Consular legalization (certification) of BVI company documents

British Virgin Islands (BVI) is an ideal country to open a company for businesses to invest in with extremely preferential tax rates. Most of the cBVI companies conducting business and management activities outside this territory, therefore, the documents/documents of BVI companies are often required to be consular legalized or consular certified to prove that the company is truly established and still operating (Good standing status). Consular legalization of BVI company documents serves many purposes:

• Open a bank account
• Invest abroad
• Borrowing or establishing credit with financial institutions

This article will provide businesses with relevant information on consular legalization of BVI company documents for use in Vietnam.

1. What is consular certification and consular legalization?

"Consular certification" is the act of a competent Vietnamese authority certifying the seal, signature, and title on Vietnamese papers and documents so that such papers and documents can be recognized and used abroad.

"Consular legalization" is the act of a competent authority of Vietnam certifying the seal, signature, and title on foreign papers and documents (specifically BVI) so that those papers and documents can be recognized and used in Vietnam.

=> Please note: Consular certification and consular legalization only certify the seal, signature, and title on papers and documents, and do not include certification of the content and form of the papers and documents. 

2. Consular legalization process for BVI company documents

The standard procedure for legalizing BVI company documents for use in Vietnam is as follows:

1. Notarization at Notary Office in BVI
2. BVI Authority (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) confirms 
3. Confirmed by the Department of Foreign Affairs/ Embassy of Vietnam (in BVI or in any country)
4. Translation/notarization
5. The documents are fully legal for use in Vietnam.

However, legalization in BVI is very expensive, not to mention the mailing fee and the time it takes to deliver back and forth. Due to the inconvenience of geographical distance and high fees, Global Links Asia has researched and cooperated with the Singapore notary office to help legalize business documents easier and more affordable.

Instead of having to send the documents to BVI for notarization, steps 1 and 2 will be done in Singapore (Singapore government approved), and the documents will then be transferred to the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore to complete consular legalization.

3. The legalization process in Singapore will be as follows:

1. Documents are notarized at Singapore Notary Office
2. The Singapore Institute of Justice will review and confirm
3. Signed and sealed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore
4. Vietnamese Embassy certified and stamped 

The entire process will take approximately 7-10 working days. Global Links Asia will cover the cost of shipping original documents to Singapore.

Instead of having to send the documents to BVI for notarization, steps 1 and 2 will be done in Singapore (Singapore government approved), and the documents will then be transferred to the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore to complete consular legalization. 

In addition to legalizing (certifying) BVI company documents and files, Global Links Asia also supports legalization in other countries such as Hong Kong, Thailand, USA, Malaysia. In addition to company documents, we also support legalizing other types of documents such as Academic Certificates, Experience Confirmation, Appointment Decisions, etc.