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Apostille for Vietnam: the embassy step ended on 11 September 2026

The Hague Apostille Convention entered into force for Vietnam on 11 September 2026, after Vietnam deposited its instrument of accession on 31 December 2025. Canada joined on 11 January 2024 and did not object, so the Convention applies between the two countries. This is recent enough that most people, and a good number of offices, have not caught up: a Canadian document for Vietnam now needs one apostille, and the legalization appointment at the Vietnamese embassy in Ottawa or the consulate in Vancouver is no longer part of it.

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Status
Convention member
Since 11 September 2026
What you need
One apostille
No embassy legalization
Largest communities
Ontario and B.C.
122,735 and 51,890 in the 2021 census
Translation
Vietnamese, usually
Often done in Vietnam, after the apostille
What changed

Before and after 11 September 2026

Before

A Canadian document for Vietnam needed the full chain: authentication by the Canadian authority, then legalization at the Vietnamese embassy in Ottawa or the consulate general in Vancouver. Two bodies, two fees, two waits, and an appointment.

Now

One apostille from the competent Canadian authority, and the document is ready. No consular step, one fee, one timeline, no appointment.

Expect some transition friction. A treaty changes on a fixed date; counters adjust more slowly. In the first months an office may still ask for legalization out of habit. The Convention applies and the apostille is the correct certificate. Before you commit we confirm what the specific body receiving your document is actually asking for today.
Already legalized under the old rules? It stays valid. A legalization completed while it was the correct procedure does not become void. The real risk is unrelated: many administrations want civil-status and police documents issued within the last six months, so an old document can be refused for its age rather than its certificate.
Who this page is for

The situations we actually handle

Every one of these is a real file pattern, not a category. The second paragraph in each is the part that costs people weeks when they miss it.

Marrying a Vietnamese national

The most frequent Vietnamese file we see. Registration at the provincial Department of Justice in Vietnam normally requires a single-status affidavit, a criminal record check and your birth certificate. The single-status declaration is a private document: it is signed before a notary, and the apostille goes on the notary’s certification.

Watch out. Vietnamese authorities commonly require civil-status and police documents issued within the last six months. Start the RCMP check first, because at about 25 business days at Global Affairs Canada it is the long pole, and its clock is already running while everything else is being prepared.

Work permit and temporary residence card

A Vietnamese work permit generally calls for a degree or professional qualification and a criminal record check, both apostilled. An employer in Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi will usually give you a list and a deadline.

Watch out. Ontario public university degrees issued since January 2019 skip the notary entirely and go straight to ODS in Toronto at $32, which is the cheapest and fastest combination in this whole category.

Property, inheritance and powers of attorney

Buying, selling or inheriting property in Vietnam from Canada runs on a power of attorney (giấy ủy quyền) naming someone there to act for you. Inheritance files also need death and birth certificates to establish the line of succession.

Watch out. Ask the Vietnamese notary office for the exact powers they need in writing before you sign. A power of attorney that is too general is refused there routinely, and by then it has already been notarized and apostilled in Canada.

Vietnamese nationality and Viet Kieu registration

Registering or restoring Vietnamese nationality, or confirming Vietnamese origin, needs Canadian civil-status documents proving identity and descent. These files often reach back a generation, so parents’ and even grandparents’ certificates come into it.

Watch out. Documents from more than one province are common in these files, which means more than one authority and more than one timeline. We run them in parallel rather than one after another.

Five-year visa exemption certificate

Available to people of Vietnamese origin and their spouses and children. The application uses documents proving Vietnamese origin or the family relationship, such as marriage and birth certificates, which need an apostille to be accepted.

Watch out. This is a quality-of-life document for anyone visiting family regularly, and the paperwork overlaps almost entirely with a nationality file. Worth doing both at once if either is on your list.

Adoption, business and study

Inter-country adoption files, corporate documents for a Vietnamese subsidiary or representative office, and transcripts for a Vietnamese university all follow the same logic: identify the issuing authority, apostille, translate on arrival.

Watch out. Corporate documents are the one category where the Convention has a genuine exclusion: documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations are outside it. Certificates of incorporation and good standing are normally fine; an invoice or a customs form is not.
Routing

Which Canadian authority for which document

The authority is decided by where the document was issued or notarized, never by where you live and never by the destination. Fees are the authorities’ own and are billed at cost.

