Latest Apostille Certification Procedure in Vietnam: Regulations & Application Dossier

I. Definition of Apostille Certification

•  "Apostille Certification" means a certificate issued by a competent authority of Vietnam or of a Contracting State to the Convention to certify the origin of a public document, including the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted, the authority of the signatory, and, where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp which it bears.

• "Public Document" means a document or record established in paper format or electronic data by a competent authority, organization, or individual under the law of the state where the document is produced, in the performance of official functions, duties, and powers under the law of that state, including: documents executed by an authority or individual subject to the jurisdiction of a court or judicial organ; administrative documents; notarial acts; official certificates placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity.

• "Competent Authority for Issuing Apostille Certification" means an authority designated by a Contracting State to the Convention pursuant to the provisions of the Convention to issue Apostilles; within this Decree, this includes competent authorities of Vietnam and of Contracting States to the Convention that have an operational relationship with Vietnam.
• "Electronic Apostille (e-Apostille)" means an Apostille certificate issued in the form of electronic data, signed with a valid digital signature pursuant to the law on electronic transactions, and fulfilling specified technical requirements.

II. Contents of an Apostille Certification

• An Apostille certification certifies the origin of a public document, including the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the signatory acted, the authority of the signatory, and, where applicable, the identity of the seal or stamp affixed to the public document.

• An Apostille certification does not certify the content or the form of the public document.

III. Requirements for Apostille Certification and Order of Priority

• Vietnamese public documents shall be issued an Apostille certification upon request by agencies, organizations, or individuals for use in a Contracting State to the Convention that has an operational relationship with Vietnam. The issuance of an Apostille is not mandatory if such public document is exempt from or does not require certification or authentication under an international treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member, or under the law and practice applied in the state where the document is to be used. The issuance of an Apostille does not substitute for notarization or authentication required by law when the public document is used within Vietnam.

• To be used in Vietnam, public documents from a Contracting State to the Convention that has an operational relationship with Vietnam must be issued an Apostille certification, except for documents rejected under Article 26 of this Decree or where an international treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member, or Vietnamese laws and practices, provide for an exemption or do not require consular legalization or other certification procedures for that class of documents.

• Vietnamese public documents for use abroad and foreign public documents for use in Vietnam shall be certified through the following forms: a) Apostille certification under the provisions of this Decree, applicable to public documents circulating between Vietnam and a Contracting State to the Convention having an operational relationship with Vietnam; b) Consular certification and consular legalization under the law on consular certification and consular legalization, applicable to public documents circulating in relations with a state that is not a Contracting State to the Convention; c) Where an international treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a member provides for simpler procedures or exempts public documents from certification or authentication requirements compared to the forms specified in Point a or Point b of this Clause, the provisions of that international treaty shall prevail.

  Public documents that have undergone consular certification or consular legalization may still be issued an Apostille certification for use in a Contracting State to the Convention having an operational relationship with Vietnam, and vice versa.

IV. Competent Authorities for Issuing Apostille Certification in Vietnam

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the competent authority to issue Apostille certifications in Vietnam. The Minister of Foreign Affairs shall specifically designate the agencies executing the issuance of Apostille certifications (hereinafter referred to as the "Apostille Issuing Authorities").

• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall notify the depository authority of the Convention regarding the Apostille Issuing Authorities and any relevant changes through diplomatic channels.

• The Minister of Foreign Affairs shall regulate the criteria, conditions, and roadmap for decentralizing the authority to issue Apostille certifications to Provincial People's Committees, as well as the responsibilities of decentralized Provincial People's Committees in accordance with the law on the organization of the Government and local administration.

V. Eligible Applicants for Apostille Certification

• Agencies, organizations, and individuals may apply for an Apostille certification for their own documents or for documents belonging to others without requiring a power of attorney.

• An applicant requesting an Apostille certification for documents belonging to another person shall be held legally responsible for the lawfulness of the submission and use of such documents, and must comply with legal provisions regarding personal data protection and other relevant laws.

