EnglishIn Vietnam, consular legalization is typically required for foreign documents to be recognized as legally valid within the country. However, there are 4 cases where consular legalization is exempted according to Article 9 of Decree 111/2011/ND-CP.
Case #1. Documents exempt from consular certification and consular legalization under international treaties to which Vietnam and the foreign country concerned are both members, or according to the principle of reciprocity.
Case #2. Documents transferred directly or via diplomatic channels between competent authorities of Vietnam and competent authorities of foreign countries.
Case #3. Documents exempt from consular certification and consular legalization according to Vietnamese laws.
Case #4. Documents for which the receiving agency in Vietnam or a foreign country does not require consular legalization or consular certification, in accordance with the corresponding legal regulations of Vietnam or the foreign country.
Here is the list of countries and types of foreign documents in Case #1 that are exempted from Vietnam Consular Legalization requirement:
| No. | Country name | Type of document | Place of issuance | Legal base | Instructions for application |
| 1 | People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria | Papers and documents used for Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal purposes | Competent authority of both nations | Article 10 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal dated 14 April 2010 | Only Exempted from legalization/consular certification documents are used for the purpose of Mutual Legal Assistance and transferred to central authorities under the Agreement |
| Civil and commercial documents are officially signed, sealed and issued by authority and issuing | Competent authority | Article 5 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil and Commercial 2010 | Only Exempted from legalization/consular certification documents are used for the purpose of Mutual Legal Assistance and transferred to central authorities under the Agreement | ||
| 2 | Republic of Poland | The documents of labor, civil, family and criminal are established and certified by competent authority. | Competent authority of both nations | Article 14 and 15 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Poland on Mutual Legal Assistance 1993 | Only Exempted from legalization/consular certification are used for the purpose of Mutual Legal Assistance under the Agreement |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 34 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Poland on Consular 1979 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 3 | Republic of Bulgaria | The documents of civil; marriage and family; criminal | Competent authority of both nations | Article 12 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Bulgaria on Mutual Legal Assistance 1986 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 33 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Bulgaria on Consular 1979 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 4 | Republic of Belarus | The documents of civil (commercial), family, labor, criminal | Competent authority | Article 11 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Belarus on Mutual Legal Assistance 2000 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 13 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Belarus on Consular 2008 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 5 | Kingdom of Cambodia | Documents used for registering births, resolving marriage, paternity, and adoption cases involving foreign elements, and registering deaths of foreigners permanently residing in border areas. | Competent authority of Cambodia | Clause 4 Article 2 Decree 123/2015/ND-CP dated 15 November 2015 | Exempted from legalization |
| Public documents used for Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil purposes | Competent authority of both nations | Article 11 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Kingdom of Cambodia on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil 2013 | Exempted from legalization (Only applicable to documents and materials transferred through the communication channel as stipulated in the Agreement) | ||
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 41 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Kingdom of Cambodia on Consular 1997 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 6 | Republic of Kazakhstan | Judgments, decisions of the Court, or excerpts of judgments, decisions of the Court, or other relevant documents related to the civil status of the Contracting Party citizens. | Competent authority | Article 14 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Kazakhstan on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil 2011 | Exempted from legalization (Only applicable to documents and materials transferred through the communication channel as stipulated in the Agreement) |
| 7 | Republic of Cuba | The documents of civil, criminal, labor, marriage and family | Competent authority of both nations | Article 41 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Cuba on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil 1988 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 12 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Cuba on Consular 1981 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 8 | Democratic People’s Republic of Korea | The documents used for Mutual Legal Assistance in civil and criminal purposes | Competent authority of both nations | Article 7 Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Mutual Legal Assistance and Law in Civil and Criminal issues 2002 | Only Exempted from legalization/consular certification are used for the purpose of Mutual Legal Assistance under the Agreement |
| 9 | China (Taiwan) | The documents of civil, commercial, marriage, family and labor (Article 1.2) are officially signed, sealed and issued by authority and issuing | Competent authority of both nations | Agreement between Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vietnam and Vietnam Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil | Only Exempted from legalization/consular certification are used for the purpose of Mutual Legal Assistance under the Agreement |
| 10 | Kingdom of Denmark | Documents used for adoption purposes. | Competent authority of both nations | Article 4 Cooperation Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Kingdom of Denmark on Adoption 2003 | Exempted from legalization |
| 11 | Kingdom of the Netherlands | Documents and Materials of Vietnam are consular certified at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam | Competent authority of Vietnam | Diplomatic note No. HANOI/2015-236 dated 10 December 2015 (Netherlands Embassy in Hanoi) | Exempted from legalization (Only applicable to documents of Vietnam) |
