Circular No. 236/2009/TT-BTC guiding the regime for collecting, depositing, managing, and using consular fees and charges applicable at Vietnamese diplomatic missions and consular posts abroad.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines on the collection, submission, management, and use of consular fees and charges to be applied

at Vietnamese diplomatic missions and consular posts abroad

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Pursuant to the Law on Vietnamese Diplomatic Missions Abroad of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam No. 33/2009/QH12 dated June 18, 2009;

Pursuant to the Ordinance on Fees and Charges No. 38/2001/PL-UBTVQH10 dated August 28, 2001, and Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Fees and Charges, and Decree No. 24/2006/NĐ-CP dated March 6, 2006 of the Government amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP;

Pursuant to Decree No. 136/2007/NĐ-CP dated August 17, 2007 of the Government on exit and entry of Vietnamese citizens;

Pursuant to Decree No. 118/2008/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2008, of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

The Ministry of Finance stipulates the regime for the collection, submission, management, and use of consular fees and charges applicable to Vietnamese diplomatic missions, consular posts, and other agencies authorized to perform consular functions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam abroad (hereinafter referred to collectively as Vietnamese missions abroad) as follows:

Article 1. Subjects liable to pay consular fees and charges

Organizations and individuals of Vietnam and organizations and individuals from foreign countries that are served by Vietnamese missions abroad in state administrative tasks upon request or as prescribed by law must pay consular fees and charges in accordance with this Circular.

Article 2. Level of Collection

Levels of consular fees and charges specified in the Table of Consular Fee and Charge Levels issued together with this Circular shall apply to all Vietnamese missions abroad.

In cases where it is necessary to amend the Table of Consular Fee and Charge Levels mentioned above, the Ministry of Finance will review and reissue regulations according to the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Article 3. Cases Not Subject to Collection, Exemption, or Reduction

1. No consular fee shall be collected in the following cases:

a) Foreign nationals who are invited guests (including spouses and children accompanying the guest) of the Party, National Assembly, State, Government; or those personally invited by the leadership of the Party, National Assembly, State, Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

b) Staff and administrative technical personnel (including spouses and minor children) of foreign diplomatic missions, consular posts, and international organizations enjoying privileges and immunities under the principle of reciprocity;

c) Foreign nationals holding diplomatic passports, service passports, ordinary passports, or travel documents issued by foreign countries exempted from visa fees under international treaties to which Vietnam is a party or under the principle of reciprocity;

d) Foreign persons entering Vietnam to carry out relief or humanitarian work for Vietnamese organizations and individuals;

d) Cases requiring diplomatic efforts or humanitarian reasons, Vietnamese citizens in special difficult circumstances or facing risks, as decided individually by the Minister of Foreign Affairs;

e) Other cases as decided by the Prime Minister.

2. No consular fee shall be collected for issuing visa exemption certificates for Vietnamese citizens residing abroad, foreign spouses, children of Vietnamese citizens, or Vietnamese citizens residing abroad applying for visa exemption certificates pursuant to Decision No. 135/2007/QĐ-TTg dated August 17, 2007 of the Prime Minister promulgating the "Regulations on Visa Exemption for Vietnamese Citizens Residing Abroad".

3. Vietnamese citizens residing in China, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia shall have their consular fees reduced as specified in the Table of Consular Fee and Charge Levels issued together with this Circular.

4. For cases exempted from consular fees as provided above, the collecting agency must stamp "free" (GRATIS) on the issued documents.

Article 4. Refund of Fees and Charges

1. In cases where Vietnamese and foreign individuals have paid consular fees and charges as stipulated in this Circular but do not meet the conditions to obtain consular documents, the fee and charge collection agency shall refund the amount of consular fees and charges collected (after deducting transfer costs).

2. In cases where a visa exemption certificate is canceled, the processing fee will not be refunded.

3. In cases where the party refuses to accept the result of the file processing, they will not be refunded the consular fees and charges related to the processing.

Article 5. Collection and Payment

1. The agency collecting consular fees and charges is the Vietnamese representative office abroad directly serving organizations and individuals for state management tasks according to requests or legal regulations. The consular fee and charge collection agency has the responsibility to:

a) Publicly display the schedule of consular fee and charge rates at the collection location in Vietnamese and English or the official language of the host country;

b) Collect consular fees and charges in accordance with the provisions of this Circular. When collecting money, a receipt must be issued and provided to the payer of consular fees and charges. Consular fee and charge receipts are printed and distributed at the Vietnamese representative office abroad according to the model specified in Appendix 1 of this Circular (this receipt has been registered with the General Department of Taxation - Ministry of Finance);

c) Implement the establishment of accounting books to monitor and reflect the collection, payment to the budget, and management and use of consular fees and charges in accordance with the prescribed regulations.

2. If the consular fee and charge collection agency acts contrary to the provisions of this Circular, the head of the agency and those involved must bear responsibility for the incorrect actions and be subject to administrative penalties as stipulated in Decree No. 106/2003/NĐ-CP dated September 23, 2003 of the Government on administrative penalties for violations in the field of fees and charges.

3. Consular fees and charges are calculated in United States Dollars (USD) based on the Schedule of Consular Fee and Charge Rates attached to this Circular. In cases where consular fees and charges are collected in the local currency of the host country, the conversion from USD to the local currency is based on the selling rate of USD published by the bank where the Vietnamese representative office abroad maintains an account.

When the exchange rate for converting USD to the local currency fluctuates by more than 10% (ten percent) compared to the current applicable exchange rate, the head of the Vietnamese representative office abroad may adjust the consular fees and charges in the local currency according to the new exchange rate, and simultaneously notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance in writing before implementation.

