According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 8 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family, a man who is fully 20 years old or older and a woman who is fully 18 years or older are allowed to get married.

According to Clause 1, Article 2 of Joint Circular 01/2016/TTLT-TANDTC-VKSNDTC-BTP: “Men aged fully 20 years or older and women aged fully 18 years or older as defined in Point a, Clause 1, Article 8 of the Law on Marriage and Family is when a man is fully twenty years old or older and a woman is fully eighteen years old or older and is determined by the day, month and year of birth.”

This regulation is a new provision of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family and is consistent with the 2015 Civil Code. In the 2000 Law on Marriage and Family, the age conditions for marriage were “from 18 years old” and “from 20 years old”, that is, right after the 17th birthday, they were old enough to get married.

Under civil law, except for special cases, individuals who are fully eighteen years of age or older have full civil capacity to act, that is, they have the capability to establish and exercise civil rights and perform civil obligations through their actions. Therefore, the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family raises the age for women to get married to “fully 18 years old” to be consistent with the Vietnamese legal system, and standardizes the process of applying and handling the law.