VI. Languages and Location for Apostille Issuance

• The languages used for issuing an Apostille certification are Vietnamese and English; the title “Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)” must be displayed in French in accordance with Article 4 of the Apostille Convention.

• The issuance of Apostille certifications shall be conducted at the headquarters of the Apostille Issuing Authority.

VII. Fees for Apostille Certification

• Applicants for an Apostille certification must pay consular certification and consular legalization fees at the time of dossier submission in accordance with the law on fees and charges.

• In cases where dossiers are submitted and results are returned via postal services, the applicant must pay the postal charges.

• In cases where dossiers are submitted online, fee payments shall be made in accordance with the law on handling administrative procedures in an electronic environment.

• If a dossier has been returned due to the expiration of the verification time limit and the applicant resubmits the dossier pursuant to Point c, Clause 5, Article 15 of this Decree, the resubmitted dossier shall continue to be processed on the basis of the previously submitted dossier and paid fees.

VIII. Vietnamese Public Documents Eligible for Apostille Certification

Vietnamese public documents eligible for Apostille certification include:

• Documents established, issued, or certified by competent agencies or persons in legal proceedings or judgment execution under the law across different historical periods, including: judgments, decisions, and procedural documents of People's Courts, People's Procuracies, and Investigative Agencies; decisions, minutes, and documents of civil judgment execution management agencies, civil judgment execution agencies, and criminal judgment execution agencies; bailiff records (vi bằng) and other documents drawn up by Bailiffs or Execution Officers during the performance of their duties.

• Administrative documents established, issued, or certified by competent agencies, organizations, or individuals pursuant to the law, including: civil status records, nationality documents, adoption papers; judicial record certificates (police checks); diplomas, certificates, transcript/study result confirmations; health examination certificates, medical certificates, medical assessment conclusions, and other medical documents; other administrative documents issued or certified by state agencies or organizations authorized/delegated by the State to perform public services in accordance with the law.

• Notarized documents pursuant to the law on notarization across different historical periods, including notarized contracts, transactions, translations, and certified copies.

• Authenticated documents performed by competent agencies, organizations, or individuals pursuant to the law on authentication, including: certified true copies from originals; authentication of signatures, authentication of translators' signatures; authentication of contracts and transactions.

• Other public documents established, issued, or certified by competent Vietnamese agencies, organizations, or persons in the performance of their functions and duties under the law, except for cases specified in Clause 1, Article 11 of this Decree.

IX. Documents Ineligible or Excluded from Apostille Certification

1. The following documents fall outside the scope of Apostille certification:

a) Documents executed or issued by diplomatic or consular officers of Vietnam during the performance of diplomatic or consular functions under Vietnamese law and international law;

b) Administrative documents directly related to commercial or customs operations, except for documents that, prior to the date the Apostille Convention took effect for the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, were subject to consular certification under the law on consular certification and legalization. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall specifically identify documents under this Point in the list specified in Clause 7, Article 30 of this Decree;

c) Documents not established, issued, or certified by competent agencies, organizations, or persons in the execution of their official functions, duties, and powers under the law, and which have not been notarized or authenticated;

d) Public documents established, issued, or certified by foreign competent agencies, organizations, or persons.

2. The following documents are ineligible for Apostille certification:

a) Documents that have been erased, altered, or had their content unlawfully modified;

b) Documents with grounds determining that they are forged;

c) Documents where verification results under Article 15 of this Decree confirm that the competent authority did not issue the document, or that the seal, signature, title, or authority on the document is unauthentic, unauthorized, not an original seal/signature, or does not match registered specimens;

d) Public documents that have been declared null and void, revoked, canceled, or determined to have been unlawfully issued pursuant to a legally effective decision, judgment, or document of a competent state agency;

đ) Public documents prohibited from being taken out of Vietnam under Vietnamese law;

e) Vietnamese public documents in electronic data format that lack a valid digital signature of the competent agency, organization, or person, or where the digital signature fails to meet the technical format requirements prescribed by the law on electronic transactions.

