2019 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 1(1) consequence, the mothers and families of children of returned marriage migrants are forced to resort to creative uses of the existing legal framework. Another gap in the laws in the lack of provision for dual nationality for such children. These are of course all matters to be debated and decided at the national level. Additionally, our research suggested a lack of consistent application of the existing legal framework at the local or provincial level. We note that the ‘ad hoc’ or case-by-case solutions devised at the local level point to deep disparities between law and practice. However, in order to tackle this problem, there is a need for reliable data on the situation of the children of returned marriage migrants. Our findings support the need for further investigation into the underexplored consequence of marriage migration in this region and throughout Vietnam, and the circumstances under which children return and live in Vietnam. We note the ‘newness’ of this problem and the need to accommodate the long term needs of these children as they reach adulthood. Critically, while we focus here on the uncertain legal status of these children in Vietnam, there is also a great need to understand the broader social consequences of this phenomenon — including, for example, the impact of longterm separation from their fathers, who are located outside Vietnam and with whom they may have no contact. In sum, the many impacts of marriage migration on the children of returned marriage migrants are yet to be fully identified — and this information is essential to form appropriate policy responses. Further there needs to be more awareness raising and education about this issue. We found that many families were unaware of the possible consequences of their actions in falsely identifying children as Vietnamese nationals, or about the consequences of not registering a child under the ho khau system. Finally, this problem also points to issues surrounding divorce and custody proceedings in the destination state. These are beyond the scope of this paper, but they are the primary source of the problem and point to the need for bilateral and regional approaches to tackle the problem. 94