What shall be noticed when presenting a standard admninistrative documents in Vietnam?

Illustrative image

1. Document font

The font used for presenting documents on a computer is the Vietnamese font of the Unicode character set according to the Vietnam Standard TCVN 6909:2001.

2. Paper size

Administrative documents in Vietnam are presented on A4 paper (210 mm x 297 mm).

Documents such as introduction letters, dossier receipts, mailing slips, and transfer slips are presented on A5 paper (148 mm x 210 mm) or on pre-printed templates (A5 size).

3. Document presentation style

Administrative documents are presented lengthwise on A4 paper (portrait orientation).

If the document content includes tables or charts that are not made as separate appendices, the document can be presented widthwise (landscape orientation).

4. Document margins (for A4 paper)

- Top margin: 20 - 25 mm from the top edge;

- Bottom margin: 20 - 25 mm from the bottom edge;

- Left margin: 30 - 35 mm from the left edge;

- Right margin: 15 - 20 mm from the right edge.

Note: The positioning of document format components on an A4 paper is executed according to the layout diagram attached to Circular 01 as follows:

Annota:

5. Name of the issuing agency, organization

For Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies under the Government of Vietnam; Office of the National Assembly; Ethnic Council, Committees of the National Assembly or People's Councils and People's Committees at all levels; Delegations of the National Assembly of provinces, cities under central authority; State economic corporations, Corporation 91 do not record the managing agency.

The name of the issuing agency or organization includes the name of the direct managing agency (if any) (for economic organizations, it might be the parent company) and the name of the issuing agency or organization. Notably:

- The name of the issuing agency must be fully written or abbreviated according to the establishing document, regulation, official functions, duties, and organizational structure, approval, licensing operations, or legal entity confirmation by the competent authority.

- The name of the direct managing agency can abbreviate commonly used phrases such as the People's Committee (UBND), the People's Council (HDND), Vietnam (VN).

Note:

- The name of the issuing agency is presented in box number 2; occupying about half of the page widthwise, at the top, left side.

- The name of the direct managing agency is shown in uppercase, the same font size as the National Emblem, upright font. If the name is long, it can be spread over multiple lines.

- The name of the issuing agency is presented in uppercase, the same font size as the National Emblem, upright, bold, centered under the name of the managing agency; below it is a horizontal line, solid, ranging from one-third to half the length of the text and centered in relation to the text. If the name is long, it can be spread over multiple lines.

6. Document number and symbol

* Document number

The document number is the sequential registration number at the agency, organization's office. The document number is written in Arabic numerals, starting from number 01 on the first day of the year and ending on December 31 annually.

The word "Number" is presented in lowercase, followed by a colon; for numbers less than 10, a zero is added in front.

* Document symbol

The document symbol includes an abbreviation for the document type and an abbreviation for the issuing agency, organization, or state official (applicable for the President and Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam).

The symbol of the official dispatch includes an abbreviation of the issuing agency, organization, or state official and an abbreviation of the drafting or leading unit (if any).

Note: Between the number and symbol of the document, there is a slash (/); between the abbreviation groups, there is a hyphen (-) without spaces.

Example:

- Number: 15/QD-HDND (Resolution of the Standing Committee of the People's Council);- Number: 19/HDND-KTNS (Official Dispatch of the Standing Committee of the People's Council by the Budget Economics Committee);- Number: 23/BC-BNV (Report of the Ministry of Home Affairs);- Number: 234/SYT-VP (Official Dispatch of the Health Department drafted by the Office).

7. Location and date of issuance

* Location

The location noted on the document is the official name of the administrative unit (the name of the province, centrally-governed city; district, district-level town, city under the province; ward, commune, commune-level town) where the agency or organization headquarters is located. For administrative units named after people, numbers, or historical events, the full official name is required.

The location and date of issuance are presented on the same line with the document number and symbol, in box number 4, in lowercase, font size 13 to 14, italicized; the initial letters of the location name are capitalized; followed by a comma; the location and date are centered under the National Emblem.

* Date of issuance

The date of issuance is the day the document is issued.

The date must be fully written using Arabic numerals; for dates less than 10 and months 1 and 2, a zero must be added in front, specifically:

Ho Chi Minh City, February 05, 2009

District 1, February 10, 2010

8. Document type and brief content

The document type is the name of each type of document issued by the agency or organization. When issuing a document, the type must be recorded, except for official dispatches.

The brief content of the document is a short phrase that summarizes the main content of the document.

Currently, administrative documents include 32 types with specific abbreviations as follows:

Note:

- Document type and brief content of documents specifying the document type are presented in box number 5a; the document type (resolution, decision, plan, report, proposal, and other types) is centered in uppercase, font size 14, upright, bold.

- Brief content is centered directly below the document type, in lowercase, font size 14, upright, bold; under the brief content, there is a horizontal line, solid, ranging from one-third to half the length of the text and centered in relation to the text, for example:

DECISION

On personnel transfer

9. Signature of the authorized person

- In case of signing on behalf of a collective, the abbreviation “TM.” (on behalf) must be recorded before the name of the collective or the name of the agency, organization, for example:

- In case of signing on behalf of the head of the agency or organization, the abbreviation “KT.” (per procurationem) must be recorded before the title of the head, for example:

If the deputy head is assigned to be in charge, the same procedure as for an authorized signatory is followed.

- In case of signing by order, the abbreviation “TL.” (on behalf of) must be recorded before the title of the head, for example:

- In case of signing by delegation, the abbreviation “TUQ.” (under authorization of) must be recorded before the title of the head, for example:

UNDER AUHTORIZATION OF THE DIRECTOR

HEAD OF PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT

Note:

- For administrative documents, academic titles, degrees, and other honorifics are not recorded before the name of the signatory.

- For business documents; documents of educational, health, scientific organizations, or armed forces, academic titles, degrees, and military ranks can be added.

10. Document seal

When stamping over the signature, the stamp must cover about one-third of the signature on the left.

The decision to stamp on appendices attached to the main document is made by the signatory, and the stamp is placed on the top page, covering part of the agency, organization’s name, or appendix name.

The overlapping seal is stamped in the middle right margin of the document or document appendices, covering part of the pages; each stamp covers a maximum of 05 document pages.

Legal basis: Circular 01/2011/TT-BNV effective from March 5, 2011.

- Nguyen Trinh -

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