What is consular legalization?

What is consular legalization in Vietnam?

This is when a competent Vietnamese agency certifies the seal, signature, title on the papers, and documents issued by a foreign agency to be recognized and used in Vietnam. This regulation was adopted in Decree No. 111/2011/ND-CP dated December 5, 2011, on consular certification and legalization.

Consular legalization only confirms seals, signatures, and titles on papers and documents, not the content and form of papers and documents.

Requirements for documents to be consular legalized in Vietnam Embassy

If you want your documents to be consular legalized, they need to meet the following requirements:

– Excludes any modification or erasure that has not been properly repaired as required by law.
– Must not contain conflicting details.
– Not forged, issued or not validly certified as prescribed by law.
– No unoriginal stamps or signatures.
– Does not contain content that infringes upon the interests of the Vietnamese state.

And then, before going through the consular legalization process, you must ensure that:

– Your paper or document consisting of two or more pages must have a seal affixed to the adjacent pages;
– Your documents must first be certified by a diplomatic mission, consular office abroad or other competent authority of your country;
– Your papers and documents must be translated into Vietnamese or English (if the originals are not recorded in those languages).

Where to legalize documents?

If you are currently in your country/outside Vietnam, you need to contact the nearest Vietnam Embassy for detailed guidelines.

If you are currently in Vietnam, you can bring documents for consular legalization of your papers and documents at the following competent agencies:

– Hanoi: Consular Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, No. 40 Tran Phu, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi.

– HCM: Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at 184 bis Pasteur, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.

These agencies receive dossiers and return results on weekdays, excluding public holidays.

How to Consular Legalize Documents in Vietnam Embassy

NOTE: Please contact the Vietnamese Embassy to get detailed instructions for document legalization. The information below is for reference only.

There are usually 02 options to get your papers consular legalized for being used legally in Vietnam

• Option 1: Authentication by Ministry of Foreign Affair (MOFA) of issuing country -> Consular Legalization by Vietnam Embassy in issuing country
• Option 2: Authentication by MOFA of issuing country -> Authentication by Embassy/Consulate General of Issuing Country in Vietnam > Legalization by Vietnam MOFA

After being legalized by the process mentioned above, your documents will be translated into Vietnamese and certified for being used in Vietnam.

Option 1: Authentication by MOFA of issuing country -> Consular Legalization by Vietnam Embassy in issuing country

As it’s displayed within the process, you’ll have to finish the subsequent 02 steps to get your document ready:

Step 1: Document authentication

What you need to do in this step is submitting your paper or documents to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in the issuing country for authentication.

► Important note: It’s compulsory to follow the requirements set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for authentication. For example, certain MOFAs request you to have documents certified by a Notary Public in advance, while other MOFAs require your diplomas to be certified by the Ministry of Education and Training in advance, etc.

Step 2: Vietnam embassy legalization

This step is also known as Vietnam embassy authentication, in which you have to prepare the following documents beforehand:

– 01 application for certification/legalization for your documents –you can refer to the form LS/HPH-2012/TK
– Originals of the identification papers for the case of direct submission; or 01 copy of identification papers for the case of submitting by mail;
– Originals and 01 copy of to-be-legalized documents which have been certified MOFA of the issuing country; original and 01 copy of the translated documents requested for Vietnam embassy legalization, if such documents are not prepared in the required languages (Vietnamese or English)

Finally, submit those items to the Vietnam embassy/consulate general in the issuing country for consular legalization.

Option 2: Authentication by MOFA of issuing country -> Authentication by Embassy/Consulate General of Issuing country in Vietnam -> Legalization by Vietnam MOFA

Step 1: Document authentication

Same as Step 1 in Option 1.

Step 2: Authentication by Embassy/Consulate General of Issuing country in Vietnam

After getting your document authenticated by the Consular Department of the MOFA of the issuing country, bring it to the Embassy/Consulate General of its issuing country in Vietnam for further authentication.

In this step, you indeed must follow the Embassy/Consulate General’s instructions and requirements.

Step 3. Consular legalization by Vietnam MOFA

In the last step to get Vietnam consular legalization, you will have to work with the Consular Department of Hanoi, or Ho Chi Minh City Department of External Relations

The dossiers required for this process are as below:

– Vietnam consular legalization request form No. LS/HPH-2012/TK.
– The originals of the identification papers in cases of direct submission;
– 01 copy of identification papers if submitting by mail;
– Required document(s) certified by foreign diplomatic missions, consular offices or other agencies;
– 01 translated version of the required documents for consular legalization into Vietnamese or English, if such documents are not recorded in the above-mentioned languages;

In case it is required to check the authenticity of your documents; the officials who receive your dossiers may request you to present original documents, relevant documents and submit 01 copy of those mentioned above.

We hope the above information is useful for you when you need to legalize your documents

If you have more questions or need assistance with legalization in Vietnam, please contact info@vietnamteachingjobs for specific support.