Apostille for Vietnam: now a standard Florida apostille.

Let's be straight with you: this page used to say Vietnam doesn't accept apostilles. That was true until September 10, 2026. It isn't true anymore.

Vietnam deposited its instrument of accession to the Hague Apostille Convention on December 31, 2025, and the Convention entered into force for Vietnam on September 11, 2026 (HCCH announcement). Vietnam's embassies and consulates have announced that, from that date, a single apostille replaces consular legalization for public documents exchanged with other Convention countries. They also say a document with a valid apostille can be used in Vietnam without any further certification (Embassy of Viet Nam notice).

For a Florida document, that means:

• The Florida Department of State now issues a standard apostille for Vietnam, not a non-Hague authentication certificate.
• There is no U.S. Department of State authentication and no Vietnamese embassy legalization afterward.
• With us, it's $220 per document, all-inclusive, filed in person in Tallahassee and back in 5–7 business days.

Three countries objected to Vietnam's accession: Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic (HCCH status table). The Convention doesn't operate between Vietnam and those countries, so their documents still go through legalization. The United States did not object, so U.S. documents, including Florida's, use the apostille.

An apostille confirms the signature, the signer's capacity and the seal on a public document. It does not confirm what the document says (Consulate General of Viet Nam notice). The Vietnamese office receiving your paperwork still decides whether the content meets its requirements. Vietnam's notices also list exceptions that still need consular legalization: documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents, and administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations.

Work permits

Work permits are the most common reason Florida documents go to Vietnam. Provincial guidance on Decree 219/2025/ND-CP, which governs foreign workers, says the work-permit file needs a criminal-record certificate (or an equivalent confirmation) issued no more than 6 months before filing. Foreign documents in the file must be authenticated unless an international treaty exempts them, and must be translated into Vietnamese and certified under Vietnamese law (Lạng Sơn Department of Home Affairs guidance). Since September 11, 2026, the apostille is the authentication for Florida documents.

Everything else

Marriage registration, school enrollment, estates and business filings each have their own document lists, set by the receiving office. Get that list in writing before you order anything from Florida.

Vietnam's diplomatic missions spell this out: a document not drawn up in Vietnamese needs a Vietnamese translation that is notarized or certified in accordance with Vietnamese law (Embassy of Viet Nam notice). A U.S. translator's certificate of accuracy is not the same thing.

• Get the Florida apostille first. The translation should cover the document and the apostille certificate together.
• Ask the receiving office, or the employer or lawyer handling your file, where the translation should be done and certified.
• Plan for the translation in your timeline. If the 6-month limit on a criminal-record certificate applies to you, it keeps running while the translation is being done.

The Florida rules are the same as for any other apostille country, and they decide whether your document can be apostilled at all. Pricing is all-inclusive: $220 per document, $380 for two, $160 each for three or more. If you're already in Vietnam, international return shipping is a flat $100 per order.

• Criminal-record certificates. If your office accepts a Florida state record, an FDLE background check or county sheriff's letter must be notarized when it's issued. A printout can't be apostilled. Order it close to your filing date. See FDLE background check apostille.
• Diplomas and transcripts. These must be notarized by the school at issuance, with a complete notarial certificate. See diploma apostille.
• Birth, marriage and death certificates. These must be certified copies signed by the State Registrar (marriage certificates can also be signed by a County Clerk). Copies certified before 2014 aren't accepted; order a fresh one through VitalChek.
• Powers of attorney and affidavits. These need a complete Florida notarial certificate. From anywhere, online notarization costs $40 for the first document ($10 notarization fee + $30 technology platform fee) and $20 for each additional one.
• Half-finished legalizations. Do you have a Florida document with a non-Hague authentication certificate that never finished the embassy steps? Don't assume Vietnam will take it as is. The clean path now is a Florida apostille. Call us at (850) 900-3443 and we'll tell you what to send.