X. Dossiers and Submission Methods for Apostille Certification Application

Applications for Apostille certification shall be compiled into one (01) set of dossier. Dossier components based on the submission method are structured as follows:

• In-person submission at the Single-Window Section or via postal services: a) Application declaration for Apostille certification according to the form issued by the Minister of Foreign Affairs; b) Original public documents requested for Apostille certification; where public documents are certified true copies or certified translations in accordance with the law on notarization and authentication, such certified copies or translations shall be submitted. Public documents must remain intact, without being detached, erased, or altered in content.

• Fully online submission on the National Public Service Portal or National Digital Identification Application (VNeID): a) Electronic declaration via interactive form; b) Electronic version of public documents bearing a valid digital signature of the competent agency, organization, or person pursuant to the law on electronic transactions.

XI. Processing Timelines

• The timeline for issuing an Apostille certification is calculated from the date of receiving a complete and valid dossier and is determined by the number of public documents requested in a dossier set and the submission method. For paper-based dossiers submitted under Clause 1, Article 12 of this Decree, the processing timelines are: a) 01 working day for dossiers containing from 01 to 04 public documents; b) 02 working days for dossiers containing from 05 to 09 public documents; c) 04 working days for dossiers containing 10 or more public documents.

• For electronic Apostille certification dossiers submitted fully online under Clause 2, Article 12 of this Decree, the processing timelines are: a) Within the same working day for dossiers containing 01 to 04 public documents received prior to the cutoff time specified by law on handling administrative procedures in an electronic environment; if received after that cutoff time, it shall be calculated into the next working day; b) 01 working day for dossiers containing 05 to 09 public documents; c) 03 working days for dossiers containing 10 or more public documents.

  The starting time for calculating the processing timeline under this Clause shall be determined in accordance with the law on handling administrative procedures in an electronic environment.

• The timelines specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article do not include verification time specified under Article 15 of this Decree.

• If a dossier cannot be processed within the timelines specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article due to objective reasons, technical system failures, or force majeure events under the law—and does not fall under verification cases under Article 15 of this Decree—the Apostille Issuing Authority must notify the applicant in writing prior to the expiration date, clearly stating the reasons and the new resolution deadline in accordance with the law on single-window administrative mechanisms. Extension of processing time shall only be granted once.

XII. Principles of Exemption from Consular Legalization and Use of Apostilled Public Documents

• In this Chapter, a Contracting State to the Convention is understood as a Contracting State that has an operational relationship with Vietnam, unless provided otherwise.

• Public documents of a Contracting State to the Convention having an operational relationship with Vietnam that have been issued an Apostille certification by a competent authority of that Contracting State—and do not fall under cases specified in Article 26 of this Decree—shall be exempt from consular legalization and may be used in Vietnam without performing any further certification procedures required by relevant laws.

• Agencies and organizations in Vietnam shall not demand additional consular certification or consular legalization procedures for public documents that have been validly issued an Apostille certification.

• An electronic Apostille issued by a competent authority of a Contracting State to the Convention holds equivalent legal validity to a paper Apostille and shall not be denied legal effect solely because it is presented in electronic data format. The authenticity of an electronic Apostille shall be verified through the Electronic Register of the issuing Contracting State as provided in Article 27 of this Decree or through mechanisms established by the Apostille Convention.

XIII. Application of Laws on Apostille Certification, Consular Certification, and Consular Legalization

• From the effective date of this Decree, the certification of public documents for use in a Contracting State to the Convention having an operational relationship with Vietnam shall be performed under the provisions of this Decree.

• Consular certification and consular legalization shall continue to be executed under the law on consular certification and consular legalization for the following cases: a) Vietnamese public documents for use in a country that is not a Contracting State to the Convention; b) Documents and materials not falling within the scope of public documents specified in Clause 3, Article 3 and Article 10 of this Decree, or not falling within the scope of Apostille issuance under Clause 1, Article 11 of this Decree.