Good news if you’ve ever had to get documents legalized through the Vietnamese consulate: you don’t have to anymore. Vietnam joined the Apostille Convention, and since September 11, 2026, U.S. documents going to Vietnam just need an apostille.
We take care of that for you, along with the Vietnamese translation if you need one, so your documents arrive in Vietnam ready to use.
Who Comes to Us
There’s a lot going on between the U.S. and Vietnam, and we see it from all sides:
- Americans heading to Vietnam to work. English teachers, and people working with the factories and businesses there. Most of them need an FBI background check for their work permit.
- Vietnamese-American families looking after property or family matters back home. Usually that means a power of attorney, or birth and marriage certificates.
- Retirees making the move.
- Businesses with operations or partners in Vietnam that need their U.S. company documents recognized there.
FBI Background Check for a Work Permit
If you’re going to work in Vietnam, you’ll need to show you have a clean record at home. For Americans, that means an FBI background check with a federal apostille from the U.S. Department of State.
Two things catch people out:
- Timing. Usually, the check can’t be more than six months old when you apply for your work permit, so don’t get it too early.
- Translation. It usually needs to be translated into Vietnamese. We can do that for you.
If you’re in Los Angeles, we take your fingerprints electronically, and the FBI result usually comes back the same day. The apostille takes about 9 business days, so plan on about three weeks from start to finish. It’s $300, including return shipping within the U.S.
If you’re already in Vietnam, you can still do it. Get fingerprinted on FD-258 ink cards and mail them to us, and we’ll take it from there. It’s $400, plus shipping to Vietnam.
For the full timeline on both, see How Long Does an FBI Background Check Apostille Take?
Family, Property and Business Documents
Where your apostille comes from depends on where your document came from:
- California documents (birth, marriage and divorce records, or anything notarized here, like a power of attorney) get a California apostille. We usually have these back in 1 to 3 business days.
- Documents from other states get that state’s apostille, and we handle those too.
- Federal documents, like the FBI background check, get their apostille from the U.S. Department of State.
Need a power of attorney for property in Vietnam? We can notarize it here and then get it apostilled, all in one go.
Vietnamese Translation
Vietnamese offices generally want documents in Vietnamese. We translate FBI reports, certificates and other documents, so everything is ready to hand in together.
Get Started
Call or text us at 310-526-0200 and tell us what you’re sending to Vietnam. We’ll tell you exactly what it needs and how long it will take.