In cases where there are two (02) or more Vietnamese representative offices in a country or territory authorized to collect consular fees and charges, the head of the highest authority Vietnamese representative office bases the exchange rate of the local bank to decide a unified collection rate for the remaining Vietnamese representative offices.     

Article 6. Management and Use

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs deposits seventy percent (70%) of the actual collected consular fees and charges into the Temporary Holding Fund of the State Budget at the Vietnamese representative office abroad (as stipulated in Circular No. 29/2000/TT-BTC dated April 24, 2000 of the Ministry of Finance on managing the Temporary Holding Fund of the State Budget at Vietnamese representative offices abroad) and uses it to invest in building material facilities for Vietnamese representative offices abroad according to Decision No. 602/QĐ-TTg dated May 12, 2009 of the Prime Minister approving the Project on Building Material Facilities for Vietnamese Representative Offices Abroad until 2015.

2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can use thirty percent (30%) of the actual collected consular fees and charges to spend according to the general mechanism stipulated in Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP dated June 3, 2002 of the Government detailing the implementation of the Law on Fees and Charges and Decree No. 24/2006/NĐ-CP dated March 6, 2006 of the Government amending and supplementing some articles of Decree No. 57/2002/NĐ-CP, including expenses for consular fee and charge collection work as follows:

a) Expenses for purchasing blank consular stamps and related expenses for consular fee and charge collection work (travel expenses for receiving blank consular stamps; transportation expenses for blank consular stamps; printing forms, invoices; office supplies; telephone, fax, postal expenses);

b) Establishing reward funds and welfare funds: The maximum amount to be set aside for the reward fund and welfare fund does not exceed three (3) months of actual living expenses of the direct consular fee and charge collection staff of the Vietnamese representative office abroad if this year's income is higher than last year's; and equals two (2) months of actual living expenses if this year's income is lower or equal to last year's;

c) Overtime allowance for officials, civil servants, and employees directly related to consular fee and charge collection work, implemented according to the current regulations on salary for night work and overtime for officials, civil servants, and employees.

3. After deducting the expenses under the general mechanism stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 6 above from the thirty percent (30%) of the actual collected consular fees and charges, the remainder is allocated and used as follows:

a) One-third (1/3) is allocated for supporting regular maintenance, major repairs of assets; equipment renewal; modernization of information technology; training and retraining in specialized fields and foreign languages for diplomatic officials, civil servants, and employees.

b) Two-thirds (2/3) is allocated to support the living standards of officials, civil servants, employees, and workers as stipulated in Clause 4 below.

4. Level of support:

a) For members of Vietnamese representative offices abroad as stipulated in Clause 5 of Article 4 of the Law on Vietnamese Representative Offices: the maximum support level is eight-tenths (0.8) times the actual living expense level. Based on the actual situation in each area, the Minister of Foreign Affairs decides the specific support level, but the total support level does not exceed eight-tenths (0.8) times the total actual living expense level.

b) For officials, civil servants, employees, and workers under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the country: The maximum support level is 0.8 (zero point eight) times the total salary according to rank and grade.

c) For officials and staff of other Vietnamese agencies abroad (Vietnam News Agency Branches; Permanent Offices: People's Army Newspaper, Voice of Vietnam Radio, Vietnam Television; Overseas Cultural Centers): The specific support level for each location shall be decided by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but it shall not exceed 50% (fifty percent) of the minimum living allowance per person per month for each location.

5. In cases where, after providing support to the subjects as stipulated in Clause 4 of this Article, there remains sufficient resources to provide additional support for the livelihood of officials, civil servants, employees, and workers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs mentioned above, the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall consider and decide to provide additional support of up to 0.2 (zero point two) times the actual salary or living allowance, but not exceeding 01 (one) time the actual living allowance for members of Vietnamese representative offices abroad during the year, and the salary according to rank and grade for officials, civil servants, employees, and workers under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working domestically.

6. In cases where the amount of consular fees and charges decreases, the support level for members of Vietnamese representative offices abroad, other Vietnamese agencies abroad, and officials, civil servants, employees, and workers under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working domestically shall also decrease accordingly, with the state budget not making up the difference.

7. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall issue Regulations on the management and use of 30% (thirty percent) of the retained consular fees and charges for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Any unspent portion of the annual retained consular fees and charges for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be carried over to the next year for disbursement in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

Article 7. Settlement of Revenue and Expenditure of Consular Fees and Charges

1. Vietnamese representative offices abroad are responsible for opening accounting books to record and account for revenue and expenditure related to consular fees and charges in accordance with the current administrative and public service accounting system. The head of Vietnamese representative offices abroad is responsible for managing and accounting for all types of consular fees and charges of their office; they must submit monthly reports on consular fees and charges (in the format prescribed in Appendix 2 of this Circular) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for inspecting and settling the revenue and expenditure of consular fees and charges of Vietnamese representative offices abroad; submitting consolidated reports on consular fees and charges (in the formats prescribed in Appendices 3 and 4 of this Circular) to the Ministry of Finance for review in accordance with current regulations.

3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to organize regular or spot inspections of the collection, payment, management of consular fees and charges at Vietnamese representative offices abroad in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

Article 8. Implementation organization

This Circular takes effect 45 days from the date of signature and replaces Circular No. 134/2004/TT-BTC dated December 31, 2004, issued by the Ministry of Finance guiding the system of collection, payment, management, and use of consular fees applicable at diplomatic missions and consular offices of Vietnam abroad; abolishes Decision No. 77/2007/QĐ-BTC dated August 31, 2007, issued by the Minister of Finance prescribing the collection rate, system of collection, payment, management, and use of fees for processing visa exemption certificates for overseas Vietnamese residents.

During implementation, if any difficulties arise, relevant agencies are requested to promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and resolution./.