Recently, the Ministry of Justice issued Decision 1329/QD-BTP announcing amended and supplemented administrative procedures in the field of authentication under the management of the Ministry of Justice. One of the notable contents specified in this Decision is the guidance on procedures for authentication of amendments to and cancellation of contracts and transactions in Vietnam.
Article table of contents
Application and procedures for authentication of amendments to and cancellation of contracts and transactions in Vietnam (Internet image)
According to this decision, the procedures for authentication of amendments to and cancellation of contracts and transactions in Vietnam are carried out as follows:
1. Sequence:
- The requester of authentication shall present valid personal documents for the person conducting authentication to verify and submit 01 set of documents.
Amendments to and cancellations of authenticated contracts and transactions can only be carried out when there is a written agreement between the parties.
- The amendments to and cancellation of authenticated contracts and transactions are carried out at the agency that authenticated the contract and transaction. In the case of amending, replacing, or canceling a part or the entire will, it can be authenticated by any competent authentication authority.
- The person conducting authentication (or the recipient of the documents in the case of receiving documents at a single-window or interlinked single-window department) shall check the documents in the authentication application. If they are complete at the time of authentication and the parties voluntarily, consciously, and are capable of controlling their actions, the documents are accepted, and authentication is performed.
- The parties must sign under the witness of the person conducting authentication, and if the contract consists of more than one page, they must sign on each page. If the application is submitted at a single-window or interlinked single-window department, the parties must sign under the witness of the recipient of the documents. If the person with the authority to sign the contract of credit institutions or registered businesses has a specimen signature at the authentication authority, they can sign the contract in advance. The person conducting authentication (or the recipient of the documents in the case of receiving documents at a single-window or interlinked single-window department) must compare their signatures in the contract with the specimen signature before authentication. If there is a sign that the signature of the parties in the contract differs from the specimen signature, that person(s) must be requested to sign under the witness of the person conducting authentication.
- In case the applicant cannot sign, they must make a fingerprint. If the person is unable to read, hear, sign, or make a fingerprint, two witnesses must be present. The witnesses must have full civil capacity and have no rights, interests, or obligations related to the contract or transaction. The witnesses are arranged by the requester of authentication. If the applicant cannot arrange witnesses, the authentication authority will appoint witnesses.
- The person conducting authentication (or the recipient of the documents) shall record the corresponding statement for each type of contract and transaction according to the prescribed form. In the case of receiving documents at a single-window or interlinked single-window department, the recipient carefully checks each page of the contract and transaction, signs below the statement according to the prescribed form.
The person conducting authentication shall sign each page of the contract and transaction (if the documents are not received through a single-window or interlinked single-window department), sign, clearly write their name, affix the seal of the authentication authority, and record records in the authentication register.
For contracts and transactions consisting of two or more pages, each page must be numbered in order. The number of pages and the statement are recorded on the last page of the contract or transaction. In the case of contracts and transactions consisting of two or more sheets, they must be stamped together.
- In the case that the applicant is not proficient in Vietnamese, an interpreter must be present. The interpreter must have full civil capacity as prescribed by law, be proficient in Vietnamese and the language used by the requester of authentication. The interpreter is invited by the requester of authentication or designated by the authentication authority. The interpreter's fee is paid by the requester of authentication. The interpreter is responsible for fully and accurately translating the content of the contract, transaction, and statement for the requester of authentication and signs on each page of the contract as an interpreter.
- The agency implementing the amendments to, replacement, or cancellation of a part or the entire will must notify the previously authenticated agency in writing of the content of the amendments, replacement, or cancellation to be noted in the contract and transaction authentication register.
- The applicant shall receive the results at the place of submitting the documents.
2. Submission: Submit the documents directly to the commune-level People's Committee, Department of Justice.
3. Components, quantity of application:
The applicant shall submit 01 set of application for authentication, including the following papers:
- The authenticated contract and transaction.
- The draft of the amended, canceled contract and transaction that has been authenticated.
- In case the content of the amendments is related to assets, the applicant must submit a copy along with the original to compare with the certificate of ownership or the substitute document prescribed by law for assets that must be registered for ownership or use rights, except in the case of the testator's life is threatened.
4. Processing time: The deadline for processing the application must be within the same day of receipt by the receiving agency or on the next working day if the request is received after 3:00 PM. If the results are to be provided on the next working day, the recipient of the application must issue an appointment slip specifying the time (hour, date) for delivering the results to the requester of authentication.
5. Fee: VND 30,000 per contract, transaction.
Note: Amendments to and cancellations of contracts and transactions that have been authenticated can only be carried out when there is a written agreement between the parties.
