What is Consular legalization and Consular certification?

Consular legalization and consular certification are two important processes that are used to certify the authenticity of documents on a global scale. They are both required for a variety of international transactions, such as business contracts, real estate transactions, and visa applications. In this article, we will explore their definitions and authorities for consular legalization and consular certification.

1. What is Consular legalization?

Consular legalization means the competent Vietnamese agencies' certification of stamps, signatures and titles, not covering certification of contents and forms on foreign papers and documents for being recognized and used in Vietnam.

Consular legalization is well-defined in Clause 2 Article 2 Decree No. 111/2011/ND-CP of the Government on Consular Certification and Legalization,

“Consular legalization means the competent Vietnamese agencies' certification of stamps, signatures and titles on foreign papers and documents for being recognized and used in Vietnam.”

In general, in the detailed guidance on administrative procedures of the Government Office, basic requirements for papers and documents requesting consular legalization include:

• Foreign papers and documents to be recognized and used in Vietnam.
• Issued and certified by diplomatic missions, consulates or other agencies authorized to perform consular functions of foreign countries.
• Samples of seals, signatures and titles of foreign agencies and competent persons must be introduced in advance to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Below are some types of documents that require consular legalization:

• Degrees and certificates of foreigners;
• Health Certification;
• Civil status registration documents of foreigners such as marriage registration, business registration, child adoption registration in Vietnam, etc;
• Documents and contracts related to import of goods and materials from abroad;
• Papers and documents related to the criminal record of foreigners;
• …

2. What is Consular certification?

Consular certification is the process by which competent authorities certify that seals, signatures, titles, and not including the contents and forms on papers and documents of people with nationality of their country are legal to be used in the foreign country.

According to Clause 1 Article 2 Decree No. 111/2011/ND-CP of the Government on Consular Certification and Legalization,

“Consular certification means the competent Vietnamese agencies' certification of stamps, signatures and titles on Vietnam's papers and documents for being recognized and used abroad.”

3. The differences between Consular legalization and Consular certification:

As mentioned, consular legalization and consular certification are both administrative procedures to recognize the legality of stamps, signatures and titles in some documents to be official for use in foreign countries. However, consular legalization and consular certification also have differences:

• Consular legalization: certifying documents issued by foreign countries to be recognized and used in Vietnam.
• Consular certification: certifying documents issued by Vietnam to be recognized and used abroad.

4. Competent authorities in charge:

Consular legalization and consular certificate are performed by,

• The Consular Department in Hanoi or the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City (under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Foreign affairs agencies of provinces and central cities.
• Vietnamese diplomatic representative agencies abroad also have the authority to consular legalization and consular certification.

This process requires documents to be certified by competent authorities in both countries, including Vietnam and another country.

5. Fees for consular legalization and consular certification in Vietnam:

Fees for consular legalization and consular certification services are specifically regulated in Circular 157/2016/TT-BTC,

• Consular legalization fee: 30,000 VND/copy/time
• Consular certification fee: 30,000 VND/copy/time
• Fee for issuing copies of papers and documents: 5,000 VND/copy/time.

So we have finished learning about consular legalization and consular certification in Vietnam. As for now, we hope you have clearly grasped the necessary information of these two important procedures.

In case you still have questions related to the consular legalization and consular certification, our Customer Service is always ready to assist you at

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