person of Vietnamese origin residing abroad, as distinct from overseas Vietnamese who retain their Vietnamese citizenship (treated as domestic individuals). A notable development: the 2024 Land Law (effective 1 August 2024) for the first time expressly lists "persons of Vietnamese origin residing abroad" among land users (Clause 6, Article 4), rather than leaving the matter unsettled as the former law did.
On that basis, the law sets out two paths for inheriting land, depending on whether you fall within the category "permitted to enter Vietnam":
The Clause 1, Article 44 referred to covers persons of Vietnamese origin residing abroad who are permitted to enter Vietnam. In practice, most overseas Vietnamese of Vietnamese origin fall within this category: a valid foreign passport bearing a lawful entry stamp (or a visa-exemption certificate) is enough to qualify. Specifically, for you:
- If you are permitted to enter Vietnam: you receive the residential land use rights themselves and may be named on the title certificate (sổ hồng), instead of having to rely on a domestic person to hold the title on your behalf as was often necessary in the past.
- If you do not fall within that category: you still do not lose your share, but you receive it in value (that is, converted to money) rather than being named on the land.
Procedurally, the key is the documentation proving the mother-child relationship: documents issued by US authorities must be consular-legalized and translated with notarization before they can be used in Vietnam. The heirs then jointly execute an estate declaration or an agreement on the division of the estate at a notarial office. If you cannot return to Vietnam, you may authorize a lawyer to act on your behalf.
Conclusion
In sum, even though you now hold US citizenship and have renounced your Vietnamese citizenship, you remain a lawful heir of your mother and receive an equal share alongside the other heirs. Under the 2024 Land Law, if you are eligible to enter Vietnam you may be named on the residential land use rights; if not, you receive your inheritance in value. What to do: (1) collect and consular-legalize the documents proving the mother-child relationship; (2) prepare a passport bearing an entry stamp; (3) carry out the estate declaration or agreement on division at a notarial office; (4) authorize a lawyer if you cannot return to Vietnam. Most important is to act early, to avoid being omitted or having the land transferred away.
If the heirs are not cooperating, your documents issued in the US have not yet been consular-legalized, or you suspect the estate is being declared without you, DEDICA can review the file, act under a power of attorney before the notarial office and the other heirs, sue for a re-division where you have been omitted, and advise on lawfully transferring the value of your inherited share to the US. You do not need to be present in Vietnam. Contact DEDICA for advice tailored to your specific situation.
The content above is for reference only; every inheritance matter has its own particulars (the number of heirs, the type of land, the state of the documents, and so on), so please consult a DEDICA lawyer for precise advice on your specific case.
