How to Apostille or Legalize Indian Documents to Be Used in Vietnam

Most public documents issued in India can now be used in Vietnam after they receive an Apostille from India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). You normally do not need an additional legalization stamp from the Vietnamese Embassy when the Apostille Convention applies. Some documents and special cases may still follow consular legalization or other authentication rules.

1. What Is an Apostille or Consular Legalization of Indian Documents for Use in Vietnam?

An Apostille for an Indian document is a certificate issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs. It verifies the signature, the signer’s official role and any seal or stamp on an eligible public document. When the Convention applies, Vietnam accepts the document without an additional Vietnamese consular legalization step.

Consular legalization is the traditional authentication route for a document that cannot use the Apostille Convention. The authorities check the signatures and seals through a chain of authentication before the document is submitted in Vietnam. Neither an Apostille nor legalization verifies the truth of the document’s contents.

👉 For a general comparison, see our guide to Apostille and consular legalization

Unsure which stamp you should get for your documents? Feel free to send us a scan for a free review at [email protected] or (US)+1.341.999.4099 | (VN)+84.387.285.099 (WhatsApp 24/7 available).

2. Are Indian Documents Eligible for Apostille Use in Vietnam?

Yes. India joined the Apostille Convention on 26 October 2004, and it entered into force for India on 14 July 2005. The Convention entered into force for Vietnam on 11 September 2026. India did not object to Vietnam’s accession, so the Convention applies between the two countries.

Three conditions decide whether your document qualifies:

1. Is it a public document? ‘Public document’ under the Convention covers civil-status certificates (birth, death, marriage), court documents, notarial acts, and documents issued by a public authority. A purely private document usually needs notarization or State-level attestation first to qualify.
2. Is the Apostille relationship between India and Vietnam in force? Yes, it has applied since 11 September 2026, and no country recorded an objection against this specific relationship.
3. Does an exemption or objection apply? Vietnam has recorded objections against three countries – Germany, Austria and Czechia – so documents from those countries still need traditional legalization. India isn’t on that list, so this condition doesn’t block your document.

If your document meets all three conditions, use the Apostille stamp. If it doesn’t – for example, it’s a private document that hasn’t been properly attested yet, or the receiving Vietnamese authority still specifically asks for full legalization – use the consular legalization.

3. Popular Types of Indian Documents to Be Apostilled or Legalized

For public documents

These Indian documents are typically eligible for the Apostille route once properly attested, if attestation is needed:

• Birth, death and marriage certificates
• Educational documents (degrees, diplomas, mark sheets) once attested by the relevant State Education Department, or verified through eSanad for participating institutions
• Police Clearance Certificate
• Affidavits and Powers of Attorney, once notarized
• Business Registration and company documents

When consular legalization may still be required

• Private documents the receiving Vietnamese authority won’t accept with an Apostille alone
• Documents from institutions not yet integrated with a State Document Issuing Authority or eSanad
• Documents you haven’t yet confirmed as Apostille-eligible with the receiving authority or with our team

4. Popular Purposes of Using Indian Documents in Vietnam

The documents issued in India are often used in Vietnam for the following purposes:

• Getting Vietnam work permit,
• Getting Vietnam work permit exemption certificate,
• Getting married with a Vietnamese.
• Applying for a Vietnam temporary residence card
• Registering a India-based company’s investment or representative office in Vietnam

5. How to Apostille or Legalize Indian Documents for Use in Vietnam

Your document only needs one of the two routes below, not both. Check which one applies before you start.

For public documents

👉 Step 1: Get State/UT-level attestation (only if required)

Complete any required State, Union Territory, institutional, notarial or Chamber of Commerce pre-authentication. Educational documents typically need attestation from the State Education Department first; personal documents may need Home Department/GAD attestation. Skip this if your issuing institution is already integrated with eSanad for direct digital verification.

👉 Step 2: Get the Apostille from India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)

Submit through one of MEA’s designated outsourced agencies (MEA doesn’t accept documents directly from individuals), or through the eSanad portal (esanad.nic.in) for participating educational documents. The government fee is Rs 50 per Apostille sticker, plus the outsourced agency’s service and scanning fee; turnaround is typically about 5–7 working days through the standard channel.

👉 Step 3: Translate into Vietnamese and certify your documents

This is the final step of your India document apostillation for use in Vietnam. Have it translated into Vietnamese if the receiving authority requires it, then submit it directly – no further Vietnamese consular step is needed. You can use your documents in Vietnam now.

The full process of consular legalization of documents issued in India to be used in Vietnam can be done in India or partially in India and partially in Vietnam as follows.

If your document needs traditional legalization

1. How to consular legalize India documents in India

It’s very simple to have your documents issued in India legalized in India, and then used in Vietnam with the following 3 steps:

👉 Step 1: Authentication of Documents

You first need to get your document properly notarized by Notary Public Offices or by a lawyer in India, and then authenticated by the Ministry of External Affairs of India.