DocumentUsually issued byCanadian authority and feeNotary first?
Single-status affidavit (marriage)Signed before a notary in your provinceThat province's authorityYes, that is what makes it apostillable
RCMP criminal record checkRCMP, via an accredited fingerprinting agencyGlobal Affairs Canada, No government feeNo
Birth certificateThe provincial registrar that issued itThat province's authorityNo
Marriage certificateThe provincial registrar that issued itThat province's authorityNo
University degree or transcriptOntario public institutions since Jan 2019 go directOntario, $16 per notarized document, $32 per government-issued, court or public post-secondary documentNo, for Ontario public institutions
Power of attorney (property, inheritance)Signed before a notary in your provinceThat province's authorityYes
Death certificate (inheritance)The provincial registrar that issued itThat province's authorityNo
Certificate of incorporation, good standingProvincial registry or Corporations CanadaProvincial or Global Affairs CanadaOften via a notarized copy
Canadian citizenship certificate, IRCC documentsImmigration, Refugees and Citizenship CanadaGlobal Affairs Canada, No government feeUsually no
Current processing times for every authority are on the processing times page, each with the date it was checked.
The other direction

Vietnamese documents for use in Canada

The change runs both ways. A Vietnamese public document for Canada now carries a Vietnamese apostille instead of Canadian consular legalization. Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the competent authority, and may delegate to provincial departments.

We do not obtain Vietnamese apostilles, because that is done in Vietnam. What we can do is confirm whether the document you are expecting is the right one for its Canadian purpose, and arrange the certified translation into French or English once it arrives, which Canadian institutions almost always require.

Common questions
Does Vietnam accept Canadian apostilles?
Yes, since 11 September 2026. The Apostille Convention entered into force for Vietnam on that date, Canada acceded on 11 January 2024, and Canada did not object to Vietnam’s accession, so the Convention applies between the two countries. One apostille from the competent Canadian authority replaces the old authentication plus embassy legalization chain.
Do I still need to go to the Vietnamese embassy in Ottawa?
Not to legalize a Canadian public document. That step ended on 11 September 2026. You may still deal with the embassy or the consulate general in Vancouver for consular services in their own right, such as visas, nationality matters or a visa-exemption certificate, but the Canadian document you bring them is now apostilled rather than legalized.
My document was legalized before 11 September 2026. Is it still good?
Yes. A legalization completed while that was the correct procedure does not become void. The practical risk is unrelated: Vietnamese authorities frequently want civil-status and police documents issued within the last six months, so an older document can be refused for its age rather than its certificate.
Which Canadian authority handles my document?
The one for the province where the document was issued or notarized, not where you live. That matters especially for this community: with 122,735 people of Vietnamese origin in Ontario and 51,890 in British Columbia, most files go to Toronto at $16 or $32, or to Victoria at $20 on a two-to-four-week queue. An RCMP check is federal and goes to Global Affairs Canada, free but slower.
What is the fastest realistic timeline?
An Ontario public university degree can be apostilled at the Toronto counter in about 30 minutes with a complete file, so about a week door to door. The binding constraint on most marriage and work-permit files is the RCMP check at Global Affairs Canada, about 25 business days plus mail, so plan seven to eight weeks for anything that includes one.
Do I need a Vietnamese translation, and where should it be done?
Almost always, and usually in Vietnam. Vietnamese authorities generally want a translation produced and certified locally, working from the apostilled document, which means translating in Canada first is often wasted. Confirm with the receiving office before paying for a translation anywhere.
Are any countries excluded from Vietnam’s accession?
A few states objected to Vietnam’s accession, which means the Convention does not apply between Vietnam and those states, and consular legalization continues there. Canada is not among them, so the apostille route is open for Canadian documents. The authoritative and current list is the HCCH status table, which we check rather than reciting from memory.
What documents fall outside the Convention?
Documents issued by diplomatic or consular agents, and administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations. In practice that catches invoices, certificates of origin and customs paperwork. Certificates of incorporation and good standing are normally fine.
Can you handle this if I am already in Vietnam?
Yes. We collect the Canadian documents from whoever holds them, run them through the right authority, email you a scan the day they come back, and ship the originals to Vietnam by tracked courier. Nobody has to fly.

Tell us what you have and what Vietnam is asking for

Send scans of your documents and the name of the office that will receive them. We confirm the authority for each one, flag anything that would be refused, tell you whether a translation is needed and in which order, and give you a fixed all-in price in writing. Free, and with no obligation.

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