Circular on the delegation of authority for consular certification and apostille legalization to provincial people's committees

 

                                                                       

CIRCULAR

Regulations on Delegation of Authority for Consular Certification and Legalization, for People's Committees at the Provincial Level Based on Decree No. 63/2025/QH15 on Organization of the Government;

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Based on Decree No. 72/2025/QH15 on Organization of Local Authorities;

Based on Decree No. 111/2011/NĐ-CP of the Government on Consular Certification and Legalization, amended and supplemented by Decree No. 196/2025/NĐ-CP;

Based on Decree No. 28/2025/NĐ-CP of the Government on Functions, Tasks, Powers, and Organizational Structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, amended and supplemented by Decree No. 109/2025/NĐ-CP;

In accordance with the proposal of the Director of the Consular Department;

The Minister of Foreign Affairs promulgates this Circular on delegation of authority for consular certification and legalization to People's Committees at the provincial level.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Application and Applicable Subjects

1. This Circular stipulates the scope, content of delegation of authority for administrative procedures related to consular certification and legalization, as well as the responsibilities of relevant agencies in organizing its implementation. 2. This Circular applies to the Consular Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City, People's Committees at the provincial level directly under central administration (hereinafter referred to collectively as provincial-level People's Committees), and all related organizations, entities, and individuals.

Article 2. Principles of Delegation

1. Ensuring uniformity in state management over consular certification and legalization; consistent with the Constitution and relevant provisions on organizational structure of state agencies.

2. Ensuring that delegation is appropriate to the capacity of localities, linked with ensuring conditions for implementation and requirements for enhancing the effectiveness of administrative procedures.

3. Ensuring that delegation goes hand in hand with the responsibilities of the delegated agency; strengthening accountability while establishing mechanisms for inspection and supervision and ensuring compliance with legal provisions on delegation and authorization during the process of organization and implementation.

Chapter II

DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY FOR IMPLEMENTING CONSULAR CERTIFICATION AND LEGALIZATION

Article 3. Delegation of Authority to Receive Applications and Provide Results

1. The authority to receive applications and provide results for consular certification and legalization is delegated to the People's Committees of provinces directly under central administration, including Ha Tinh, Lao Cai, Hue, Lang Son, Thanh Hoa, Phu Tho, Quang Tri, Quang Ninh, and Dong Nai.

2. The provincial-level People's Committee delegated in paragraph 1 may delegate the tasks assigned under this Circular to the head of a specialized agency within the provincial-level People's Committee according to provisions on local administrative organization; such delegation does not alter the authority of the delegated agency and shall not be considered as re-delegation.

3. Implementation content:

a) Guide organizations and individuals in preparing applications in accordance with corresponding provisions at paragraph 1 of Article 11 or paragraph 1 of Article 14 of Decree No. 111/2011/NĐ-CP on Consular Certification and Legalization, amended and supplemented by Decree No. 196/2025/NĐ-CP; conduct preliminary checks on the completeness and validity of applications; receive applications and collect fees in accordance with legal provisions.

b) Within one working day from receipt of a valid application, the receiving agency shall be responsible for transferring the application via postal service to the Consular Department or the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City for processing; the time limits specified herein and the duration of transfer through postal services do not count towards the processing time for consular certification and legalization.

c) Receive results from the Consular Department or the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City and provide them to organizations and individuals in accordance with regulations; guide and explain to organizations and individuals in cases where applications are rejected.

b) Within one working day from the receipt of a valid application, the receiving agency shall be responsible for transferring the application via postal service to the Consular Department or the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City for processing; the time limit specified in this point and the time for transferring and returning results via postal service shall not be counted as part of the processing time for consular certification or legalization procedures.

c) Receive the results from the Consular Department or the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City and return them to the organization or individual according to regulations; guide and explain to the organization or individual in cases where the application is refused for processing.

 

 

Article 4. Decentralization of Full Authority to Resolve Procedures

1. The full authority to implement the entire process of resolving procedures for consular certification and apostille is decentralized to the People's Committees of directly administered cities under central government, including: Haiphong, Da Nang, and Can Tho.