| 12 | Republic of Hungary | Public documents are promulgated by a Contracting Party or Private documents are notarized/certified such as: registration certificate, signature or identify. | Competent authority of both nations | Article 6 Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Hungary on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil 2018 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification (Only applicable to documents and materials transferred through the communication channel as stipulated in the Agreement) |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 33 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Hungary on Consular 1979 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 13 | Republic of Iraq | The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 40 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Iraq on Consular 1990 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| 14 | Italian Republic | Documents used for adoption purposes. | Competent authority of both nations | Article 4 Cooperation Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Italian Republic on Adoption 2003 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| 15 | Lao People’s Democratic Republic | The documents of civil, criminal, marriage and family | Competent authority of both nations | Article 12 Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Lao People’s Democratic Republic on Mutual Legal Assistance 1988 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 36 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Lao People’s Democratic Republic on Consular 1985 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| Documents used for registering births, resolving marriage, paternity, and adoption cases involving foreign elements, and registering deaths of foreigners permanently residing in border areas. | Competent authority of Laos at border areas | Clause 4 Article 2 Decree 123/2015/ND-CP date 15 November 2015 | Exempted from legalization | ||
| 16 | Mongolia | The documents of civil, criminal, marriage and family | Competent authority of both nations | Article 8 Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Mongolia on Mutual Legal Assistance 2000 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 31 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Mongolia on Consular 1979 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 17 | Russian Federation | Documents established or certified by judicial authorities (including certified translations and excerpts) | Judicial authorities of both nations (*) | Article 7 Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Russian Federation on Mutual Legal Assistance and Law in Civil and Criminal issues 1998 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 29 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on Consular 1978 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 18 | Japan | Civil status documents | Competent authority of both nations | Apply Principle of reciprocity | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| 19 | Republic of Nicaragua | The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 34 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Nicaragua on Consular 1983 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| 20 | Commonwealth of Australia | The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 8 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Commonwealth of Australia on Consular 2003 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| 21 | French Republic | Judgments, decisions recognizing/enforcing civil judgments, civil status documents, civil documents used for marriage, adoption, paternity. | Competent authority of both nations | – Article 26 Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and French Republic on Mutual Legal Assistance in Civil 1999 – Diplomatic note exchanged between the Consular Department – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and the French Embassy in Hanoi in 2011 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| Documents used for adoption purposes. | The competent authority establishes and transfers to central agencies. | Article 17 Cooperation Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and French Republic on Adoption | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 35.3 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and French Republic on Consular | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 22 | Republic of Romania | The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 22 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Romania on Consular 1995 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| 23 | Czech Republic | Documents of civil (include family and labor matters) and criminal | Competent authority of both nations | Article 13 Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance (Signed with Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in 1982) | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 40 of Agreement on Consular (Signed with Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in 1980) | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 24 | Kingdom of Spain | Criminal documents and materials | Competent authority of both nations | Article 21 Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Kingdom of Spain on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal 2015 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification when transferred through central agencies. |
| 25 | Swiss Confederation | Documents used for adoption purposes. | Competent authority of both nations | Article 4 Cooperation Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Swiss Confederation on Adoption 2005 | Exempted from legalization |
| 26 | People’s Republic of China (**) | Documents of civil (include commercial, labor, marriage and family) and criminal | Courts or Competent authority of both nations establish or officially certify, sign and seal | Article 29 Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and People’s Republic of China on Mutual Legal Assistance 1998 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification are used for the purpose of Mutual Legal Assistance under the Agreement |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 45 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and People’s Republic of China on Consular 1998 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| Documents used for registering births, resolving marriage, paternity, and adoption cases involving foreign elements, and registering deaths of foreigners permanently residing in border areas. | Competent authority of China at border areas | Clause 4 Article 2 Decree 123/2015/ND-CP dated 15 November 2015 | Exempted from legalization | ||
| 27 | Ukraine | Documents of civil (commercial, labor, marriage and family) and criminal | Competent authority of both nations | Article 12 Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Ukraine on Mutual Legal Assistance 2000 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 42 of Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Ukraine on Consular 1994 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 28 | Slovak Republic | Documents of civil (include family and labor matters) and criminal | Competent authority of both nations | Article 13 Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance (Signed with Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in 1982) | Exempted from legalization/consular certification |
| The documents under the authority of the consular officials | Diplomatic mission of a nation in other nation | Article 40 of Agreement on Consular (Signed with Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in 1980) | Exempted from legalization/consular certification | ||
| 29 | Republic of Indonesia | Documents and materials used for Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal purposes (except in special cases when a Party request that the files or documents must be certified) | Competent authority of both nations | Article 19 Agreement between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and Republic of Indonesia on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal dated 07 June 2013, Effective from 22 January 2016 | Exempted from legalization/consular certification (Only applicable to documents and materials transferred as stipulated in the Agreement) |
