Judicial Record Card in Vietnam

 Judicial record card in Vietnam Procedures to obtain judicial record card (criminal record/ police check) in Vietnam is regulated in the Law no. 28/2009/QH12 of National Assembly of Vietnam on Judicial Record.

Judicial record card means a card issued by an agency managing the judicial record database and valid to prove whether or not an individual has a previous criminal conviction, is banned from holding certain posts, establishing or managing enterprises or cooperatives in case enterprises or cooperatives have been declared bankrupt by court.

Judicial record cards include: judicial record card No. 1, which shall be issued to Vietnamese citizens and foreigners who resided or are currently residing in Vietnam; and judicial record card No. 2, which shall be issued at the request of individuals who want to know their judicial records.

To obtain judicial record card No.1, the requesters who is Vietnamese citizens must apply at provincial-level Justice Departments in localities where they permanently reside or at the provincial-level Justice Department in the locality where the requester temporarily resides (in case they have no place of permanent residence) or at the provincial-level Justice Department in the locality where he/she resided before his/her departure (in case the requesters are residing overseas). The foreigners residing in Vietnam shall apply at provincial-level Justice Departments in localities where they reside or at the National Center for Judicial Records (in case they have left Vietnam).

Documents required include:

i) declaration requesting the issuance of judicial record cards;

ii) a copy of the identity card or passport of the person requested to be issued a judicial record card;

iii) a copy of the household registration book or certificate of permanent or temporary residence of the person requested to be issued a judicial record card.

In case of requesting the issuance of card No.1, individuals may authorize other persons to carry out procedures for requesting the issuance of judicial record cards.

Procedures for issuance of judicial record cards No. 2 to individuals comply with the provisions for card No.1. However, individuals who request the issuance of a judicial record card No. 2, may not authorize others to carry out procedures for such request.

During the process of applying for the Criminal Record, the applicant might have to work with the police agencies; the Court: in case there are not sufficient evidence at the police agencies to conclude that the applicant has no criminal records or the content of the applicant’s criminal records is not clear; People’s Committee of communes, wards and townships; agencies, organizations and agencies related proceedings: in case of coordination to verify the conditions of having his/her conviction automatically written off.

Criminal Record Card in Vietnam

 Criminal record cards or Police check provides criminal or judicial information about a person in Vietnam. The Vietnam law on criminal record governs the process to obtain the criminal records cards.

Accordingly, to obtain the Criminal Record cards in Vietnam, the applicant must apply at the provincial/ municipal Justice Department in Vietnam. For foreigners residing in Vietnam, he/she has to submit the request to the Department of Justice where he/she resides and receives the results at Justice Department.

Documents required are:

i) the written application form;

ii) certified photocopies of passports;

iii) a copy of the permanent or Temporary resident card in Vietnam;

iv) authorization letter in case of authorized application for Criminal Record card (if the authorized persons are not the parents, spouse or children). The written authorization must be certified or authenticated in accordance with the law;

v) application letter for granting Criminal Record.

During the process of applying for the Criminal Record, the applicant might has to work with the Public Securities agencies; the Court: in case there are not sufficient evidence at the police agencies to conclude that the applicant has no criminal records or the content of the applicant’s criminal records is not clear; People’s Committees of communes, wards and townships; agencies, organizations and agencies related proceedings: in case of coordination to verify the conditions of having his/her conviction automatically written off.

In practice, there are cases when the foreigner already left Vietnam and now he/she is in need of Criminal Record for the time he/she resided in Vietnam. We have successfully assist clients in various cases.

Our lawyers in Vietnam constantly follow up with changes of law to provide the client with update for better decision making process.

Expiry Date of the Criminal Record Card

 According to Clause 4 of Article 2 of the Law on criminal record, criminal record card is the document issued by the competent state agencies for organizations and individuals, proving that individuals have or do not have criminal record. The problem is that, for how long since the date that state agencies issue the criminal record card, it will be expired?

The law on criminal record of 2009 and the current law documents do not have regulations on the duration of use of the criminal record card. However, depending on the areas and purpose of using that the expiry dates of the criminal record card will be regulated differently.

For example, Articles 20, 24 and 28 of the Nationality Act of 2008, amending and supplementing in 2014 specified that in the dossier of application, stop and return to Vietnam nationality, there must have the criminal record card that is issued not more than 90 days before the date of submission.

Besides, a number of diplomatic representative missions of foreign countries in Vietnam also provides for the shelf life of the criminal record card when resolving visa application requirements, such as the United States Consulate provides that applicants for entry visas from 16 years or older need to submit the criminal record that was issued within a year.

Thus, the shelf life of the criminal record card in Vietnam currently is not clearly specified. It depends on the provisions in the documents of each different fields and the will of agencies and organizations wishing to learn about previous criminal conviction status of the litigants.