Vietnam: Notarial and documentary services

Overview

The British Embassy Hanoi and the British Consulate-General Ho Chi Minh City provide a limited range of notarial and documentary services for British nationals in Vietnam.

Where local notary publics or lawyers can provide services we will not provide them. We reserve the right to cancel any appointment if it is a service we cannot offer or if it is a service provided elsewhere.

Before booking, please make sure you have sought legal advice that the document will be accepted by the relevant authority. This could be the People’s Committee, Justice Office, or Immigration Office either in Vietnam, the UK, or a third country. We will not provide a refund of consular fees if certificates or notarial services are not accepted by the requesting authority.

Legalisation – Change to our services from 13 November 2017

Please note: The Vietnamese authorities require that UK public documents are legalised before they can be used for official purposes in Vietnam. From 13 November 2017, documents originating from the UK to be used for official purposes in Vietnam will need to go through the legalisation process in the UK.

Once these documents have been legalised by the UK Legalisation Office, they must be legalised by the Vietnamese Embassy in London before they can be used in Vietnam. In particular this change will affect educational and other documents required for work permit applications, such as degree certificates, professional qualifications, job references and police checks. Please note that some documents may need to be certified by a solicitor or notary public in the UK before they can be submitted to the UK Legalisation Office.

For information on how to get your document legalised for use in Vietnam please see here. There is no requirement for the British Embassy Hanoi or the Consulate-General Ho Chi Minh City to stamp these documents once they have been legalised by the Vietnamese Embassy in London.

You can either get your documents legalised yourself or alternatively employ a commercial company to do this on your behalf.

Services we provide in Vietnam

Consular staff in Vietnam can:

• administer an affirmation or affidavit
• certify copy of a British passport or a UK driving licence
• prepare a document in English or Vietnamese
• register a same sex marriage between a British nationals and a non-Vietnamese nationals

What to bring to your appointment

See the individual services below for details of supporting documents to bring. Make sure you have proof of address, proof of identity, and payment for all services.

Proof of address and identity

We accept passports and national identity cards as proof of identity, and accept lease contracts, police registration certificates, household books, utility bills, and driving licences as proof of address.

Payment

We accept payment by card issued by Visa and MasterCard. See the full list of consular fees.

Administer an affirmation or an affidavit of marital status

Before the appointment, please check which documents are needed by the People’s Committee (in Vietnamese: UBND) where you will register your marriage. Each UBND has different requirements, and we are unable to advise you what document each UBND requires.

UBND may require your divorce decree or your late spouse’s death certificate to be legalised. Details of the legalisation process can be found here.

What you will need to bring with you:

• a completed affirmation or affidavit – see getting married abroad for the form. Use the affidavit if you wish to swear on the Bible and use the affirmation if you do not wish to do so.
• proofs of address and identity
• supporting documents to prove the content of the affirmation, such as your divorce decree and late spouse’s death certificate
• the correct fee – see payment

Book an appointment to administer an affirmation in Hanoi.

Book an appointment to administer an affirmation in Ho Chi Minh City.

Administer an affirmation or an affidavit regarding names

If your name on your educational and other documents required for work permit applications does not match with your passport, you may make an affirmation to say both names are yours. If you are unsure whether you need the service or not please get in touch with your employer for advice.

What you will need to bring with you:

• a completed affirmationAffirmation form (ODT, 7.6 KB) or affidavitAffidavit form (ODT, 7.61 KB). Use the affidavit if you wish to swear on the Bible and use the affirmation if you do not wish to do so.
• proofs of address and identity
• supporting documents to prove the content of the affirmation, such as your educational document, work experience confirmation, or criminal record
• the correct fee – see payment

Book an appointment to administer an affirmation in Hanoi.

Book an appointment to administer an affirmation in Ho Chi Minh City.

Certify copy of a British passport or a UK driving licence

We will only make a certified copy of the bio page (page with your photo). If you need a certified copy of the whole passport, please contact the local notary public for the service.

We will make certified copy of both sides of your UK driving licence.

We are unable to certify any other UK-issued documents. You will need to have these documents legalised; details of the legalisation process can be found here.

