Vietnam: Is a power of attorney required notarization? How is the procedure for notarization of power of attorney carried out?
What is a power of attorney according to Vietnamese regulations?
Currently, there is no legal document that clearly states what a power of attorney is. In the Civil Code 2015, only the concept of authorization contracts is mentioned. Other documents often use the phrase authorization document - not specifically a power of attorney or contract.
However, in the legal document system in Vietnam, there are absolutely no legal documents referring to the commission. Specifically, Clause 1, Article 107 of the 2005 Law on Intellectual Property states:
1. Authorization for carrying out procedures related to the establishment, maintenance, extension, amendment, termination and invalidation of protection titles must be made in writing in the form of a power of attorney.
At Point b Clause 19 Article 20 of Circular 58/2020/TT-BCA stipulates:
b) The co-owner’s vehicle, when being sold or offered as a gift, must obtain sufficient signatures and a trust of sale from these co-owners.
It can be seen that in fact, a power of attorney is a form of authorized representation that the authorizer by his unilateral act performs without the consent of the authorized person.
Thus, it can be seen that a power of attorney is a unilateral legal act, carried out according to the will of a party, performing simple tasks such as filing documents for red books, paying fines for administrative violations...
Vietnam: Is a power of attorney required notarization? How is the procedure for notarization of power of attorney carried out?
Is a power of attorney required notarization in Vietnam?
According to the current Law on Notarization, there is no procedure for notarizing a power of attorney, but only referring to the notarization of authorization.
Most often, power of attorney is used for simple authorization cases. For complex cases, the parties will use the authorization contract. Therefore, power of attorney is not notarized.
At Point d Clause 4 Article 24 of Decree 23/2015/ND-CP stipulating cases of signature certification with mention of power of attorney as follows:
d) Authentication of signatures on power of attorney with respect to empowerment without pay and responsibilities undertaken by attorney in fact and bearing no relation to transfer of ownership of assets and real estate use rights.
Thus, the power of attorney is certified only in cases where there is no remuneration, no obligation to compensate, not related to the transfer of ownership of property, use of real estate.
What is the procedure for notarization of power of attorney in Vietnam?
The certification of signatures on power of attorney shall be carried out in the cases mentioned in Clause 2 Article 14 of Circular 01/2020/TT-BTP including:
- Authorization for submission and receipt of documents unless otherwise specified by the law;
- Authorization for receipt of pension, postal parcel, allowances and benefits;
- Authorization for housekeeping;
- Authorizing household members to loan in Vietnam Bank for Social Policies.
In addition to the above cases, it will not be possible to authenticate the signature on the power of attorney, but to carry out procedures for certifying contracts and transactions.
In case of certification of signatures, the authorizer should prepare the following documents:
- Id: Citizen ID/Identity Card/Passport valid
- Documents on marital relations if the authorized party is a married couple who are divorced
- Documents on the content of authorization: Book of pensions, allowances, allowances
In addition to the above documents, the authorized party must also prepare identification documents and household registration of the authorized recipient.
For places of certification of power of attorney signatures, Article 5 of Decree 23/2015/ND-CP stipulates the place of certification of specific signatures as follows:
- District Justice Division
- Commune-level People's Committees
- Diplomatic missions, consulates and other agencies authorized to perform consular functions of Vietnam abroad
- Notary Public of the Office/Notary Office
Note: A power of attorney signature can be authenticated in any locality regardless of the requester's place of residence if the authorization relates to real estate.
The fee for performing the power of attorney signature certification is:
- At the Justice Department; Commune-level People's Committees, Notary Offices/ Offices: VND 10,000/case.
- At the representative office: 10 USD/copy.
Above is some of the information we provide to you. Best regards!
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