The guide for procedures of Consular legalization and Consular certification in Vietnam
In this article, you will be provided with an overview of the Consular legalization and Consular certification procedures in Vietnam. From there, individuals and organizations will better understand and avoid making mistakes regarding the legal procedures of consular legalization and consular certification for documents and papers used in Vietnam and foreign countries.
1. Consular legalization procedure:
Step 1: Prepare documents as follows
- If submitted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Application for consular authentication (Form LS);
- 01 original or photocopy of identification documents depending on each case (identity card, passport or valid passport substitute);
- 01 original and photocopy of papers and documents requested for consular legalization (approved by diplomatic missions, consulates or other agencies authorized to perform consular functions of the foreign country);
- 01 original copy and photocopy of translation of papers and documents requested for consular legalization into Vietnamese or English (if the papers and documents are not prepared in these languages).
- Translations are not certified. The applicant must be responsible for the accuracy of the translation;
- Agencies, organizations and individuals shall submit dossiers to competent consular certification and legalization agencies directly or through authorized foreign affairs agencies under Clause 2, Article 6 of this Decree or by post.
- If submitted at overseas Vietnamese representative missions.
- Application for consular authentication (Form LS);
- 01 original or photocopy of identification documents depending on each case (identity card, passport or valid passport substitute);
- 01 original and photocopy of papers and documents requested for consular legalization (which have been certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Article 11 or 12 of this Decree);
- 01 original copy and photocopy of translation of papers and documents requested for consular legalization into Vietnamese or English (if the papers and documents are not prepared in these languages).
- Translations are not certified. The applicant must be responsible for the accuracy of the translation;
- Agencies, organizations and individuals shall submit dossiers to competent consular certification and legalization agencies directly or through authorized foreign affairs agencies under Clause 2, Article 6 of this Decree or by post.
Step 2: Submit documents to competent authorities.
- Compare the seal, signature and title in the certification of a foreign competent authority on papers and documents with the seal, signature and title sample officially announced by that country.
- In case the signature sample, seal sample and title of a foreign competent authority has not been officially announced or needs to be checked for authenticity, the agencies request to verify the information.
Step 3: Receive consular legalization results.
From the time the above agencies receive complete documents, the processing time is 01 working day.
In case your application has more than 10 documents, the processing time may be longer but should not exceed 05 working days.
2. Consular certification procedure:
Step 1: Prepare documents as follows
- Consular certification/legalization declaration according to form number LS/HPH-2012/TK;
- Original identification documents (identity card, passport or passport substitute) in case of direct application; or 01 photocopy of identification documents (identity card, passport or passport substitute) in case of submitting application by post;
- Papers and documents requesting consular certification;
- Photocopy of papers and documents requested for consular certification;
- The envelope has a stamp and clearly states the recipient's address (if the application is sent by post and requires results to be returned by post).
Step 2: Submit documents to competent authorities (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and overseas Vietnamese representative missions)
- Compare the seal, signature and title in the certification of a foreign competent authority on papers and documents with the seal, signature and title sample officially announced by that country.
- In case the signature sample, seal sample and title of a foreign competent authority has not been officially announced or needs to be checked for authenticity, the agencies request to verify the information.
Step 3: Receive consular certification results.
Receive results directly at the agency's headquarters according to the document receipt or the documents are returned by mail to the applicant.
It's simple and easy, right?
Above are detailed instructions for the consular legalization and consular certification process. If you still have questions related to these two procedures, our Customer Service is always ready to assist you at
Phone: +84.28.6685.1315
Hotline: +84.357.522.522
Email : sales@vietnam-immi.org