Procedure for Certifying True Copies of Documents and Educational Certificates from Originals

Legal Basis:

- Decree 23/2015/ND-CP;

- Article 4 of Circular 226/2016/TT-BTC;

- Clause 7, Article 4 of Circular 257/2016/TT-BTC.

Conditions for the original document used as the basis for certification:

- The original documents issued by competent agencies or organizations.

- The original documents created by individuals that are certified and stamped by the competent agencies or organizations.

Not applicable to the documents that cannot be used as a basis for certifying copies:

- Originals that have been erased, altered, added, or removed with invalid content.

- Originals that are damaged, old, tattered, and the content is unclear.

- Originals with confidential stamps from competent agencies or organizations, or that explicitly state that copying is not allowed without confidential stamps.

- Originals with content that is illegal, contrary to social ethics, propagandizing, inciting war, against the policies of the socialist Vietnam; distorting the history of the Vietnamese nation; insulting the honor, dignity, and reputation of individuals or organizations; violating citizens' rights.

- Originals issued, notarized, or certified by competent foreign agencies or organizations that have not been legalized according to the regulations in Clause 1, Article 20 of Decree 23/2015/ND-CP.

- Documents created by individuals without certification and stamps from competent agencies or organizations.

Locations for certifying copies from original documents and certificates:

- District-level Justice Office;

- Commune-level People's Committee;

- Diplomatic missions, Consular agencies, and other authorized agencies performing consular functions of Vietnam abroad;

- Notary offices.

Applies nationwide regardless of permanent or temporary residence.

Process for certifying copies from originals.

Step 1: The requester for certification must present the original documents used as the basis for certifying copies and the copies to be certified.

Note: In case the original documents are issued, notarized, or certified by competent foreign agencies or organizations, they must be legalized according to the law before requesting certification of copies; except when exempted from legalization according to international treaties to which Vietnam is a member or based on reciprocity principles.

Step 2: The certifying individual checks the originals, compares them with the copies, and if the copy’s content matches the original and the original documents do not fall into the cases specified in Article 22 of this Decree, they will certify as follows:

- Fully record the certification statement of the copy from the original according to the prescribed form;

- Sign, clearly state their full name, and stamp the certification agency or organization, and record it in the certification book.

Note: For copies with 02 (two) or more pages, the certification statement must be recorded on the last page; if the copy consists of 02 (two) or more sheets, each sheet must be stamped.

Each copy certified from one original document or multiple copies certified from one original document at the same time is given one certification number.

Processing Time:

Upon receiving the certification request and deeming the original fully qualified for certification, the competent agency, organization, or individual must immediately certify the copy from the original.

In cases where multiple certification requests are made simultaneously from different types of original documents; the original consists of many pages; a high number of copies is required; or the documents are complex and difficult to verify, and the certifying agency or organization cannot meet the deadlines specified in Article 7 of this Decree, the certification period may be extended by no more than 02 (two) working days or longer as agreed in writing with the requester.

Certification Fees for Copies from Original Documents and Certificates:

- Certification fees collected by the Commune-level People's Committee or the Justice Office of the District-level People's Committee are as follows:

- Certification fees collected by notary offices are as follows:

=> Fee for certifying copies from original: 2,000 VND/page for the first and second pages; from the third page onwards, collected 1,000 VND/page with a maximum fee not exceeding 200,000 VND/document.

The above is the procedure for certifying documents and certificates.

Sincerely!