Consular legalization of foreign documents for use in Vietnam

From September 11, 2026, eligible foreign public documents issued in a country or territory with which the Apostille Convention is in force can be used in Vietnam with a valid Apostille, without additional Vietnamese consular legalization. Traditional consular legalization remains necessary when the Convention does not apply, the document is outside its scope, or no other exemption is available.

Before paying for any authentication, confirm: (1) where the document was issued, (2) whether it is a public document, (3) whether the Apostille Convention relationship with Vietnam is in force, and (4) whether a treaty, Vietnamese law or the receiving authority provides an exemption.

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In order to have your University Degree, Police check, Marriage Certificate, Birth Certificate, etc. legally used in Vietnam, you need to have it certified by the diplomatic missions of your country in Vietnam and then consular legalized in Vietnam. In this post, we will learn about the latter as the former may vary depending on the diplomatic missions of foreign countries in Vietnam.

So:

Let’s study with us.

1. What is Consular Legalization in Vietnam?

Under Decree 111/2011/ND-CP, consular legalization is the certification by a competent Vietnamese authority of the seal, signature and title on a document issued by a foreign authority so that it may be recognized and used in Vietnam. The certification does not confirm the document’s content or form.

Consular legalization remains part of Vietnam’s document system after September 11, 2026. It applies where the Apostille Convention is unavailable, where a bilateral objection prevents its use, where the document is outside the Convention’s scope, or where another valid exemption does not apply.

The consular legalization simply certifies stamps, signatures and titles on papers and documents, not certifying contents and forms of papers and documents.

2. Documents Exempted from Consular Legalization in Vietnam

According to article 9 of Decree No. No. 111/2011/ND-CP, the following 4 types of papers and documents will be exempted from consular legalization in Vietnam:

1. Papers and documents exempted from consular legalization under treaties to which Vietnam and foreign countries concerned are contracting parties, or on the reciprocity principle. You can see the list here.
2. Papers and documents delivered directly or via diplomatic channel between competent Vietnamese and foreign agencies.
3. Papers and documents exempted from consular legalization under Vietnamese laws.
4. Papers and documents not required of consular legalization by receiving Vietnamese or foreign agencies under relevant Vietnamese or foreign laws.

From September 11, 2026, a valid Apostille on an eligible public document from an applicable Contracting Party removes the additional Vietnamese consular-legalization step. This does not remove translation, notarization or subject-matter requirements imposed by Vietnamese law or the receiving authority.

👉 Check specific documents need an Apostille for use in Vietnam

3. Requirements for Documents to Be Consular Legalized in Vietnam

First of all, to be consular legalized by the competent Vietnamese agencies, the papers and documents issued by the foreign agencies should satisfy the following requirements:

• They should not contain any modifications or erasures without proper correction as required by law.
• They should not contain contradictory details.
• They should not be forged or unduly issued or certified according to law.
• They should not bear non-original signatures or stamps.
• They should not contain contents infringing upon the interests of the Vietnamese state.

And then, before carrying out the consular legalization procedure, you must ensure that:

• Your paper or document comprising two or more pages must bear a seal appended on adjoining pages;
• your papers and documents must be first certified by overseas diplomatic missions, consulates or other authorized agencies of your country in Vietnam;
• your papers and documents must be translated into Vietnamese or English (if they are not prepared in those languages).

4. Where to Carry Out Consular Legalization in Vietnam?

In Vietnam, you may submit the application for consular legalization of your papers and documents to the following competent agencies:

• In Vietnam:
  • For consular legalization in Hanoi: Consular Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at 40 Tran Phu street, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi.
  • For consular legalization in Saigon: Ho Chi Minh City Department of External Relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at 184 bis Pasteur, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
• In foreign countries: Vietnam embassy/consulate general which are authorized to provide Vietnam consular legalization service.

You can submit your application and receive the result on weekdays, except public holidays.

5. How to Consular Legalize Documents for Vietnam

If your document does not qualify for Apostille, you have 02 options to get it legalized as follows:

• Option 1: Authentication by 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 getting your document legalized by the process mentioned above, you will get it translated into Vietnamese and certified for use in Vietnam.

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

As told by the option name, you will need to finish the following 02 steps to get your document ready to be used in Vietnam:

Step 1: Document authentication for use in Vietnam

In this step, you need to submit the documents that need to be used in Vietnam to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the issuing country for authentication.

► Important note: You are required 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,
• certain MOFAs request your diplomas certified by the Ministry of Education and training in advance,
• etc.

Step 2: Vietnam embassy legalization

This step is also known as Vietnam embassy attestation or Vietnam embassy authentication, in which you will, firstly, need to prepare the following documents:

• 01 application for certification/legalization of documents – form LS/HPH-2012/TK (download)
• Original of the identification papers for the case of direct submission; OR 01 copy of identification papers for the case of submitting by mail;
• Original and 01 copy of documents to be legalized which have been certified MOFA of the issuing country;
• original and 01 copy of the translation of documents requested for Vietnam embassy legalization into Vietnamese or English, if such documents are not prepared in the above languages;

You then need to 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 for use in Vietnam

You do as the same way 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, you bring it to the Embassy/Consulate General of its issuing country in Vietnam for further authentication.

You, of course, must follow the requirements of the Embassy/Consulate General.

Step 3. Consular legalization by Vietnam MOFA

This is the final step to get Vietnam consular legalization. In this step, you will work with the:

• Consular Department of Hanoi, or
• Ho Chi Minh City Department of External Relations

The dossiers that you need to prepare for application for consular legalization in Vietnam shall include:

• Vietnam consular legalization request form No. LS/HPH-2012/TK (download or complete online here and then print it out for submission)

• Original of the identification papers for the case of direct submission;
• 01 copy of identification papers for the case of submitting by mail;
• The requested document(s), which have been certified by foreign diplomatic missions, consular offices or other agencies;
• 01 translation of requested documents for consular legalization into Vietnamese or English, if such documents are not prepared in the above languages;
• 01 copy of documents mentioned in Items 4 and 5 for saving at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In case it is required to check the authenticity of your documents; the dossier-receiving officials may request you to present original documents, relevant documents and submit 01 copy of these documents.

You then may submit your dossiers to one of the addresses mentioned above in person or by post. If your dossiers are not sufficient, the official there will request you to add. If your documents are sufficient, you will pay the consular legalization fee and get an appointment from the official.

Normally, the processing time is 1 working day since your submission of the full required dossiers. However, if your papers or documents consist of at least 10 pages, it may take up to 5 working days for your consular legalization.

👉Check Vietnam consular legalization procedure by country

• Vietnam legalization of China Documents
• Vietnam legalization of Hong Kong Documents
• Vietnam legalization of Indian Documents
• Vietnam legalization of Japan Documents
• Vietnam legalization of Singapore documents
• Vietnam legalization of UK Documents

6. Consular Legalization Service in Vietnam

If you are not familiar with the translation of your documents into Vietnamese or English, completion of application form for consular legalization, or the procedure itself, refer to our Consular Legalization Service. If possible, we will also help you to find out the procedure for document authentication for use in Vietnam applied by the diplomatic mission of your home country.

Your benefits when using our Vietnam consular legalization service:

• No form completion required on your part.
• Fast and reliable processing. We will deliver the result to you within 03 working days.
• Payment by PayPal, bank transfer or card or cash.

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