Procedures for legalizing labor contracts executed in Vietnam for submission to the POEA

Notarization (or legalization) of labor contracts for submission to POEA may be done either through “authentication” or “acknowledgement,” the procedures and requirements of which are as follows:

I.  AUTHENTICATION

A labor contract may be authenticated by the Philippine Embassy after it has gone through local authentication as follows:

1. Notarization by a Vietnamese notary public (you may wish to check if notarization by a notary public needs to be certified by the Department of Justice in your area, prior to submitting it to MOFA)
2. Certification / authentication by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Hanoi or HCMC)
3. Authentication by the Philippine Embassy in Hanoi (application may be sent by mail or through any authorized representative) or by the Philippine Honorary Consul General in HCMC

Processing fee is US$25 per document. If the application will be sent by mail to the Embassy, the fee may be deposited to the Embassy’s HSBC account with the following details:

                        Account name:       Philippine Embassy
                        USD Account:                      002 016566 101
                        Beneficiary bank: HSBC Hanoi Branch
                        Bank’s address:       83B Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Hanoi

The bank deposit receipt must be included in the application documents to be mailed to the Consular Section of the Embassy. The applicants must arrange for the delivery by mail/courier of the documents to the Embassy and for their return to the applicant. The Embassy, however, does not guarantee the reliability of the mailing system and assumes no responsibility for any delay or loss in the mail or while the documents are in the custody of the courier service.

Processing time is 3 working days.

II.   ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Another way to notarize the labor contract is through “acknowledgment,” whereby the Embassy’s consular officer OR the Philippine Honorary Consul General in HCMC acknowledges that the labor contract was signed before her. This requires personal appearance of the person/s who will sign the contract, and he/they must sign the labor contract in front of the Embassy’s consular officer or the Philippine Honorary Consul General in HCMC.

The person/ who will sign the labor contract must also bring the following:

1. valid passport and a photocopy thereof, as proof of identity
2. an authenticated copy (meaning, notarized by Vietnamese notary public and certified/authenticated by MOFA) of the company’s business license (with English translation) as proof of the legality of said company’s operation in Vietnam.

The processing fee is also US$25 per document and processing time is 3 working days.
Labor contracts of Household Service Workers (household help, nannies) may be notarized through “acknowledgement.” In addition to the labor contract, the applicant must bring the following:

1. valid passport of the employee and employer, and photocopies thereof
2. Photocopy of the employer’s visa, or Temporary Residence Card
3. Work Permit of the employer, and a photocopy thereof, OR if the employer owns a business in Vietnam, submit a notarized copy of business license and a company certification on his/her designation in the company