Viet Kieu

The Vietnamese diaspora; Vietnamese living overseas.

In November 2008, Agence France-Presse reported that Vietnam had amended its citizenship laws so that “many post-war refugees and other overseas Vietnamese who have become citizens of second countries can officially reclaim their lapsed Vietnamese nationality without losing their new citizenship.”

This change reflects the trend of Viet kieu returning to their homeland to participate in Vietnam’s revivified economy. According to The Los Angeles Times:

The number of overseas Vietnamese visiting for business or tourism have shot up – about 270,000 last year, according to the Vietnamese government, triple the number that visited in 1990. Government officials say many of [these] … are deciding to stay. … Once viewed with suspicion by the Vietnamese government, overseas Vietnamese are now being wooed back with relaxed business laws and promises of less red tape.

For further information on the Viet Kieu, see Christine Buckley’s 2006 article in NHA magazine.