Friday, March 03, 2006

Authenticating U.S. Documents for Vietnamese Authorities

Do you need your U.S. Documents stamped from four different offices in the USA, for use in Vietnam? Those are the rules laid down by the U.S. Consulate. "Please note that commercial documents of U.S. origin for use in Vietnam cannot be notarized at the Consulate General and must go through the authentication process in the United States. The U.S. Citizen Services Unit provides a handout on the procedures required for authentication," quoted from the website USA Consulate of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.


The handout is as confusing as the US tax code. Here it is in all its glory below:

The Consulate General notifies U.S. citizens that the “Chain of Authentication” process described below is the proper way to authenticate U.S. documents for sumission to Vietnamese authorities.

1. Notarized Documents: The procedure for authenticating documents executed before a notary public, such as affidavits or acknowledgments, varies from state to state in the United States. It is advisable to contact the state authentication authority to learn what steps are necessary between the notary's seal and the state Secretary of State's seal. In some states, this requires contacting the clerk of the court of the county where the notary is licensed, and obtaining an authentication of the notary's seal. The state Secretary of State's office can then authenticate the seal of the clerk of the county court. After the seal of the state Secretary of State or comparable authority is on the document, it may be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State Authentications Office. The final step is to obtain the seal of the foreign embassy or consulate in the United States.

2. State Documents: State documents such as documents originating with a state court or agency (birth, death, marriage, etc.) must be authenticated by the appropriate office in the state Secretary of State's office. The document may then be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State Authentications Office as explained above. After that, the document may be authenticated by the foreign embassy or consulate in the United States following the instructions below.

3. U.S. Department of State Authentications Office: The office is located at 518 23rd St., N.W., SA-1 Columbia Plaza, Washington, D.C. 20520, tel: (202) 647-5002. There is a fee of $6.00 for each authentication payable in the form of a check drawn on a U.S. bank or money order made payable to the Department of State. Mastercard and Visa are also accepted. For additional information, call the Federal Information Center: 1-800-688-9889, and choose option 6 after you press 1 for touch tone phones. Walk-in service is available from the Authentications Office from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Monday-Friday, except holidays. Processing time for authentication requests sent by mail takes about 3 working days from receipt. Documents may be express mailed by Federal Express, UPS, DHL, and Airborne directly to the authentications office. There will be a delay for regular mail service. See the Department of State Home Page, http://www.state.gov, for more information.

4. Foreign Embassy: This is the last step in the authentication chain. Usually, foreign embassies or consulates in the U.S. can only authenticate the seal of the U.S. Department of State. Check with the embassy or consulate of the foreign country to see if some of the steps can be avoided. Some foreign embassies and consulates maintain sample seals of state authorities. Remember that what is needed is only the foreign consul's authentication on the document for the document to be "self-proving" in the foreign country.

Vietnamese Government Contacts in USA:
Vietnamese Embassy, 1233 20th Street, Suite 400, NW, Washington, DC 20036, telephone 202-861-0694 or 2293, Fax 202-861-1297, Internet home page: http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org
Vietnamese Consulate General, 1700 California Street - 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94109, telephone 415-922-1577

Friday, February 17, 2006

What We Can Do for You

We can save you the frustration you will develop in trying to get your business papers processed for use in Vietnam. Many people try to perform this "authentication" process on their own. Their end results included lost documents, coerced favors from friends/family, and lengthy processing times of up to 1 year! We have gone through the authentication process several times on our own. After also performing it for friends, we have become quite proficient at getting the documents processed and ready within 3-6 weeks. Save yourself one less hassle in getting settled into Vietnam.

A common problem for Americans coming to Vietnam involves obtaining a criminal record report. Every American who works in Vietnam now needs one from the USA, in order to obtain their work permit in Vietnam. There are essentially either of two types you can submit: an FBI federal background check, or a local/state police background check. The vietnam government accepts either one for your Vietnam working papers. The FBI federal background check involves submitting fingerprints on a standardized form, that has to be submitted to a federal US agency. The local/state police background check is a lot easier to obtain. For your local police background check, you just need to call your local police department of an address that you had resided in the past as a permanet resident. Some of them are willing to provide your background check report after just receiving your identification information over the telephone or through their website. In that case, you just need to find out where your local police department was... the easiest way to do that is via the Yahoo Yellow Pages. After you get your police report, just submit it to Expat Paper Works, and we'll authenticate it too!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Breakdown of Charges

Usual processing time of 3-6 weeks (depending on public holidays for USA and Vietnam).

Fed Ex from Vietnam to USA

$60 usd/ 1-4 docs



Document Notarization of Authentication

$20 usd/ document

Courier service to this office

$60 usd/ 1-2 docs

State Secretary Authentication

$6 usd/ document

Courier service to this office

$60 usd/ 1-2 docs

Fed Ex from Boston to D.C.

$20 usd/ 1-4 docs



Washington D.C. State Authentication Office seal

$6 usd/ document

Courier service to this office

$60 usd/ 1-2 docs

Vietnamese Embassy seal

$50 usd/ document

Courier service to this office

$60 usd/ 1-2 docs

Fed Ex from USA to Vietnam

$60 usd/ 1-4 docs



Thursday, January 19, 2006

Contact Us

We are based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Call in USA: +1 914 595 2736

email: LeMauve@yahoo.com

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Pay with a Credit Card for our service via Shopping Cart below

Fed Ex from Vietnam to USA

$60 usd/ 1-4 docs
















Document Notarization of Authentication

$20 usd/ document














Courier service to this office

$60 usd/ 1-2 docs














State Secretary Authentication

$6 usd/ document














Courier service to this office

$60 usd/ 1-2 docs














Fed Ex from Boston to D.C.

$20 usd/ 1-4 docs
















Washington D.C. State Authentication Office seal

$6 usd/ document














Courier service to this office

$60 usd/ 1-2 docs














Vietnamese Embassy seal

$50 usd/ document














Courier service to this office

$60 usd/ 1-2 docs














Fed Ex from USA to Vietnam

$60 usd/ 1-4 docs