How long do notary offices conduct notarial activities before transfer of notary offices in Vietnam?

Transfer of notary offices in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 29 of the Law on Notary 2014 stipulating the transfer of notary offices as follows:

1. A notary office may be transferred to other notaries who fully meet the conditions prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article. A notary office may be transferred only after it has conducted notarial activities for at least 2 years.

Notaries who have transferred their notary offices may not participate in the establishment of new notary offices within 5 years from the date of transfer.

According to regulations in Vietnam, a notary office that wants to be transferred must operate for at least 2 years. Thus, your friend's office is eligible to be transferred.

What is application for transfer of private notary offices in Vietnam?

Application for transfer specified in Article 15 of Decree 29/2015/ND-CP is as follows:

1. Any entity that wishes to transfer a private notary office as prescribed in Article 29 of the Law on Notarization shall submit 01 application for transfer to the Department of Justice where the private notary office is registered. The application consists of:

a) The transfer contract, specifying the name, address, list of partner notaries of the private notary office; names, numbers of decisions of designation for the transferee notaries; transfer price, payment and procedures for transfer of the private notary office; rights and obligations of both parties, and relevant information.

The transfer contract must bear the signatures of partner notaries of the private notary office being transferred, the transferee notaries, and must be notarized;

b) Written commitments of transferee notaries to inherit every right, obligation, unfinished notarization orders, and documents of the private notary office being transferred;

c) Statistics of notarized documents of the private notary office being transferred;

d) Copies of Decision of designation of transferee notaries; documents proving that the intended head of the private notary office has worked as a notary for 02 years or longer;

dd) The permissions for establishment and Certificate of registration of the private notary office being transferred;

e) Tax declarations and audited financial statements of the last 03 years of the private notary office being transferred.

2. Within 20 days from the day on which sufficient and valid documents prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article are received, the Department of Justice shall seek opinions from socio-professional organizations of notaries and request the People’s Committee of the province to consider permitting the transfer.

Within 15 days from the day on which the request of the Department of Justice is received, the People’s Committee of the province shall consider permitting the transfer. If the transfer is rejected, explanation must be provided in writing.

3. Transferee notaries shall apply for changes to regulations information of private notary office being transferred as prescribed in Article 24 of the Law on Notarization.

The application for changes of registration information include: the registration form, the Permission for transfer of the private notary office, documents proving the facilities of the private notary office being transferred, and certificates of practice registration of notaries.

4. While following procedures for transfer, the private notary office may keep operating until the private notary office of the transferee notaries is reissued with the certificate of registration.

5. The provision, publishing of information about registration of the private notary office after transfer shall comply with Article 25 and Article 26 of the Law on Notarization.

Best Regards!