Dossiers and documents of foreigners who want to legally use under Vietnamese law must go through consular legalization procedures. In terms of consular legalization, the law has strict regulations about carrying out the procedures for consular legalization. To prepare for the procedure better as well as to avoid mistakes that lead to repeated travel, entities have to study the rules. So, in this article, LSX legal firm gives you a guide on: “Procedures of consular legalization in Vietnam”
Legal ground
- Decree 111/2011/ND-CP
Consular legalization
Consular legalization is the certification of seals, signatures, and titles by a competent Vietnamese agency on foreign papers and documents so that papers and documents can be recognized and used in Vietnam.
The competent authority for consular legalization:
In Vietnam:
- Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam.
- Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City.
In a foreign country:
- Diplomatic missions, consular offices.
- Other agencies authorized to perform the consular function of Vietnam in foreign countries that have the authority to certify and legalize overseas consular papers.
Currently, many administrative procedures in Vietnam require documents issued abroad to be consular legalized such as:
- Apply for a work permit for foreigners.
- Completing procedures for importing goods from abroad into Vietnam.
- Foreigners applying to adopt children in Vietnam.
- Foreigners register civil status in Vietnam.
Consular legalization fee: a kind of state fee that the Government has set. The cost of consular legalization calculated from the preparation of the dossiers until receiving the result, including fees for translation, notarization, copies, consular legalization fees, transportation fees, etc
Papers and documents prohibited from consular certification and legalization
According to Article 10 of Decree 111/2011/ND-CP and Article 4 of Circular 01/2012/TT-BNG, the types of documents prohibited from consular legalization include:
- Papers and documents containing modifications or erasures without proper correction as required by law.
- Papers and documents in dossiers of request for consular certification or legalization containing contradictory details, inconsistent details, or contradicting other papers and documents in the application for consular certification or legalization.
- Forged or unduly issued or certified papers and documents according to law.
- Papers and documents bearing non-original signatures or stamps; without stamps and signatures directly appended. A stamp or a signature copied in any form are not considered original.
- Papers and documents with contents infringing upon the interests of the Vietnamese state or violating the rights and interests of Vietnam, unconformable with Vietnam’s policies, or other cases that may impair Vietnam’s interest.
Papers and documents exempted from consular certification and legalization
According to Article 9 of Decree 111/2011/ND-CP, papers exempted from consular legalization include:
- Papers and documents exempted from consular certification and legalization under treaties to which Vietnam and foreign countries concerned are contracting parties, or on the reciprocity principle.
- Papers and documents delivered directly or via diplomatic channels between competent Vietnamese and foreign agencies.
- Papers and documents exempted from consular certification and legalization under Vietnamese laws.
- Papers and documents not required for consular certification and legalization by receiving Vietnamese or foreign agencies under relevant Vietnamese or foreign laws.
Dossier for consular legalization
Dossier for consular legalization at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A requester for consular legalization shall submit a dossier comprising:
- One declaration for consular legalization made according to a set form;
- A personal identification paper, for production in case of direct submission;
- One copy of the personal identification paper, in case of submission by post;
- Papers and documents requested for consular legalization, which have been certified by a foreign diplomatic representative mission or consulate or another foreign agency authorized to perform the consular function;
- One Vietnamese or English translation of each paper or document is requested for consular legalization if such papers and documents are not made in these languages;
- Copies of papers and documents mentioned at Points d and e above, one copy each for filing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
When necessary to check the authenticity of papers and documents requested for consular legalization, dossier-receiving officers may ask requesters for consular legalization to additionally produce the originals of related papers and documents, and submit copies of these papers and documents, one copy each for filing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Dossier for consular legalization at overseas Vietnamese representative missions
A requester for consular legalization shall submit a dossier comprising:
- One declaration for consular legalization made according to a set form;
- A personal identification paper, for production in case of direct submission;
- One copy of the personal identification paper, in case of submission by post;
- Papers and documents requested for consular legalization, which have been certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or another competent foreign agency in the country in which the overseas Vietnamese representative mission is based or in charge;
- One translation of each paper or document requested for consular legalization in Vietnamese, English, or a language that the dossier-receiving officer can understand, if such papers and documents are not made in these languages;
- Copies of papers and documents mentioned at Point d and e above, one copy each for filing at the representative mission.
When necessary to check the authenticity of papers and documents requested for consular legalization, dossier-receiving officers may ask requesters for consular legalization to additionally produce the originals of related papers and documents, and submit copies of these papers and documents, one copy each for filing at the representative mission.
Consular legalization procedures
Step 1. Prepare dossiers
Persons who need to carry out the consular legalization procedure shall submit dossiers at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a Vietnamese representative mission abroad.
Step 2: Submit the dossiers
Submit the dossiers to the competent agencies as mentioned above.
Step 3: Waiting for the application to be processed
According to Clauses 5 and 6 of Article 11, Clause 4 of Article 14, and Clause 4 of Article 15 of Decree 111/2011/ND-CP, the processing time for a request for consular legalization:
- 01 working day from the date of receipt of complete and valid documents, or
- No more than 05 working days if the application has 10 or more papers and documents;
- It may take longer if the competent agency needs to check the authenticity of the seal, signature, and title on the papers as well as documents requested for consular legalization.
Thus, how long it takes for consular legalization depends on the quantity and nature of the documents. However, this time usually takes less than 1 working week.
In addition, it also takes time for consular legalization at the diplomatic mission of the issuing country (in case of foreign documents) or in the country of use (if issued in Vietnam).
Step 4: Receive result
The time limit for settlement of this time limit is calculated on the basis of the number of papers as well as documents requested for consular legalization, regardless of whether such papers or documents have one or more pages.
Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the request, the agency or organization has to reply in writing to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Immediately after receiving the reply, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall settle and notify the result to the requester.
Applicants receive results directly at the office of the agency according to the receipt or receive by post.
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Contact LSX
Finally, we hope this article is useful for you to answer the question about “Procedures of consular legalization in Vietnam”. If you need any further information, please contact LSX Law firm: +84846175333 or Email: [email protected]
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Related questions
Organizations and individuals (regardless of domestic or foreign) when being granted consular certification and legalization by competent state management agencies, provide copies of papers and documents as required or prescribed by law, a fee must be paid
Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has the authority to consular legalize papers in Vietnam. The agency competent for consular legalization abroad is the diplomatic representative agency, consular, or agency authorized to perform the consular role of Vietnam abroad.
Languages used for consular certification and legalization are:
-Vietnamese;
-The official language of the country where the document is used;
-English, French.
Conclusion: So the above is Procedures of consular legalization in Vietnam. Hopefully with this article can help you in life, please always follow and read our good articles on the website: lsxlawfirm.com
