Apostille for Corporate Documents Used in Vietnam From 11 September 2026

Since 11 September 2026, an apostille for corporate documents issued in most Apostille Convention countries replaces consular legalisation when those documents are used in Vietnam. Decree No. 293/2026/ND-CP, issued on 23 July 2026, puts the Convention into effect: under Article 25, an apostilled public document from a country that applies the Convention with Vietnam is used without any further certification. Two points have not changed. Documents from Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic still need consular legalisation, and every document not in Vietnamese still needs a notarised or certified Vietnamese translation under Article 27.

This guide explains which countries are covered, which corporate documents qualify, what Vietnamese authorities may still refuse, how the process works step by step and six mistakes to avoid. It reflects the rules as of 30 October 2026 and is written for foreign investors preparing parent company documents for company formation, licence amendments and work permits in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and elsewhere in Vietnam.

What changed on 11 September 2026

Vietnam deposited its instrument of accession to the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents on 31 December 2025. The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) confirmed that the Convention entered into force for Vietnam on 11 September 2026.

Decree No. 293/2026/ND-CP is the domestic framework. It took effect on the same day, 11 September 2026, under Article 34. It covers two directions: Vietnamese public documents that need an apostille for use abroad, and foreign public documents with an apostille used in Vietnam. For a foreign investor, the second direction is the one that matters.

Aspect	Before 11 September 2026	From 11 September 2026
Route for a foreign public document	Notarisation where required, then authentication by the issuing country, then consular legalisation by a Vietnamese embassy or consulate	Notarisation where required, then one apostille issued by the competent authority of the issuing country
Legal basis	Rules on consular certification and legalisation	Articles 25 and 27, Decree No. 293/2026/ND-CP
Role of the Vietnamese embassy	Required step	No legalisation for documents covered by the Convention (Article 37)
Vietnamese translation	Required	Still required, notarised or certified (Clause 1, Article 27)
Documents legalised before the change	Valid	Remain valid; no apostille needed (transitional rules)

Which countries apostille for corporate documents covers

The apostille route works only between Vietnam and a contracting state that applies the Convention with Vietnam. Clause 1, Article 25 of Decree 293 defines the relevant member states in exactly that way.

Under Article 12 of the Convention, an existing contracting state may object to a new accession. Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic have objected to Vietnam’s accession. The Convention therefore does not apply between Vietnam and those three countries, and documents from them still follow the consular legalisation route.

Before you rely on an apostille, check the HCCH status table for the issuing country. It shows whether the country is a contracting party, when the Convention entered into force for it, and any declarations or objections. Countries that are not parties at all, or whose accession Vietnam has objected to, also stay on the old route.

Which documents qualify for an apostille for corporate documents

An apostille certifies the signature, the capacity of the signatory and the seal on a public document. It does not certify the content. Whether a corporate document counts as a public document depends on the law of the issuing country.

Document	Usually a public document?	What to do (professional view)
Certificate of incorporation or registration	Yes, issued by a company registry	Apostille from the issuing country
Certificate of good standing or registry extract	Yes, issued by a registry or court	Apostille; check how recent the receiving authority wants it
Board or shareholder resolution	No, a private company document	Notarise in the issuing country, then apostille the notarial certificate
Power of attorney	No, a private document	Signature notarised, then apostille
Charter, articles of association	Depends on the country	Certified copy by registry or notary, then apostille
Audited financial statements	No, prepared by the company and its auditor	Notarised copy, then apostille, if the authority requests legalisation
Passport copy of an individual investor	Copy is private unless certified	Notarised copy, then apostille, or follow the authority’s instructions

The common pattern is that a company’s own documents first become public documents through a notary, and the apostille is then placed on the notarial certificate. This step happens in the issuing country, before the documents travel to Vietnam.

What Vietnam may still refuse

Article 26 of Decree 293 lists the cases in which an apostilled document is refused in Vietnam:

• The document is not a public document under the law of the issuing country, was issued by a diplomatic or consular officer, or is an administrative document dealing directly with commercial or customs operations
• The apostille was not issued by the competent authority of the country where the document was issued, or lacks the French title “Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)” and the content of the model certificate
• The document or the apostille shows signs of forgery, erasure or unauthorised alteration
• The content of the document violates Vietnamese law or the basic principles of Vietnamese public order
• The apostille has been cancelled or revoked by the issuing authority

The exclusion for administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations comes from the Convention itself. It is usually read as covering documents such as certificates of origin or import and export licences rather than company registry documents, but there is no Vietnamese list yet for foreign documents. In our professional view, an investor using an apostille for corporate documents should ask the receiving authority in advance about any document close to that line.

Clause 3, Article 25 also works in the investor’s favour: an agency in Vietnam may not ask for consular certification or legalisation of a document that already carries a valid apostille.

Translation and verification in Vietnam

Clause 1, Article 27 of Decree 293 requires an apostilled public document that is not in Vietnamese to be translated into Vietnamese, with the translation notarised or certified under Vietnamese law, unless specialised legislation provides otherwise. The apostille removes the embassy step; it does not remove the translation step.

