Consular legalization
Are you a foreigner or overseas Vietnamese who wants to register a marriage with a Vietnamese citizen, or wants to apply for recognition of a father, mother, child, or adopt a child…?
Are you a Vietnamese enterprise that needs to provide consular legalized documents to an import partner abroad? Or do you have documents from a foreign export partner that needs consular legalization to carry out administrative procedures in Vietnam?
Are you wondering about the procedure for consular legalization?

What is consular legalization?
According to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 2 of Decree No. 111/2011/ND-CP dated December 5, 2011 of the Government on consular certification and consular legalization: “Consular legalization is the act of a competent authority of Vietnam certifying the seal, signature, and title on foreign papers and documents so that such papers and documents can be recognized and used in Vietnam”.

Why is consular legalization necessary?
All foreign papers and documents to be recognized and used in Vietnam must be consular legalized (except for cases where papers and documents are exempted from consular legalization). Thus, based on this regulation, papers and documents issued by competent foreign agencies must be consularly legalized before being certified as copies.

Consular legalization process:

For Vietnamese documents used abroad:
Step 1: Consular certification of Vietnamese documents for use abroad:
Done at: Consular Department or Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi
Step 2: Consular legalization of documents to be used abroad;
Done at: Consulate in Vietnam of the country where the documents will be used.

For foreign documents used in Vietnam:
Step 1: Consular certification of foreign documents:
Performed at: National Embassy where the document is issued.
Step 2: Consular legalization of foreign documents;
Performed at: Consular Department – Ministry of Foreign Affairs