Registering permanent residence in Pleiku

Moving house, joining a spouse or children, or buying a first flat all lead to the same task, and first-timers often wonder whether to go to the ward office or the police. In Pleiku it is the police office of the ward or commune where your new home is. Below: where to file, whether you qualify, what to bring, what it costs and how to do it on your phone. It is written for Vietnamese citizens; foreigners are not covered. The steps, time limits and fees follow the national police guide issued in 2026, after the 2020 Law on Residence was amended with effect from 1 July 2026.

Where to file and how long it takes

The procedure is handled by the commune-level police. So in Pleiku you go to the police office of the ward or commune your new home belongs to, not to the People’s Committee. To find out which ward that is now, see Pleiku wards after the merger. Things that belong at the public administration counter are in Pleiku Public Administration Service Centre.

Files are accepted during office hours Monday to Friday and on Saturday mornings, except public holidays and Tet; phone the ward police first to check their hours. When your file is complete, the officer gives you a receipt and appointment slip, form CT04. Keep it until you get the result, because each file also gets a code you can use to track progress. The office then has seven working days to check the file and update your address; if the commune People’s Committee has to confirm a supporting paper, that waiting time does not count. If the office refuses, it must reply in writing and give the reason.

Do you qualify

First, your details must already be in the national population database and the residence database. The housing rules below come from the 2020 Law on Residence, as amended.

If you own a lawful home, you can register there. If you rent, borrow or stay with someone, you need the owner’s agreement, and the household head’s agreement if you join their household. The law also covers a wife moving in with her husband, a husband with his wife, a child with a parent and a parent with a child. Before you buy or rent, know that you cannot register a new permanent address in the kinds of housing listed in Article 23. Each province sets the minimum floor area for rented, borrowed or shared housing, so ask the ward police what Gia Lai requires before you sign a lease. And if you move to another lawful home, register your new permanent address within 12 months of the date you qualify.

What papers to bring

You hand in one set. We recommend having everything ready before you go, although for an incomplete file the office will tell you what to add.

• Declaration form CT01 for changing residence details.
• If you own the home: proof of lawful ownership. You need not show it if the data is already in a connected specialist database or in the national land database.
• If you rent, borrow or stay with someone: a notarised or certified lease, loan or hosting document.
• If the home has several owners and is the home of the person registering: you do not need the co-owners’ consent.
• Newborn registering for the first time: no birth certificate is required.

The residence office may not ask you again for papers already in a database or on VNeID, so open VNeID before you go and carry only what is not there.

Fee: 20,000 VND in person, 10,000 VND online

Residence fees follow one nationwide rate since 5 February 2023, so these amounts are the same in Pleiku as anywhere.

Online is the cheaper route. Some groups pay nothing: children, older people, people with disabilities, people with revolutionary service and their relatives, ethnic minority residents of especially poor communes, poor households, and orphans aged 16 to under 18. That list is the 2022 version and has since been amended, so if you belong to one of these groups, ask the ward police before you file, and bring proof unless the data is already in the database.

Filing online through VNeID

You can file online through the national public service portal, the Ministry of Public Security portal or the VNeID app, and the deadline is the same. On VNeID, the steps from the Gia Lai police are:

1. Have an activated level 2 electronic identity account.
2. On the home screen choose “Thủ tục hành chính” (administrative procedures), then “Dịch vụ cư trú” (residence services).
3. Choose “Đăng ký thường trú” (register permanent residence) and verify with your passcode or biometrics.
4. Photograph or upload PDF copies of the papers proving your lawful home.
5. Follow progress, updated live in the app.

One warning: the police do not phone you and ask you to add them on Zalo. If someone claiming to be police does, stop and do the procedure yourself in VNeID.

Young children and children under 6

Register a newborn within 60 days of the birth registration, so make it the next job once you have the birth certificate. There is a special rule for small children: a child under six can register at a lawful home they do not own when they move in with a parent or guardian, without the agreement of the household head or the owner. The child’s declaration form does not need their consent either. If you rent and have a child under six, remember this, because normally you must ask your landlord.

If your landlord hesitates, you can show them this rule and its article number.

When you need temporary residence instead of permanent residence

If you live at a lawful address outside the commune or ward where you are registered for permanent residence, for 30 days or more, whether for work, study or another reason, you must register for temporary residence. Temporary residence lasts at most two years and can be renewed repeatedly; you renew within the 15 days before it expires.

The file also goes to the commune-level police, with a deadline of three working days from a complete, valid file. The fee, in force nationwide since 5 February 2023, is 15,000 VND in person or 7,000 VND online, each time. For rented, borrowed or hosted homes, the lease does not have to be notarised or certified. Compared with permanent residence, temporary residence is quicker and cheaper.

All other procedures are in the Procedures section.