Illustrative image. (Photo: thanhnien.vn)The move came after the Czech Embassy in Hanoi sent anofficial note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Consular Department the sameday, rejecting to recognise Vietnam’s new passports.
“Vietnam’s new passports, which were issued from July 1,2022, do not meet technical standards of the International Civil AviationOrganisation (ICAO),” the Czech Embassy announced in a statement on itsofficial website.
“Therefore, the Czech Republic agrees with other EuropeanUnion (EU) member countries to halt the recognition of its validity,” it saidbut did not specify the standards as prescribed by the ICAO that Vietnam’s newpassports have not met.
In an announcement released later the same day, theVietnamese Embassy in Czech said it began to issue passports in new designwhich has navy-blue covers from July 1, 2022, in replacement of the old green-covered ones.
The embassy is actively coordinating with Vietnameseauthorities in working with the Czech side to address the issue, it noted, adding that itwill add an annotation on the place of birth on Page 4 of the new passports tofacilitate the Vietnamese holders to apply for visa extension or other publicadministrative services in Czech.
Holders of passports issued before August 2 can visit theembassy for annotations to be added, it said.
The Czech Republic is among the three European countries having denied therecognition of Vietnam’s new passports. The others are Germany and Spain.
In separate announcements, both Embassies of Germany andSpain in Vietnam said the reason for the non-recognition of the new navyblue-coloured passports is that they do not have a place of birth(province/city) listed.
This can make it difficult for the German side to identifythe specific locality where Vietnamese citizens were born, especially in thecase of minors where ID number has not been granted, the Embassy of Germanysaid on July 27.
It noted the Vietnamese holders of the new passports whohave already received visas to Germany should refrain from travelling sincethey will be denied entry at the border.
The Embassy of Spain in Vietnam described the place of birthof passport holders as an important information for personal identification,which is also required for processing Schengen visa applications./.
VNA
