Conditions to Become a Notary

1. Standards for Appointing Notaries

Vietnamese citizens residing in Vietnam, who comply with the Constitution and laws, have good ethical qualities, and meet the following standards are considered for appointment as notaries:

- Possess a Bachelor of Laws degree;- Have at least 5 years of legal work experience at agencies or organizations after obtaining the Bachelor of Laws degree;- Graduate from the notarial practice training course prescribed in Article 9 of the Notary Law 2014 or complete the notarial practice refresher course prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of the Notary Law 2014;- Pass the probationary notarial practice examination;- Ensure health conditions for notarial practice.

1. Appointment of Notaries

Required documents:

- Application for notary appointment according to the form prescribed by the Minister of Justice;- Judicial record statement;- Copy of the Bachelor of Laws or a master's, doctoral degree in law;- Documents proving the period of legal work experience;- Copy of the certificate of graduation from the notarial practice training course. For those exempt from the notarial practice training course, a copy of the certificate of completion of the notarial practice refresher course and documents proving exemption from the notarial practice training course are required;- Copy of the certificate of results of the probationary notarial practice examination;- Health certificate issued by a competent medical agency.

Procedure for submitting application for notary appointment:

- Individuals meeting the standards for notary appointment have the right to request the Minister of Justice for notary appointment. The application for notary appointment is submitted to the Department of Justice where the applicant has registered for notarial practice probation.- Within 10 working days from the date of receipt of the complete application for notary appointment as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article, the Department of Justice shall send a written request for notary appointment attached with the application to the Minister of Justice; in case of refusal, a written notice stating clear reasons shall be sent to the applicant.- Within 30 days from the date of receipt of the written request and application for notary appointment from the Department of Justice, the Minister of Justice shall consider and decide on the appointment of notaries; in case of refusal, a written notice stating clear reasons shall be sent to the Department of Justice and the applicant.

1. Cases Where Notaries Cannot Be Appointed

Any of the following 5 cases disqualify an individual from being appointed as a notary:

- Individuals currently under criminal investigation, convicted by a legally effective court judgment for unintentional crimes that have not been expunged or for intentional crimes.- Individuals currently subject to administrative measures as prescribed by law on the handling of administrative violations.- Individuals who have lost or had their civil act capacity restricted.- Officials dismissed from their positions, officials and public employees disciplined with dismissal, or officers, professional soldiers, workers, public employees in agencies or units of the People's Army, officers, non-commissioned officers, workers, public employees in units of the People’s Police disciplined with deprivation of military title, People's Police title, or expelled from the sector.- Individuals whose lawyer practice certificates have been revoked due to disciplinary action in the form of removal from the Bar Association list, or individuals whose lawyer practice certificates have been deprived and have not yet completed the 3-year period since the effective date of the decision to revoke the lawyer practice certificate or since the completion of the decision to deprive the lawyer practice certificate.

Legal basis: Notary Law 2014

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