Clause 2, Article 27 allows the receiving agency to verify an apostille through the electronic register of the issuing country, online or by scanning a QR code on the certificate. Under Clause 4, Article 25, an electronic apostille has the same legal value as a paper one. If the agency has reasonable doubts and cannot verify the apostille online, Clause 3, Article 27 allows it to ask the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for help.

In practice, translation is usually done in Vietnam by a translator whose signature is certified, or by a notary office. Build at least two or three working days for translation and certification into your timeline, more for long charters or financial statements.

Step by step: using an apostille for corporate documents in Vietnam

For a typical company formation or licence amendment, the order is as follows.

Step	Where	What happens
1. Confirm the route	Issuing country	Check the HCCH status table; Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic still need consular legalisation
2. Prepare and sign	Parent company	Resolutions, power of attorney, certified copies of registry documents
3. Notarise private documents	Notary in the issuing country	The notary certifies signatures or copies
4. Obtain the apostille	Competent authority of the issuing country	One certificate per document, paper or electronic
5. Translate and certify	Vietnam	Vietnamese translation, notarised or certified (Clause 1, Article 27)
6. File	Investment or business registration authority, labour authority	Apostilled originals or certified copies with translations

Documents legalised by a Vietnamese embassy before 11 September 2026 can still be used. Decree 293’s transitional provisions keep those legalisations valid, so there is no need to apostille the same document again.

Vietnamese documents going abroad

The reverse direction also changed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is Vietnam’s competent authority for issuing apostilles, through its Consular Department in Hanoi and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ho Chi Minh City, and may delegate the task to provincial authorities. EY reports processing times of one to four working days, up to ten where verification is needed. Article 11 of Decree 293 excludes some Vietnamese documents from apostille, including administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations that were not previously subject to consular certification.

A pre-signing checklist for the parent company

Most delays happen before the documents leave the parent company. A short checklist agreed with the legal team in the issuing country avoids a second round of signatures and couriers.

• List every document the Vietnamese authority will ask for, for the IRC, the ERC, a licence amendment or a work permit, and mark which are public and which are private
• Confirm that the issuing country applies the Convention with Vietnam; if it is Germany, Austria or the Czech Republic, plan for consular legalisation instead
• Agree the exact Vietnamese company name, the investor’s name and the capital figures before resolutions are signed, so the translation matches the dossier
• Ask the notary to certify signatures and copies in a form the apostille authority accepts
• Order registry extracts and certificates of good standing last, so they are recent when filed
• Book the translation and certification in Vietnam before the originals arrive

The same checklist works for individual documents used for work permits, such as degrees and criminal record certificates of foreign managers. Those documents are often public documents in the issuing country, so an apostille for corporate documents and an apostille for personal documents can be ordered in the same batch.

In our professional view, a good rule is to treat the apostille for corporate documents as the last step abroad and the certified translation as the first step in Vietnam. Anything that changes after the apostille, even a typo in a resolution, usually means signing, notarising and apostilling again.

6 mistakes to avoid with apostille for corporate documents

These are common mistakes to avoid when preparing parent company documents for Vietnam. They come from professional practice, not from a statutory list.

Mistake	Why it causes problems	What to do instead
Assuming every country is covered	Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic objected; non-parties are not covered	Check the HCCH status table for the issuing country
Apostilling an unsigned or un-notarised private document	Private company documents are not public documents	Notarise first, then apostille the notarial certificate
Skipping the Vietnamese translation	Clause 1, Article 27 still requires a certified translation	Plan translation and certification in Vietnam
Getting the apostille in the wrong country	It must come from the country where the document was issued	Apostille each document where it was issued
Re-apostilling documents legalised before 11 September	Earlier legalisations remain valid	Reuse them if still within the authority’s validity window
Ignoring the receiving authority’s freshness rules	Agencies may want recent registry extracts	Ask how recent the extract or good standing must be before ordering

FAQ on apostille for corporate documents in Vietnam

Is an apostille for corporate documents enough for Vietnam from 11 September 2026?

For public documents from a country that applies the Convention with Vietnam, yes. Article 25 of Decree 293 exempts them from consular legalisation. A notarised or certified Vietnamese translation is still required.

Do German companies still need consular legalisation?

Yes. Germany objected to Vietnam’s accession, so the Convention does not apply between the two countries. The same applies to Austria and the Czech Republic.

Can I use an electronic apostille?

Yes. Clause 4, Article 25 gives an electronic apostille the same legal value as a paper one, and the receiving agency can check it in the issuing country’s electronic register.

Are documents legalised before 11 September 2026 still valid?

Yes. Documents legalised under the earlier rules remain usable in Vietnam and do not need an apostille.

Can a Vietnamese agency ask for legalisation as well as an apostille?

No. Clause 3, Article 25 prohibits agencies in Vietnam from requiring consular certification or legalisation of a document with a valid apostille.

How Pham Consult helps with corporate documents for Vietnam

Pham Consult supports foreign investors setting up a foreign direct investment company in Vietnam, from market access checks and the IRC and ERC dossiers to the first 90 days after licensing. As part of that work we prepare a document list for the parent company, tell you which documents need notarisation and an apostille for corporate documents or consular legalisation, and coordinate translation and certification in Vietnam.

Pham Consult works from offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Book a company setup consultation to check your parent company documents before they are signed.

Hotline: +84 909 660 105