SAL apostille, no Vietnamese Embassy step
Starting a job in Ho Chi Minh City, registering a marriage in Hanoi or setting up a company in Da Nang? We prepare your apostille for Vietnam from Singapore so the work permit office, the People's Committee or the investment office can accept it.
Under Vietnam's 2026 apostille rules, Singapore documents for Vietnam now need one SAL apostille instead of embassy legalisation. We check your Vietnamese checklist, use our partner Notary Public where a document needs it, and tell you which steps stay in Vietnam, such as the Vietnamese translation.
Tell us the document and which Vietnamese office asked for it, and we confirm the route and the full price.
Yes, since 11 September 2026
Vietnam acceded to the Apostille Convention on 31 December 2025 and it entered into force for Vietnam on 11 September 2026, so a Singapore Academy of Law apostille replaces Vietnamese Embassy legalisation for public documents. Singapore is not one of the states that objected to Vietnam's accession.
Source: HCCH Apostille Convention status table · Last checked 2 November 2026
Uses in Vietnam
Singapore documents for Vietnam are mostly needed for jobs, family residence, marriage and company set-up, and the same SAL apostille route applies here as it does for an apostille for China.
Your employer files for a Vietnamese work permit with the provincial People's Committee and needs your apostilled degree, experience letters and police certificate.
Intra-company transferees, capital-contributing owners and spouses of Vietnamese citizens still have to prove their status with apostilled Singapore papers.
The Immigration Department asks for an apostilled marriage or birth certificate before it issues a dependant temporary residence card.
The commune or ward People's Committee needs proof that you are free to marry, apostilled in Singapore and translated into Vietnamese.
A Singapore company investing in Vietnam needs its apostilled ACRA profile and board resolution for the IRC and the Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC).
Schools, language centres and the Ministry of Education and Training check apostilled Singapore degrees and transcripts.
A power of attorney signed in Singapore lets someone in Vietnam act for you at a bank, land office or court.
International and local schools in Vietnam often ask for an apostilled Singapore birth certificate when a child enrols.
Document routes
Knowing who issued your paper tells us whether it goes straight to SAL for the Vietnam apostille or to our partner Notary Public first.
| Document | Issued by | First step in Singapore | Common use in Vietnam |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree certificate | Singapore university or polytechnic | Notarised copy by our partner Notary Public | Work permit as an expert; MOET recognition |
| Transcript | Singapore university or polytechnic | Notarised copy by our partner Notary Public | Teaching jobs and further study |
| Experience letter | Your Singapore employer | Notarised copy by our partner Notary Public | Proof of years of experience for a work permit |
| Police certificate (COC) | Singapore Police Force | SAL apostille directly on the original | Work permit criminal record check |
| Marriage certificate | Registry of Marriages or ROMM | SAL apostille directly on the original | Spouse's temporary residence card |
| Birth certificate | ICA | SAL apostille on the printed original | Child's residence card and school entry |
| Single status statutory declaration | Sworn by you | Sworn before our partner Notary Public | Marriage registration at the People's Committee |
| ACRA business profile | ACRA | Certified by our partner Notary Public | IRC and ERC for a corporate investor |
| Board resolution or power of attorney | Your company or you | Signed before our partner Notary Public | Naming the legal representative; acting for you in Vietnam |
Commercial invoices and certificates of origin fall outside the Apostille Convention, so they still go through the Vietnamese Embassy after SAL.
The route
Today the Vietnam apostille route is shorter than the old embassy chain, but the Vietnamese translation and the final filing still happen in Vietnam. Each step is handled as part of our full document legalisation service in Singapore.
We read the checklist from your employer, People's Committee or investment office and confirm which documents need our partner Notary Public first.
Degrees, experience letters, declarations and company papers are notarised or signed before our partner Notary Public.
The Singapore Academy of Law adds the apostille, and government originals such as the COC go straight to this step.
We hand the apostilled documents back in Singapore or courier them to you or your employer in Vietnam.
A Vietnamese translation is certified or notarised in Vietnam and filed with the original apostilled document.
By document
Below are the documents Vietnamese offices ask for most, grouped by why you need them.
Degrees and transcripts for an expert work permit, a teaching job or degree recognition.
Experience letters and a recent COC for a Vietnamese work permit file.
Marriage, birth and divorce papers for residence cards, marriage registration and schools.
Papers a Singapore investor files for the IRC, the ERC or a new legal representative.
Free check for Vietnam
Send the list from your employer, People's Committee or investment office and we match each item to a Singapore route before any work starts.
Cost
Pricing for a Vietnam apostille depends only on the steps your documents need, and each Singapore price already includes the SAL government charge.
Not included: the Vietnamese translation, courier to Vietnam, Vietnamese government fees and embassy legalisation of commercial invoices and certificates of origin, which we quote separately.
Time
With Vietnam now in the Apostille Convention, timing depends on our partner Notary Public and SAL, with no embassy queue in between.
Same-day notarisation is possible for urgent cases, so tell us your Vietnamese filing date when you send the scan.
Before you start
Planning around Vietnamese time limits matters as much as the apostille itself.
Vietnamese offices want a Vietnamese translation certified under Vietnamese law, so most clients do it in Vietnam; if your office accepts a Singapore translation, our certified translation for legalisation service can prepare it.
You can courier your Singapore documents to us and we return them apostilled through our legalisation from overseas service, without a trip back.
Avoid a rejection
Since the rules changed in September 2026, Singapore documents for Vietnam mostly fail on old habits, unlike the neighbouring Thailand legalisation route, which still runs through the embassy.
✕ Booking the Vietnamese Embassy out of habit
✓ We send public documents to SAL for the apostille and keep the embassy only for trade documents the Convention excludes.
✕ A COC that expires before filing
✓ We time your police certificate against your work permit date so it is still within six months when filed.
✕ Stapling the translation to the apostille
✓ We keep the apostilled original intact so the Vietnamese notary can attach its translation without damaging it.
✕ Apostilling a plain photocopy
✓ Our partner Notary Public certifies the copy first, so SAL can apostille it and the Vietnamese office can trace the seal.
FAQ
Still unsure about your Vietnam apostille? These are the questions clients ask just before they order.
Ask On WhatsAppYes, for public documents. Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has told receiving offices not to ask for consular legalisation when a valid apostille is attached, so share that guidance with your employer if they hesitate.
No, not for the same document. Vietnamese guidance says documents legalised before 11 September 2026 stay valid, as long as the office's own age limits are still met.
No. The SAL apostille is the same nationwide, but local offices can differ on translation and copy rules, so we check the checklist from your city.
Yes. Each marriage and birth certificate gets its own apostille, and we process them together with your work documents so the dependant residence cards can follow quickly.
Yes. We usually add a one-name statutory declaration before our partner Notary Public, apostilled with the degree, so the Vietnamese office can link the two names.
Yes. What matters is that the document was issued in Singapore, not your nationality.
Vietnam's guidance allows offices to verify e-Apostilles, but some local offices still prefer paper. We confirm which format your Vietnamese office wants before SAL issues it.
Often yes, if the office accepts copies certified in Vietnam from the apostilled original. Keep the original safe and ask a Vietnamese notary for certified copies instead of apostilling again.
Send a scan and tell us which Vietnamese office asked for it, and we confirm the route and price before any work starts. You can also read what earlier clients say in our client reviews.