List of 30 countries and documents exempted from consular legalization/certification

Date Create: 19/06/2021



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!

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.

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