For papers and documents of foreigners to be recognized and lawfully used in Vietnam, they must be certified, approved, or, in other words, be legalized by a competent authority in Vietnam. However, not all documents are required to be consular legalized. Specifically, such countries and documents which are exempted from consular legalization, consular certification will be updated in this article!
Table of Contents
Documents and papers exempted from consular legalization
In Article 9 of the Decree No. 111/2011/ND-CP dated December 5, 2011, papers and documents exempted from consular certification and legalization include:
+ Papers and documents which are exempted from consular certification and legalization under international treaties to which Vietnam and related foreign countries are members, or on the principle of reciprocity.
+ Papers and documents which are transferred directly or through diplomatic channels between Vietnamese competent agencies and foreign competent agencies.
+ Papers and documents which are exempted from consular certification and legalization in accordance with Vietnamese law.
+ Papers and documents which are not required for consular legalization or certification by the receiving agency of Vietnam or abroad in accordance with relevant Vietnamese or foreign laws.
List of countries exempted from consular legalization
(Updated October 2019)
Abbreviations:
MLAT: Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty; CAu: Central Authority
CAg: Consular Agreement; ECO: Economic and Cultural Office
MLA: Mutual Legal Assistance; CL: Consular Legalization
RM: Representative Missions; CC: Consular Certification
Country name | Type of document | Granting agency | Basis for CL/CC exemption | Application Instructions |
Republic of Afghanistan | Documents under the authority of consular officers | Representative missions of one country in the other one | Article 36 Consular Agreement with Afghanistan 1987 | Exempted from CL/CC |
People's Democratic Republic of Algeria | 2.1. Papers and documents used for the purpose of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters | Competent authorities of the two Parties | Article 10 of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty dated April 14, 2010 | Only exempted CL/CC for such documents used for the purpose of mutual legal assistance and transferred to Central Authorities under the Agreement |
2.2. Civil and commercial papers with official signatures and seals of competent authorities | Competent Authorities | Article 5 of the MLAT in civil and commercial fields in 2010 | Only exempted CL/CC for such documents used for the purpose of mutual legal assistance and transferred to Central Authorities under the Agreement | |
Republic of Poland | 3.1. All kinds of work papers (Article 1.3), civil, family, criminal documents made and authenticated by competent authorities | Competent authorities of the two Parties | Articles 14 and 15 of the MLAT 1993 | Only exempted CL/CC for such documents used for MLA purposes under the Agreement |
3.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 34 of the CAg 1979 | Exempted from CL/CC | |
Republic of Bulgaria | 4.1. Civil, family, and criminal documents | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 12 of the MLAT 1986 | Exempted from CL/CC |
4.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 34 of the CAg 1979 | Exempted from CL/CC | |
Republic of Belarus | 5.1. Civil (commercial), family, labor, criminal documents | Competent state agency | Article 11 of the MLAT 2000 | Exempted from CL/CC |
5.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 13 of the CAg 2008 | Exempted from CL/CC | |
Kingdom of Cambodia | 6.1. Types of papers and public documents used for purposes of MLA in civil matters | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 11 of the MLAT in civil matters 2013 | Exempted from CL, Only applicable to papers and documents transferred via communication channels as prescribed in the Agreement |
6.2. Papers used to register births, settle marriages, recognize fathers, mothers and children with foreign elements, and declare death for foreigners permanently residing in border areas | Competent government agency of Cambodia | Clause 4, Article 2 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP dated November 15, 2015 | Exempted from CL | |
Republic of Kazakhstan | Court judgments, decisions, or extracts of court judgments and decisions or other necessary documents related to the civil status of citizens of the Contracting Party | Competent state agency | Article 14 of the MLAT in civil matters 2011 | Only applicable to papers and documents transferred via communication channels as prescribed in the Agreement |
Republic of Cuba | 8.1. Civil, marriage, family, criminal, and labor documents | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 13 of the MLAT 1988 | Exempted from CL/CC |
8.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 12 of the CAg 1981 | Exempted from CL/CC | |
Democratic People's Republic of Korea | Documents used for purposes of MLA in civil and criminal matters | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 7 of the MLAT and the law in civil and criminal matters in 2002; | Only exempted CL/CC for such documents used for MLA purposes under the Agreement |
Republic of China (Taiwan) | Civil, commercial, marriage, family and labor documents (Article 1.2) with the signature and official seal of the issuing authority | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 15 Agreement between the two ECOs regarding the MLA in civil matters | Only exempted CL/CC for such documents used for MLA purposes under the Agreement |
Kingdom of Denmark | Documents used for adoption | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 4 of the Cooperation Agreement on Adoption 2003 | Exempted from CL |
Kingdom of the Netherlands | Papers and documents of Vietnam that have been consular certified at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam | Competent authorities of Vietnam | Diplomatic Note No. HANOI/2015-236 dated December 10, 2015 (Netherlands Embassy in Hanoi) | Exempted from CL (applicable to Vietnamese documents) |
Republic of Hungary | 13.1. Public documents issued by an authority of a Contracting Party or notarized/certified private documents such as certificates of registration, signature or identification | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 6 of the MLAT in civil matters 2018 | Only exempted CL/CC for papers and documents transferred via communication channels as prescribed in the Agreement |
