Decree No. 293/2026/ND-CP Guiding the Implementation of the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (the Apostille Convention)
On 31 December 2025, Vietnam’s instrument of accession to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (the Apostille Convention – the Convention) was deposited with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands – the Depositary of the Convention – and notified to the Contracting States. Under this arrangement, the Apostille Convention will officially take effect for Vietnam and will apply between Vietnam and the Contracting States that have accepted this accession as from 11 September 2026. To guide the implementation of the Convention, the Government issued Decree No. 293/2026/ND-CP dated 23 July 2026, which takes effect in Vietnam as from 11 September 2026. This Decree clearly provides that a public document of a Contracting State having accession relations with Vietnam which has been issued an Apostille certificate by the competent authority of that Contracting State shall be exempt from consular legalisation and may be used in Vietnam without any further certification procedure under the relevant law. Agencies and organizations in Vietnam may not require any further consular certification or consular legalisation procedure for a public document that has already been issued a valid Apostille certificate.