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I think it depends on who your getting the document certified for. I have always used a government notary office and for VNese documents and found them to be very cheap. But then I guess cheap is a relative term. Heck the US Consulate charges $100, which is insane.

Its all a bit confusing isn't it, especially since the rules recently changed.

Here that is quite normal. They change the rules faster than I change my underwear. What you hear here may very well not apply by the time you get down to the office you were sent to in the morning. Just part of life in paradise

thayes1987 wrote:

Its all a bit confusing isn't it, especially since the rules recently changed.

Isn't it really just the British government that changed the rules by declining to notarize.  They claim it is necessary to comply with Vietnamese law, but I don't hear of any other country stopping notarization.  Maybe someone back in the Foreign Ministry back in London read a bad translation of Vietnamese law and panicked.  Perhaps they used Google Translate.   

It is true that Vietnam often changes the rules but that doesn't seem to be the case with this one.

According to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office the degree certificate need to be certified by a solicitor or notary public. As far I understand this is not a requirement from the Vietnamese embassy, as they only need the document to be legalised by the F&CO, but of the F&CO.

Here is the link to start the process and see the requirements for the document to be legalised.


I got my documents now back from London, and it worked fine. The notary public charged £85 for the process. After they have done all the work with the F&CO and the Embassy they charged me £175 - plus the £60 fees for the F&CO and Embassy fee. As I said in a different thread, I was happy to pay for it as I had nothing to do than sending the document to London, and have a friend pick it up when she visited me in Germany.

When I got my criminal record now signed in Germany by the ministry of Justice, I only had to tell reception for which country I need it, and they immediately knew what was required. I was actually quite surprised by that efficiency....

I hope it all works out for you.

I understand that Vietnam does not apply certification by solicitor. Certification on documents refers to the process conducted by the licensed notary offices (normally private business) or the State authorities (e.g. for foreign language documents, the competence for certifying documents is belongings to the People's Committee of District level. Once a document is certified by the competent authority, it will be acceptable as original document.

Regarding the price, it will be cheaper if you conduct the certification at the State authorites. However, it may be a bit more time-consuming because you may need to submit and wait for the process depending on the pending applications.