2. The People's Committee exercising decentralization as provided in Clause 1 of this Article shall delegate authority to the head of a specialized agency under the provincial People's Committee to perform delegated tasks according to local administrative organization law provisions; delegation does not alter the authority of the decentralized body and is not considered re-delegation of authority. Delegation does not change the authority of the decentralized body and is not deemed re-delegation of authority.

3. The resolution of procedures as provided in this Article shall be carried out according to corresponding provisions at Articles 11, 14 or Article 15a of Decree No. 111/2011/NĐ-CP on consular certification and apostille, amended by Decree No. 196/2025/NĐ-CP.

Chapter III

ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

Article 5. Effective Time for Exercising Delegated Authority

1. The authority to receive applications and provide results of the head of a specialized agency under the provincial People's Committee as provided in Clause 2 of this Circular shall be exercised from the time of receipt of the delegation document by the provincial People's Committee. The head of the specialized agency delegated is responsible for ensuring continuity of public services, without disrupting the resolution of procedures for citizens and organizations.

2. Full authority to resolve all procedures will be implemented as follows:

a) A specialized agency under the provincial People's Committee as provided in Clause 2 of this Circular shall have the responsibility to send an introduction letter with the seal sample, signature sample, and title of the person authorized to sign consular certification and apostille to the Consular Department for timely updating, notification, and introduction to foreign missions in Vietnam and Vietnamese missions abroad.

b) The effective time for exercising delegated authority is 20 days after the Consular Department receives the notification letter as per the provisions of point a above.

3. From the time of beginning to exercise delegated authority as provided in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the provincial People's Committee shall be responsible for publicly announcing on its official website and posting at the application reception location regarding the implementation of consular certification and apostille procedures within the scope of delegation. The Consular Department is responsible for publishing information about the list of delegated localities, scope of delegation, and effective date of authority on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' official website.

Article 6. Adjustment, Narrowing, Termination or Expansion of Delegation

1. Based on evaluation of implementation at the locality and management requirements, the delegation to implement consular certification and apostille for provincial People's Committees may be reviewed for adjustment, narrowing, termination, or expansion.

2. The review for adjustment, narrowing, or termination is based on one or more of the following factors:

a) Compliance with legal provisions and procedural business rules regarding consular certification and apostille.

b) Quality and effectiveness in processing applications, including ensuring deadlines, accuracy, completeness during the process.

c) Results of supervisory work by competent authorities.

d) Occurrence of errors in application processing, especially those that may affect the authenticity of documents or reduce their reliability and acceptance by foreign competent authorities for documents issued by Vietnamese agencies.

d) Ability to ensure implementation conditions, including human resources, physical infrastructure, technical infrastructure, and requirements for information security and data protection.

3. The review for expanding delegation scope is conducted for provincial People's Committees that meet the organizational capability requirements, including human resources, physical infrastructure, technical infrastructure, procedural business rules, and other conditions as per regulations.

4. Adjustments, narrowing, termination, or expansion of delegated authority are carried out by a regulatory document issued by the Minister of Foreign Affairs according to legal provisions.

5. The Consular Department is responsible for reporting and recommending to the Minister of Foreign Affairs based on supervisory work results by competent authorities regarding adjustments, narrowing, termination, or expansion of delegation for provincial People's Committees.

6. Responsibilities of provincial People's Committees when a document terminating delegation becomes effective:

a) In case of termination of delegated authority to receive applications and provide results: the provincial People's Committee shall publicly announce on its official website about stopping receipt of applications requesting consular certification and apostille from the time the document terminating delegation takes effect; simultaneously guiding organizations and individuals to follow procedures at other competent agencies as per regulations.

b) In case of termination of delegated authority to resolve all procedures: a specialized agency under the provincial People's Committee shall have the responsibility to transfer all unused seal stamps back to the Consular Department, and if still meeting conditions according to regulations, transition to performing tasks as provided in Article 3 of this Circular.

Article 7. Responsibilities of the Consular Affairs Bureau

1. Receive files transferred from specialized agencies under the People's Committee of the province as delegated in accordance with Clause 3 of this Circular; process the file and return the result within the time limit prescribed.