13.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 33 of the CAg 1979 | Exempted from CL/CC | |
Republic of Iraq | Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 40 of the CAg 1990 | Exempted from CL/CC |
Italian Republic | Documents used for adoption | Competent authorities of the two countries | Article 4 of the Cooperation Agreement on Adoption 2003 | Exempted from CL/CC |
Lao People's Democratic Republic | 16.1. Civil, family, and criminal documents | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 12 of the MLAT 1988; | Exempted from CL/CC |
16.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 36 of the CAg 1985 | Exempted from CL/CC | |
16.3. Papers used to register births, settle marriages, recognize fathers, mothers and children with foreign elements, and declare death for foreigners permanently residing in border areas | Competent state agency of Laos | Clause 4, Article 2 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP dated November 15, 2015 | Exempted from CL | |
Mongolia | 17.1. Civil, family, and criminal documents | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 8 of the MLAT 2000 | Exempted from CL/CC |
17.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 31 of the CAg 1979 | Exempted from CL/CC | |
Russian Federation | 18.1. Papers made or authenticated by judicial authorities (including certified translations and extracts) | Judicial Agencies of the two Parties | Article 15 of the MLAT and the Ordinance on civil and criminal matters 1998 | Exempted from CL/CC |
18.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 29 of the CAg 1978 (signed with the Soviet Union) | Exempted from CL/CC | |
Japan | Types of civil status documents | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Apply the principle of reciprocity | Exempted from CL/CC |
Nicaragua | Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 34 Consular Agreement with Nicaragua 1983 | Exempted from CL/CC |
Australia | Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 8 Consular Agreement with Australia 2003 | Exempted from CL/CC |
French Republic | 22.1. Civil judgments, decisions on recognition/execution of civil judgments, civil status papers, civil papers used for marriage, child adoption, recognize fathers, mothers and children | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | - Article 26 of the MLAT on civil matters 1999 - Exchange of Diplomatic Notes between Consular Department and French Embassy in Hanoi in 2011 | Exempted from CL/CC |
22.2. Documents used for adoption | Competent agencies to issue the same and transfer through CAus | Article 17 of the Cooperation Agreement on Adoption | Exempted from CL/CC | |
22.3. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 35.3 of the CAg dated December 21, 1981 | Exempted from CL (must be consular certified if requested by the other Party) | |
Romania | Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 22 of the CAg 1995 | Exempted from CL/CC |
Czech Republic | 24.1. Civil documents (including such documents regarding family and labor matters) and criminal documents | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 13 of the MLAT 1982 (signed with Czechoslovakia) | Exempted from CL/CC |
24.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 40 of the CAg 1980 (signed with Czechoslovakia) | Exempted from CL/CC | |
Kingdom of Spain | Criminal papers and documents | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 21 of the MLAT 2015 in criminal matters | Exempted from CL |
Swiss Confederation | Documents used for adoption | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 4 Cooperation Agreement on Adoption in 2005 | Exempted from CL |
People's Republic of China(*) | 27.1. Civil documents (including such documents regarding commercial, family and labor matters) and criminal documents | A court or competent state agency of the two Parties shall issue or certify, sign and affix an official seal | Article 29 of the MLAT 1998 | Exempted from CL/CC for such documents used for MLA purposes according to the MLAT 1998 |
27.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 45 of the CAg 1998 | Exempted from CL/CC | |
27.3. Papers used to register births, settle marriages, recognize fathers, mothers and children with foreign elements, and declare death for foreigners permanently residing in border areas | Competent State Authorities of China in the border area | Clause 4, Article 2 of the Decree No. 123/2015/ND-CP dated November 15, 201 | Exempted from CL | |
Ukraine | 28.1. Civil documents (including such documents regarding commercial, family and labor matters) and criminal documents | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 12 of the MLAT 2000 | Exempted from CL/CC |
28.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 42 of the CAg 1994 | Exempted from CL/CC | |
Slovak Republic | 29.1. Civil documents (including such documents regarding family and labor matters) and criminal documents | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 13 of the MLAT 1982 (signed with Czechoslovakia) | Exempted from CL/CC |
29.2. Documents under the authority of consular officers | RM of one country in another country | Article 40 of the CAg 1980 (signed with Czechoslovakia) | Exempted from CL/CC | |
Republic of Indonesia | Documents and records used for MLA purposes in criminal matters, except in special cases where the Requested Party requests that such records or documents must be certified | Competent state agencies of the two Parties | Article 19 of the MLAT in criminal matters signed on June 07, 2013, takes effect from January 22, 2016 | Only applicable to papers and documents transferred under the Agreement |
(*) People's Republic of China: For such documents as degrees, certificates, criminal records (certification of no criminal records, conviction) and other related documents issued by the notary agency of China or other competent authority (including Hong Kong, Macau), and then certified by the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC (or an authorized local foreign affairs agency in China), must be legalized at Representative Missions of Vietnam in China (Based on the content of the exchange of Diplomatic Note between the Consular Department and the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam).
The above is the list of documents and 30 countries being exempted from consular legalization. For the documents of other countries not specified in the list of 30 countries being exempted from consular legalization, please contact Nhi Gia via hotline 84 1900 6654 or info@nhigia.vn. Our team of specialists will support and advise you for free.