Note: For educational certificates, MEA requires your certificates to be first attested by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD).

👉 Step 2. Submit the documents to the Vietnam embassy in India for consular legalization

This step is also known as Vietnam embassy legalization or Vietnam embassy attestation. In this step, you will submit the following documents to the embassy of Vietnam in India:

• The documents notarized and authenticated in Step 1;
• Request form for legalization service which is a brief note requesting for the legalization service, and contact information including full name/company, address, and telephone number (Form LS/HPH-2012/TK)
• Photocopies of the notarized documents and accompanying personal documents (Passport, identity card …) for filing at the Embassy

The address that you should visit is:

• Address: 20 Kautilya Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi – 110021
• Walk-in hours:
  • Tuesday: 10.00 am – 01.00 pm
  • Friday: 10.00 am – 01.00 pm

👉 Step 3: Get results

That’s it. You have completed your procedure to legalize your document issued in India. Now, just take it Vietnam, translate it into Vietnamese, properly verify your translation and you then can use it in Vietnam without any trouble.

2. How to consular legalize Indian documents in Vietnam

Here is the process to get your document issued in Indian legalized in Vietnam:

👉 Step 1: Get your documents authenticated by the Ministry of External Affairs of India (MEA)

Note: Educational certificates issued in India should be attested by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) before being submitting to the MEA for authentication.

👉 Step 2: Submit documents to the India embassy in Vietnam

In this step, you need to submit the following documents to the Embassy of India in Vietnam:

• Original and copy of the authenticated document(s);
• ID card of the submitter; and
• Power of attorney in case of authorized submission.

The address that you should visit is:

• 58-60 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi
• Working hours: Monday to Friday – 09:30 – 12:30

Note: Yoga professionals seeking consular attestation of qualification/experience certificates, for issuance of work permits, are advised to first obtain necessary certification of QCI (Quality Council of India).

👉 Step 3: Get your authenticated documents legalized by the Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs

You take the documents authenticated by the MEA and India embassy in Hanoi to the either of the following Consular office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam for final legalization.

• Consular Department in Hanoi: No. 40 Tran Phu, Ba Dinh, Hanoi
• Ho Chi Minh City Department of Foreign Affairs: 184 bis Pasteur, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, HCMC.

So, we have guide you through steps to make your documents issued in India usable in Vietnam. This process involves your travel in India, as such, we highly recommend you legalize all your Indian documents in India before entering Vietnam.

In case you are in Vietnam and don’t know how to deal with legalization of your document, no matter it is authenticated by the Ministry of External Affairs of India or not, we are here to help.

6. Document Requirements and Preparation Checklist

Check these details before you submit your document for attestation or Apostille:

• For educational documents: confirm whether your institution is integrated with eSanad, since this changes which channel you use
• Full name and date of birth match your passport exactly
• Document/certificate number is legible
• Signature and seal of the issuing Indian authority are present and match specimen records
• Place and date of issue are stated clearly
• No unexplained corrections, erasures, or missing pages
• A certified Vietnamese (or English) translation is ready if the receiving authority requires it

7. Apostille and Document Legalization Support for Vietnam

We know that it will be very difficult for you to legalize your documents issued in India if you are in Vietnam now, as:

• You don’t know how to send your original documents to India and back to Vietnam safely;
• You don’t have someone in India to help you with full process of apostillation and legalization;
• Your person in India do not know how to get your documents apostilled or legalized on your behalf;
• You don’t know how to get your legalized documents translated into Vietnam and then verified.

But don’t worry. We are here to help you with our Consular Legalization Service.

Our Indian Document Legalization Package covers:

• Initial document and route review;
• State/UT-level attestation coordination (if required);
• MEA Apostille or normal attestation;
• Consular legalization by Vietnam embassy in India, or authentication by the Indian Embassy in Hanoi and then Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
• Verified translation into Vietnamese.

Common Indian documents we handle:

• Birth, death and marriage certificates
• Police Clearance Certificates
• Educational documents (degrees, diplomas, mark sheets)
• Affidavits and Powers of Attorney
• Business Registration and company documents

Our service fee for Indian document legalization

Number of documents	Our service fee (USD per document)
1 document	$175
3 documents	$171
5+ documents	$168

With 10+ years of experience handling Indian document legalization for Vietnam, our team checks which route applies to your document before you pay for anything, manages State-level attestation and the MEA Apostille or full legalization, and delivers the finished document to your address.

We only need a scan of your original documents to start, so you can keep the originals safe with you. Our current standard processing time is about 2 weeks.

So, should you need to Apostille or legalize your Indian documents safely and quickly, our team is ready to help.