Before moving to Vietnam with school-age children, collect four groups of documents while you are still at home: proof of identity and family relationships (passports and birth certificates, legalised where Vietnam requires it), school records for the last two to three years, health and vaccination records, and any specialist reports on learning or medical needs. Most schools in Vietnam will ask for some of these, immigration offices will ask for others, and almost all of them are far easier to obtain before you leave than after.
Paperwork is the least exciting part of an international move and the part families most often regret rushing. A missing apostille or an unsigned school report can delay an enrolment by weeks, and a birth certificate that has not been legalised can hold up a child's residence card. This guide explains what to gather, why each item matters, how legalisation and translation work in principle, and how to organise everything so that you can answer any request quickly. Requirements change and differ between schools and offices, so check the current list with each school and with the authority dealing with your family's visas.
Identity and family documents
These prove who your child is and how they are related to the parent whose status allows them to live in Vietnam. Immigration offices and many schools rely on them.
- A passport for each child, ideally with at least eighteen months of validity left when you arrive, since visas and residence cards cannot outlast the passport.
- A full birth certificate naming both parents, not a short extract that omits parents' names.
- The parents' marriage certificate, if the dependant application or school asks for it.
- Court orders or written consent from the other parent where parents are separated or one parent is not moving, especially for custody and travel.
- Adoption orders or guardianship papers, where they apply.
Order extra certified copies of birth and marriage certificates from the issuing office before you leave. Several offices in Vietnam may each want to keep an original-style copy, and ordering from abroad takes time.
Check that names are spelled identically across every document. A middle name present on a passport but missing on a birth certificate, or a hyphen that appears on one and not the other, can lead to questions. Where a difference cannot be avoided, a short official note explaining it can save time.
Legalisation and translation in principle
Vietnam generally requires foreign civil documents used in official procedures to be consular-legalised, meaning their seals and signatures are certified by the issuing country's authorities and then by a Vietnamese embassy or consulate, unless an international agreement exempts them. Vietnam is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention as far as we are aware at the time of writing, so an apostille on its own is usually not enough; you typically need the Vietnamese consular step as well. This can change, so confirm with the nearest Vietnamese embassy or consulate.
Once in Vietnam, documents usually need a translation into Vietnamese, certified either through a notary office or the local authority that certifies translations. Translation offices are common in the big cities and know the format offices expect. Do not translate documents yourself for official use, even if you speak Vietnamese well.
Schools differ in what they need. International schools often accept English-language school reports without legalisation, while a Vietnamese public school or an immigration office may need full legalisation and certified translation of birth certificates. Ask each institution exactly which documents need which treatment before paying for anything, because legalising papers that will never be required is a waste of time and money.
School records that make admission smoother
Most schools ask for reports from the last two or three years and a reference or confidential report from the current school. Request these several months before you leave, because teachers write references at busy times of the year and schools may need a signed form from the receiving school. Ask for reports in both paper and digital form, signed and on letterhead.
Beyond reports, a few items help enormously. A short description of the curriculum and the subjects your child has studied is useful, especially if you are moving between systems, for example from a national curriculum to the IB. For secondary students, a list of courses with levels, current predicted grades and any examination board registration numbers allows the new school to place them correctly. For students in examination programmes, keep copies of coursework, portfolio pieces and internal assessment drafts.
If your child has been in a gifted programme, accelerated in a subject, or held back a year, include a brief letter from the school explaining why. Without context, a receiving school may place the child by age alone.
Health records and vaccinations
Bring each child's full vaccination record, a summary of any chronic conditions, current prescriptions with generic drug names, and recent test results relevant to ongoing care. International schools commonly ask for vaccination records at enrolment, and some ask for a medical form completed by a doctor. Vietnamese schools may also ask for a health record, and a clinic in Vietnam will want to see the vaccination history before recommending any catch-up doses.
Vaccination schedules differ between countries, so your child may be ahead on some vaccines and missing others compared with what is usual in Vietnam. Discuss this with a doctor before you go and again after arrival; our healthcare guides cover vaccinations for living in Vietnam in more detail. Do not rely on memory or a phone photo of a vaccination booklet that is hard to read.
If your child needs regular medication, bring enough to cover the first weeks and the original prescription, and check whether that medicine is available in Vietnam under the same or another name. Some medicines are controlled differently in Vietnam, so ask before packing large quantities.
