Procedure for Obtaining Vietnamese Judicial Records No.1 from July 2021 for Foreigners and Vietnamese

Judicial record certificate is a certificate issued by the agency managing the judicial record database and is valid to prove that an individual has or does not have a judicial record. The procedure for making judicial records No.1 from July 1, 2021 has some changes compared to before, details are mentioned below.

1/ To whom is the Vietnamese judicial record No.1 issued?

Judicial record certificate No. 1 is issued to:

• Vietnamese citizens, foreigners who have been or are residing in Vietnam when they request the issuance of their judicial record certificates.
• State agencies, political organizations and socio-political organizations have the right to request the issuance of judicial record certificates to serve the management of personnel, business registration, establishment and enterprises and cooperatives management.

2/ Dossiers to apply Vietnamese judicial record certificate No.1 updated in July 2021

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 45 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009; Clause 4, Article 37 of the Law on Residence 2020, an individual’s application for a judicial record certificate from July 1, 2021 includes the following documents:

• A declaration requesting issuance of judicial record certificate;
• A copy of the identity certificate or passport of the person who is issued with judicial record certificate;
• Authorization letter if the individual authorizes another person to carry out the procedures for requesting issuance of judicial record certificate. In case the person requesting the issuance of judicial record certificate is the father, mother, wife, husband or child of the applicant, a written authorization is not required. (before July 1, 2021, a copy of the household registration book or certificate of permanent or temporary residence of the applicant is required).

Governmental agencies, political organizations and socio-political organizations have the right to request issuance of judicial record certificates to serve the management of personnel, business registration activities, establishment and management of judicial cases. Managers of enterprises or cooperatives, upon request for issuance of judicial record certificates, shall send a written request to the Department of Justice where the person granted the judicial record certificate permanently or temporarily resides; If the place of permanent or temporary residence cannot be determined, it shall be sent to the National Center for Judicial Records.

The written request must clearly state the address of the agency or organization, the purpose of using the judicial record certificate and information about the person granted the judicial record certificate.

3/ Procedures for applying Vietnamese judicial records No.1 updated in 2021

Citizens bring prepared dossiers and submit them to the following agencies (Clause 2, Article 45 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009):

• Vietnamese citizens submit to the Department of Justice where they permanently reside; if there is no permanent place of residence, it shall be submitted to the Department of Justice of the place of temporary residence; in case of residence abroad, it shall be submitted to the Department of Justice of the residence place before leaving the country;
• Foreigners residing in Vietnam shall submit to the Department of Justice where they reside; if they have left Vietnam, they shall submit them to the National Center for Judicial Records.

The application-receiving agency shall refuse to issue the judicial record certificate in the following cases (Article 49 of the Law on Judicial Records):

• The issue of judicial record certificates is not within the competence;
• The person who requests the issuance of judicial record certificate to another person but does not meet the conditions (authorization is not in writing or is not in the case of application for a judicial record certificate);
• Documents attached to the application form for judicial record certificate are incomplete or forged.

In case of refusal to issue the judicial record certificate, a written notice clearly stating the reason must be given.

If the documents is ok, the request is made to the right authority, etc., the time limit for issuance a judicial record certificate is not more than 10 days from the date of receipt valid request (Article 48 of the Law on Judicial Records).

In case the person who apply the judicial record certificate is a Vietnamese citizen who has resided in many places or has resided abroad for a period of time, or a foreigner, in case of having to verify the automatic conditions for judicial record remission, period not exceeding 15 days.

If you have any questions about your judicial record, you can send an email to info@vietnam-evisa.com for answers.