What you will need to bring with you:

• the original British passport/UK driving licence
• proofs of address and identity
• the correct fee – see payment

Certified copies of a child’s passport

If you require a certified copy of your child’s passport you must provide written authority from both parents. Your child does not have to be present provided both parents are present and provide evidence you are related as claimed. Where only one parent can be present, you must provide a letter of authorisation from the absent parent plus their original passport.

Book an appointment to make a certified copy of a British passport or UK driving licence in Hanoi.

Book an appointment to make a certified copy of a British passport or UK driving licence in Ho Chi Minh City.

Same sex marriage: Consular marriage

This service is for same sex couples who wish to get married.

We can conduct a same sex marriage between a British national and a national of any country except Vietnam. For information on getting married, see getting married abroad.

Prepare a document in English or the local language

Adoption

We can issue a letter of no objection for a British national who is not habitually resident in the UK and who is seeking to adopt a child through the Vietnamese procedure. The letter has the sole function of confirming that the British national in question are not habitually resident in the UK and that as the child is not being adopted under British adoption legislation, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office have no further role in the matter.

There is no scope or provision to amend the letter, which is designed for a specific purpose. It is not for the Embassy/Consulate-General to agree whether the applicants are suitable or eligible to adopt the child, or whether the child is eligible for adoption

Therefore, to obtain the letter, the prospective adopters must first obtain independent legal advice that they are in fact not resident in the UK and then swear a statement witnessed by a lawyer that states: “I confirm that I have received independent legal advice and with reference to all circumstances of my particular case and in light of existing UK law, I can confirm that I am not habitually resident in the United Kingdom”.

What you will need to bring with you:

• the document confirming you are not habitually resident in the British Isles
• proofs of address and identity
• the correct fee – see payment

Book an appointment for an adoption letter in Hanoi.

Book an appointment for an adoption letter in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnamese permanent residency application

This letter is for British nationals applying for Vietnamese permanent residency as the spouse of a Vietnamese.

What you will need to bring with you:

• your Vietnamese spouse’s passport
• proofs of address and identity
• the correct fee – see payment

Book an appointment for a permanent residency supporting letter in Hanoi.

Book an appointment for a permanent residency supporting letter in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnamese visa transfer to renewed British passport

If you renewed your British Passport (or it was lost, stolen or damaged and you have replaced it), you will need a visa transfer letter to move your Vietnamese visa from your old passport to your new one at the Immigration Office.

Please send us your full name, new passport number, old passport number, last entry date to Vietnam, your contact number and your address via our web form and we will prepare the letter for you. The visa transfer letter is free of charge.

Download information notes

We have produced the following information note (also known as a standard letter) that you can download free of charge to present to local authorities:

Information Note: Recognition or validity of marriage (PDF, 277 KB, 1 page)

Services provided elsewhere

Any form of affirmation, affidavit or statutory declaration to confirm identity, family relationship, and address.

If you have been requested to obtain a document from the British Embassy Hanoi or the British Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh which is not listed above, please contact us using our web form.

Life certificates

We do not provide life certificates for British nationals claiming a British pension abroad. Please refer to the list of people working in a recognised profession who can do this for you.

Legalisation of signatures and official stamps on UK documents

Legalisation is the official confirmation that a signature, seal, or stamp on an official public document is genuine. UK public documents can be legalised by the UK government in the UK. More information on how to get your UK document legalised for use in Vietnam can be found here. You can either do this yourself or alternatively employ a commercial provider to do it on your behalf.

There is no requirement for the British Embassy/Consulate-General in Vietnam to stamp these documents once they have been legalised in the UK.

Register a birth, death, and opposite-sex marriage

Please check GOV.UK for further guidance.

Data protection

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office holds and uses data for purposes notified to the Information Commissioner under the Data Protection Act 1998. Such personal data may be disclosed to other UK government departments and public authorities.

Disclaimer

This information is provided as a general guide and is based upon information provided to the Embassy/Consulate-General by the relevant authorities and may be subject to change at any time with little or no notice. Accordingly the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the British Embassy/Consulate-General will not be liable for any inaccuracies in this information. For all notarial and legalisation services it is the responsibility of the customer to ascertain the precise requirements of the person requesting the notarial or legalisation service and to satisfy themselves that the service provided by the British Embassy/Consulate-General will be accepted.