Reports on learning, development and special needs
If your child has a diagnosis or receives support for a learning difference, a developmental condition, a disability or emotional needs, gather the full set of reports: psychological or educational assessments, therapy reports, the school's individual education plan, and any letters from specialists. Share them with prospective schools early and honestly. A school can only tell you whether it can meet your child's needs if it knows what they are.
Specialist services for children, such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and educational psychology in English, exist in the largest cities but are limited in number and may have waiting lists. Recent reports from home allow a new provider to continue support without repeating a full assessment straight away. Ask your current specialists for a summary letter with recommendations that a school or therapist abroad can act on.
Families sometimes worry that disclosing a need will cost the child a place. It is understandable, but a placement that collapses after a term because the school cannot cope is far worse for the child than an honest conversation at the start.
Who usually asks for what
The table shows typical patterns. Each school and office sets its own requirements, so use it to plan questions rather than to skip any.
| Document | International school | Vietnamese public or bilingual school | Immigration office (child's visa or card) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passport and visa | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Birth certificate | Often a copy | Usually legalised and translated | Legalised and translated, to prove the relationship |
| School reports | Yes, usually in English | Yes, with translation | No |
| Vaccination record | Usually | Often | No |
| Specialist reports | If relevant, strongly advised | If relevant | No |
| Proof of address | Sometimes | Usually | Yes, through the residence declaration |
Families on an employer-sponsored move should also ask the employer which documents its visa agent needs for dependants, and in which form, so that one round of legalisation covers both the school and immigration needs. Paying for legalisation once, for two or three certified copies of each document, is usually cheaper and faster than repeating the process.
Families moving independently, for example to join a Vietnamese spouse, should ask the immigration office handling the child's visa or card for its current list in writing, or check the list published by the provincial immigration department, and then compare it with what the chosen school wants.
Building a family document folder
Keep one physical folder with originals in clear sleeves, ordered by family member, and one digital folder with high-quality scans of every page, stored somewhere you can reach from a phone. Name scans clearly, with the person's name, the document type and the expiry date. Add Vietnamese translations as you receive them.
Make a simple table of expiry dates for every passport, visa, residence card and work permit in the family, and set reminders several months before each one. Children's passports often expire sooner than adults' passports, and a renewal abroad can take weeks through an embassy.
Finally, keep copies of everything with a trusted person at home. If documents are lost or stolen in Vietnam, having someone who can send scans or order replacements quickly will save a great deal of stress. Report a lost passport promptly to the local police and to your embassy, since a police confirmation is usually needed for a replacement and for updating the child's residence documents.
Documents for the child's visa or residence card
Schools are only half the picture. Your child's right to live in Vietnam rests on documents too, and the immigration side is usually stricter about form. A dependant visa or temporary residence card for a child is normally linked to a parent's status, so the office will want proof of that link: a legalised and translated birth certificate naming the parent, the parent's own residence documents, and the application forms signed by the sponsoring employer or by the Vietnamese family member. Where only one parent is moving, some offices or schools may ask for evidence that the other parent agrees.
Because these requirements change and differ between localities, our residence card guides describe the process in general terms only, and the immigration department of the province where you live is the authority to confirm the current list. Ask your employer or its agent to send you that list early, so that the documents you legalise at home cover both the school and the residence card in one go.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
Does Vietnam accept an apostille instead of legalisation?
Vietnam has generally required consular legalisation rather than accepting an apostille alone, apart from documents covered by specific agreements. Because this can change, check with the Vietnamese embassy or consulate in the country that issued the document before you start the process.
Do international schools in Vietnam need legalised school reports?
Usually not. Most international schools accept reports and references in English directly from the previous school, sometimes sent school to school. Legalisation is more often needed for civil documents such as birth certificates, especially for immigration purposes or Vietnamese schools.
Where do I get documents translated in Vietnam?
Translation offices in the cities prepare Vietnamese translations, which are then certified through a notary office or the local authority that certifies translations. Ask the school or immigration office which certification it accepts before you order, and keep the certified translation together with the original.
What if my child's school records are in a language other than English?
International schools usually ask for an English translation, and Vietnamese schools for a Vietnamese one. A certified translation from your home country may be accepted by an international school, but Vietnamese authorities normally want a translation certified in Vietnam.
How far in advance should I start collecting documents?
Three to four months before the move is a sensible minimum, and longer if your country's legalisation process is slow or you need documents from several places. School references and consular legalisation are the steps that most often cause delays.
Should I bring originals or copies to Vietnam?
Bring originals of key civil documents, such as birth and marriage certificates, together with extra certified copies and scans. Offices may need to see originals even if they keep only copies, and replacing an original from abroad is slow.