Degree cerificate.

A significant number of Americans have done so.  In my case, the VN Embassy in D.C had certified my diploma but not translated it so I had to do it all over again in HCMC anyway.

Lore87 wrote:

Hi all,

I was speaking with different members about degree certificates and work permits and there looks to be different procedures depending on your country of origin.
So my question is, any expat managed to get the work permit by simply taking his original degree to his embassy in Vietnam where they stamped a true certified copy, without doing this in its country of origins ?

Thanks guys !

Well, it used to work that way seven or eight years ago. I did the same back in 2010 to get my then WP.
Now, least likely ... perhaps, no more (for most countries).

Yes, you're right, they have different policies for different countries regarding acceptance of foreign documents.

Lore87 wrote:

..., any expat managed to get the work permit by simply taking his original degree to his embassy in Vietnam where they stamped a true certified copy, without doing this in its country of origins ?

Thanks guys !

I had to get my documents notarized in my home country (USA), then authenticated by California Secretary of State's office (my home state), then submitted to the VN embassy for legalization. The VN embassy charged me $70 USD to legalize the degree certificate, $50 USD for the criminal record check.

I followed the instructions on the VN embassy website at http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/consular/legalization.

avhexpat wrote:

I had to get my documents notarized in my home country (USA), then authenticated by California Secretary of State's office (my home state), then submitted to the VN embassy for legalization. The VN embassy charged me $70 USD to legalize the degree certificate, $50 USD for the criminal record check.

I followed the instructions on the VN embassy website at http://vietnamembassy-usa.org/consular/legalization.

What you did is entirely appropriate but still unnecessary and more expensive than certifying and translating in Vietnam.  Besides the direct fees, you must have added fees for CA Sec. of State and postage both ways as well.  My rough estimate is that you had a total cost close to $100 per document.  Just curious; did you send your documents to D.C or to the Consulate in San Fransisco?

There does seem to be a change since I did my documents in D.C. in 2011-12.  At that time it was also necessary, after the state certification, to send the documents to the US Secretary of State for certification.  They seem to have dropped this step.

THIGV wrote:

What you did is entirely appropriate but still unnecessary and more expensive than certifying and translating in Vietnam.  Besides the direct fees, you must have added fees for CA Sec. of State and postage both ways as well.  My rough estimate is that you had a total cost close to $100 per document.  Just curious; did you send your documents to D.C or to the Consulate in San Fransisco?

There does seem to be a change since I did my documents in D.C. in 2011-12.  At that time it was also necessary, after the state certification, to send the documents to the US Secretary of State for certification.  They seem to have dropped this step.

@THIGV, thanks for the info, wish I knew about the option to have the documents certified in VN.

You're right, the cost is close to $100 per document (notary fee, CA Sec. of State authenticate fee is $21.50/document, VN embassy legalization fee is $60 on average per document, FedEx both ways). I sent my documents to the Consulate in San Francisco.

Thank god, I don't have to sent the documents to the US Secretary of State.

Link doesn't work, but this is helpful. Did you only have to legalize your University diploma, or also high school? What about teaching certificate? Did the organization accept it without it being translated into Vietnamese?