Job Discussion Forums

fred23 · Joined: 23 Nov 2010 Posts: 10 Location: IRL

Hi,

I know this type of question has been asked many times, but I want to get up to date information and my searches haven't fully answered my questions. I'd really appreciate some input.

So I plan on landing in Vietnam in the next few months and I'd like to clarify what I need.

1. My degree. Do I need to get it notarized and apostilled like I did in Korea? I've read somethings about authentication, is this the same thing?
2. University transcripts?
3. Criminal background check?
4. Tefl cert. It's a poxy online cert which I know is useless, but it can't do any harm to bring it along, can it?
5. Certificate of employment which documents my 2 years experience in Korean?

Any advice on other do's/don'ts regarding documents etc would be great.

fred23 · Joined: 23 Nov 2010 Posts: 10 Location: IRL

Just want too add for the authentication issue, that I'm Irish. I'm guessing here that there are very few of on here to help me out, but do you think it would be the same procedure as Korea- get notarized at solictors office and have it apostilled at the Department of Foreign Affairs?

Also, I know the WP issue is very grey but is it possible (likely) to obtain a WP with uni degree but no Tefl cert (only a useless online one)?

Please give me some input, decisions need to made really soon and I'm struggling here. Cheers.

VietCanada · Joined: 30 Nov 2010 Posts: 590

You need a Criminal Background Check (CBC or CRC) from your country of origin, a health check done here at a sanctioned hospital, a bachelor's degree and a teaching certification to work in Vietnam. A TEFL or equivalent is considered to be a teaching certification in Vietnam.

All documents originating from your country of origin need to be apostilled or notarized if your country (Canada for example) is not a signatory to the apostille treaty. Your degree, teaching cert. and CRC should be apostilled/notarized before you enter Vietnam unless you have someone back home willing to do it for you. But mailing original documents back and forth takes time and perhaps entails some very small degree of risk compared to doing it yourself.

Demonietto · Joined: 19 Apr 2013 Posts: 50

Does notarizing a degree alter the actual degree, or is it accompanied by a letter or something similar? Mine is from a California university, if that helps.

TRH · Joined: 27 Oct 2011 Posts: 340 Location: Hawaii

Tigerstyleone · Joined: 26 Mar 2010 Posts: 181

Your consulate is in Hanoi. You might think about going there instead of HCMC.

RustyShackleford · Joined: 13 May 2013 Posts: 449

So just to make doubly, triply sure, you are all saying that one would have to get their documents notarized at their OWN COUNTRY'S embassy/consulate in Vietnam itself and that this CANNOT be done in the closest Vietnamese embassy in their country of residence?

Edit: Also, in the case of my criminal record/letter of good conduct from my local government, since in my case, I am coming from Japan but have an American passport, would the US letter suffice or would it need to be a Japanese one (in this situation, the term "country of origin" is a little ambiguous for me, political correctness aside).

ExpatLuke · Joined: 11 Feb 2012 Posts: 744

Rusty, your documents need to be notarized AND certified.

If you are a US citizen you get them notarized by the Department of State of the state you are from in the US (or possibly the state you went to school in, can't really remember).

Once you have the notarized documents, you can come to Vietnam and have them certified at either the US Consulate in Hanoi or the US Embassy in Saigon.