A criminal record is the essential document when submitting request for Vietnam work permit. For those who live in Vietnam for more than 6 months, a Vietnam criminal record is required. What is a criminal record? What documents required to get Vietnam criminal record and how to process it? Let see the information below.
The criminal record (or also called Police check or police clearance certificate, or in Vietnamese – Phieu Ly lich tu phap) (according to Clause 1, Article 2 of the Law on Judicial Records in 2009) is the paper issued by agencies managing judicial record databases (provincial-level Justice Departments or National Center for Judicial Records), in which the content proves:
Foreigners who want to apply for Vietnam work permit need a criminal record (or police clearance certificate), and they will be issued with the certificate by the Vietnam authority if they resided or has been residing in Vietnam.
According to the Law No. 28/2009/QH12 of June 17, 2009, on judicial records, there are 02 forms of police clearance certificate in Vietnam: No. 1 and No. 2.
The police clearance certificate No. 1 is for:
And the police clearance certificate No. 1 will show the following information:
– “Không có án tích” (no previous criminal conviction ) for those who have never violated the law OR had a criminal conviction which has been remitted and such remission has been updated in his/her judicial records, OR had a criminal conviction which was subject to amnesty and such amnesty has been updated in his/her judicial records.
– “Có án tích” (with a previous criminal conviction) with the contents of the committed crime, principal and additional penalties for those who have committed violations or previous criminal records that have not been remitted.
The police clearance certificate No. 2 is for:
This Form No. 2 states both spent and unspent convictions.
So, normally, as a foreigner in Vietnam applying for a work permit, you need to get the Police Clearance Certificate Form No. 01. And, following is the guide for you.
Conditions for granting criminal records to foreigners:
According to the provisions of the Law on Judicial Records, the conditions for granting criminal records for foreigners in Vietnam are those foreigners must be temporarily staying in Vietnam.
The temporary residence in Vietnam is expressed at the time of the visa or temporary residence card of the foreigner who has registered temporary residence with the police of the commune, ward or town where she/he is staying. The registration of temporary residence is indicated in the temporary resident book or certificate of temporary residence registration issued by the police.
Documents for applying for the criminal record No. 1 for foreigners
In case of authorization, the following papers are required:
In case the applicant for a criminal record is a parent, spouse and child of the person who is issued with a police clearance certificate, no power of attorney is required but it is replaced by papers to prove the relationship (birth certificate; marriage certificate; etc.)
Note: The documents in the profile can be submitted without a certified copy, but it is necessary to bring the original for comparison.
Place to submit criminal record (police clearance certificate) in Vietnam
In addition, state agencies, political organizations and socio-political organizations, requesting the police clearance certificate for a person, shall send documents to the Department of Justice where that person permanently resides or temporarily stay. In case it is impossible to identify the permanent or temporary residence place of that person issued, the documents can be submitted to the National Center for Judicial Records.
A criminal record can be submitted by agents or by individual. If you submit by yourself, you should base on these steps:
Step 1: Register for issuance of online criminal record certificate
There are 6 sections you have to complete:
The information which needs to complete in “Personal information” includes:
And then,
Step 2: Visit the Department of Justice or National Center for Judicial Records to submit your documents or send them via the postal service
The submission should be done in the morning as the Department of Justice or National Center for Judicial Records is often closed or cannot accept applications in the afternoon.
Step 3: Pay the fee for a criminal record issuance
There are 3 methods of payment of the fee for the issuance of a criminal record:
Step 4: Receive an appointment paper to get the results
After completing all procedures, you will be issued an appointment paper. If submitted by mail, the appointment paper will be sent to the requestor’s email at the time the application is completed.
Step 5: Get the result
After the application is approved, the applicant arrives at the place where the application was submitted to get the result. Besides, the police clearance certificate will be sent to the address listed in the registration form via mail, if the applications are submitted by post.
If you are not clear in any step, or if you want to use the service to do criminal record for you, just let us know through email info@vietnam-evisa.com
Normally, the processing time of a request for police check by the Department of Justice or National Center for Judicial Records is 10 working since receipt of full documents and payment.
The Vietnam Police Check Fee is 200,000 VND. In case the person who is issued with the police clearance certificate requests to issue more than 2 copies at a time, from the 3rd copy onwards, the additional cost is 5,000 VND/copy.
In fact, there are no clear and uniform regulations on how long the judicial record will last. Depending on the legal documents in different fields and the requirements of agencies and organizations wishing to find out the criminal status of individuals, the criminal record will be valid for a certain period of time.
Therefore, when requesting a criminal record, you must know what the purpose is for and specific requirements of the relevant agencies and organizations to ensure the validity of the document.
Above is all information about Vietnam criminal record (police check). If you have any question, just fee free to ask us through info@vietnam-evisa.com