2. Train, instruct, and guide business on consular certification and legalization work for officials, civil servants, and staff of specialized agencies under the People's Committee of the province.

3. Upgrade, update, manage, operate, and share data on consular certification and legalization used in a common internal software system so that specialized agencies under the People's Committee of the province can use it to query and compare within their authority.

4. Conduct regular inspections every six months or sudden checks for specialized agencies under the People's Committee of the province.

5. Coordinate with specialized agencies under the People's Committee of the province in verifying the authenticity of consular certification seals, legalization stamps according to requests from competent authorities both within and outside the country.

Article 8. Responsibilities of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ho Chi Minh City

1. Receive files transferred from specialized agencies under the People's Committee of the province as prescribed in Clause 3 of this Circular within the designated area; process the file and return the result within the time limit prescribed.

2. Coordinate with the Consular Affairs Bureau to provide direct support for business operations to the People's Committee of the province in southern provinces from Da Nang city onwards, as assigned by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

3. Coordinate with the Consular Affairs Bureau in updating and sharing data on seals, signatures, and information on authorized personnel on a common software system so that specialized agencies under the People's Committee of the province can query and compare within their designated area.

4. Conduct verification or coordinate with the Consular Affairs Bureau to verify the authenticity of consular certification seals, legalization stamps according to requests from competent authorities both within and outside the country within the assigned area.

Article 9. Responsibilities of the People's Committee of the Province

1. Issue delegated documents for the head of specialized agencies under the provincial People's Committee to carry out tasks as delegated in accordance with legal provisions.  2. Direct and inspect the implementation of delegated tasks; bear responsibility before the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the law for the full execution of delegated tasks on the province, including cases where delegation has been made to specialized agencies under the provincial People's Committee.

3. Ensure sufficient staffing, funding, and facilities are provided to specialized agencies with delegated authority to fully and correctly implement assigned tasks as per legal provisions.

4. Direct specialized agencies under the provincial People's Committee to coordinate with relevant authorities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in verifying the authenticity of consular certification seals, legalization stamps according to requests from competent authorities both within and outside the country.

Chapter IV

CONDITIONS OF IMPLEMENTATION

Article 10. Effective Date and Transitional Provisions

1. This Circular takes effect on September 9, 2026.

2. For files requesting consular certification or legalization that have been received before the local competent authority begins to perform tasks as prescribed in Clause 1 or Clause 2 of Article 5 of this Circular, they will continue to be processed according to the regulations at the time of receipt, ensuring no disruption to the processing of procedures for organizations and individuals. 5 3. From the date when the local competent authority begins to perform tasks as prescribed in Clause 1 or Clause 2 of Article 5 of this Circular, the reception and processing of consular certification and legalization files at the local level will be carried out according to the provisions of this Circular within the scope of delegated authority.

4. Relevant agencies shall cooperate in the handover, receipt, and processing during the transitional period, ensuring continuity, uniformity, and no disruption in the process of administrative procedure handling.

5. The documents issued by the Minister of Foreign Affairs delegating to localities to receive files according to the provisions of Decree No. 111/2011/NĐ-CP of the Government on consular certification and legalization shall cease to be effective from the date when the People's Committee of the province issues delegated documents as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 1 of this Circular for the head of specialized agencies under the provincial People's Committee.

4. Relevant agencies shall cooperate in the handover, receipt, and handling of applications during the transitional phase to ensure continuity, uniformity, and prevent any backlog in the administrative procedure processing.

5. The documents authorized by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to localities to receive applications as per the provisions of Decree No. 111/2011/NĐ-CP of the Government on consular certification and legalization shall cease to be effective from the date specified in paragraph 1 of Article 3 of this Circular, when the People's Committee of the province issues a document authorizing the head of the specialized agency under the provincial People's Committee.

Article 11. Implementation Responsibility

1. The Director of the Consular Department, the Chairperson of the People's Committee at the provincial level, and relevant agencies shall bear responsibility for implementing this Circular.

2. In the course of implementation, if any difficulties or obstacles arise, it is requested that the agencies and units report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Consular Department) for study and resolution./.