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)
8/11/2026
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.
Accordingly, as from 11 September 2026, public documents of Vietnam for use overseas and foreign public documents for use in Vietnam shall be certified in the following forms:
- Apostille certification, applicable to public documents circulated between Vietnam and a Contracting State having accession relations with Vietnam;
- Consular certification and consular legalisation under the law on consular certification and consular legalisation, applicable to public documents circulated in relations with a State that is not a Contracting State to the Convention;
- Where an international treaty to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a party provides for simpler requirements, or exempts the certification or authentication of public documents, as compared with the two forms mentioned above, the provisions of that international treaty shall prevail.
Public document means a document or record made in paper form or as electronic data by a competent agency, organization or individual under the law of the country where the document is made, in the exercise of functions, tasks and powers under the law of that country, including: documents emanating from an authority or an official connected with courts or judicial bodies; administrative documents; notarized documents; and official certificates placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity.
The competent authority to issue Apostille certificates means the authority designated by a Contracting State under the Convention to issue Apostille certificates, including the competent authority of Vietnam and of the Contracting State having accession relations with Vietnam. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam is designated as the competent authority to issue Apostille certificates in Vietnam.
Validity of the electronic Apostille certificate (e-Apostille): An e-Apostille issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State has the same legal validity as a paper Apostille certificate and shall not be denied legal validity merely because it is presented in electronic data form. The authenticity of an e-Apostille certificate shall be verified through the electronic register of the issuing Contracting State or under the mechanism provided for by the Apostille Convention. In the course of implementing the Convention, it is necessary for issuance of further specific guidance on e-Apostilles issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State that will be accepted in Vietnam.
Use of documents that have been issued an Apostille certificate: A public document that has been issued an Apostille certificate and is not made in Vietnamese must be translated into Vietnamese; the translation must be notarized or certified in accordance with Vietnamese law, unless otherwise provided by specialized law.
Cases of Refusal to Accept a Public Document that Has Been Issued an Apostille Certificate
A document of a Contracting State having accession relations with Vietnam that has been issued an Apostille certificate shall be refused acceptance in Vietnam in the following cases:
- The document bearing the Apostille certificate is not a public document under the law of the country where it was made, or is a document made by a diplomatic or consular officer, or is an administrative document directly relating to commercial or customs operations.
- The Apostille certificate was not issued by the competent authority of the Contracting State where the public document was made, or the Apostille certificate does not bear the French-language title “Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)” and does not contain the full particulars required under the Certificate form annexed to the Apostille Convention.
- The public document or the Apostille certificate shows signs of forgery, erasure or unauthorized alteration.
- The content of the public document violates Vietnamese law, infringes the interests of the State of Vietnam, or is contrary to the fundamental principles of Vietnamese law on public order and social morality.
Vietnam’s accession to the Convention is a significant step forward in reducing procedures and formalities relating to documents, creating considerable convenience for rights holders from Contracting States by replacing the requirement for consular legalisation of public documents – a procedure requiring considerable time, effort and cost – with the Apostille certificate. This contributes to promoting the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights of rights holders in Vietnam.
Should you require further assistance regarding the above matter, please feel free to contact us at the following e-mail address: hanoi@duongtran.vn.