VCI Legal – 13 April, 2026

On January 13, 2026, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands officially announced that Vietnam would submit its instrument of accession to the 1961 Hague Convention on the Apostille Convention (Apostille Convention) on December 31, 2025.

Accessing the Apostille Convention marks a significant step in Vietnam’s international legal integration process and demonstrates its commitment to strengthening its participation in multilateral judicial cooperation mechanisms. The Convention, currently with 129 member states, establishes a mechanism to simplify the recognition and use of public documents between countries by replacing consular legalization procedures with the issuance of Apostille certificates in the country of origin. This mechanism not only facilitates the circulation of documents between countries but also contributes to enhancing transparency, consistency, and efficiency in international judicial administration.

According to the Convention, public documents include documents issued by competent state authorities, administrative documents, notarized documents, and official certifications relating to personal signatures. These documents, after being certified as Apostilles, will be directly recognized in other member states without the need for traditional consular legalization procedures. This elimination of a formal but time-consuming intermediate step is considered a significant reform, especially in the context of increasing demand for civil transactions, trade, investment, and international travel.

Regarding effectiveness, Vietnam’s accession will be valid in relations with member states that do not object for a period of six months from the date of notification, and is expected to take effect on September 11, 2026. Vietnam has designated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the competent authority to issue Apostilles, including the Consular Department and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs. In the coming period, the development and refinement of relevant domestic regulations, as well as the organization and implementation in practice, will play a crucial role in ensuring the consistent, effective, and appropriate implementation of the Convention in accordance with domestic conditions.

In addition, joining the Apostille Convention also requires competent state agencies to strengthen their management capacity, standardize document authentication procedures, and promote the application of information technology in Apostille certification activities. International experience shows that many countries have implemented electronic Apostille systems (e-Apostille), thereby enhancing convenience, minimizing fraud risks, and significantly shortening processing time. This could be a direction that Vietnam needs to study and consider in its roadmap for implementing the Convention.

Participation in the Apostille Convention is expected to contribute to promoting administrative procedure reforms, reducing costs and time for individuals and organizations in using cross-border documents, while enhancing Vietnam’s prestige in international legal relations and improving the investment and business environment. In the long term, effective implementation of the Convention will create a more favorable legal foundation for international cooperation, especially in the fields of trade, investment, education, and labor, thereby supporting Vietnam’s deep and sustainable integration into the global economy.

About VCI Legal:

VCI Legal is an award-winning business law firm in Vietnam with a wide range of legal and corporate services, among other things, corporate, banking & finance, tax, labor & HR, real estate and dispute resolution with special focus on international investment disputes, We also offer our specialized type of service called “In-House Counsel Service” with the aim of assisting our clients in dealing with all types of internal and external issues arising from their day-to-day operations and business activities. With our offices in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, we have a tremendous depth of experience in providing well-reasoned and comprehensive legal advice to not only multinationals and Fortune 500 companies, but also small and medium enterprises.

Our professional team comprises one of the leading law firms in Vietnam with service quality highly recommended and acknowledged by international legal service reviewers such as: The Legal 500, AsiaLaw Profiles, IFLR, KPMG’s Tax Directors’ Handbook, Acquisition International, ACQ Global, Global Law Experts, Finance Monthly, and Chambers & Partners.

For many years, VCI Legal has been ranked among the top law firms in Vietnam for corporate, finance, insurance, taxation, employment, intellectual property and investment. With a “Can Do Attitude” combined with a “Know How” capacity, our firm is big enough to provide comprehensive legal support for any in-house legal matters, yet small enough to care about each of our clients. We undertake each engagement with the mindset of a long-term relationship, with the will to give whatever it takes to understand and fulfill your needs.

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