Criminal record (Police check) for foreigners in Vietnam

Criminal record (Police check) for foreigners applying for a work permit in Vietnam

A Criminal record (Police check) is a mandatory condition for foreigners who want to be granted a work permit to work in Vietnam. Depending on their residence status, foreigners can choose to have a Criminal record (Police check) in Vietnam or abroad.

According to Article 7 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009, foreigners who have been or are residing in Vietnam have the right to request the issuance of their Criminal record (Police check) cards. Therefore, foreigners who have been or are currently residing in Vietnam can request the competent authorities to issue a Criminal record (Police check) for them to apply for a work permit to work in Vietnam.

1. What is the criminal record (police check)

Criminal record (Police check) means a record of previous criminal conviction(s) of a person convicted under a criminal court judgment or ruling which has taken legal effect, the state of his/her execution of the judgment and a ban on this person”s holding of certain posts, or establishment or management of enterprises or cooperatives in case enterprises or cooperatives have been declared bankrupt by court (Clause 1, Article 2 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009).
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 (Clause 4, Article 2 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009)

2. Form of the Criminal record (Police check) card for foreigners in Vietnam.

Foreigners who are issued with a Criminal record (Police check) card No. 1 to apply for a work permit to work in Vietnam (point a, clause 1, Article 41 of the 2009 Law on Judicial Records).

3. Procedures for granting judicial record cards to foreigners in Vietnam.

Procedures for granting Criminal record (Police check) cards to foreigners according to Article 45 of the Law on Judicial Records 2009 and Clause 2, Article 2 of Circular 16/2013/TT-BTP are as follows:
The applicant for the issuance of the Criminal record (Police check) card shall submit the application for the issuance of a Criminal record (Police check) card, enclosed with a copy of the passport of the applicant and the temporary residence certificate of the local police.
- The Applicant submits the Declaration Form and attached documents at the following agencies:
+ In case of residing abroad, the application shall be submitted to the Department of Justice of the place of residence before leaving the country;
+ Foreigners residing in Vietnam shall submit to the Department of Justice where they reside; if they have left Vietnam, they shall submit them to the National Center for Judicial Records.
- An individual may authorize another person to carry out the procedures for requesting the issuance of a Criminal record (Police check) card. The authorization must be made in writing according to the provisions of law; In case the person requesting the issuance of a judicial record card is the father, mother, wife, husband or child of the person granted the Criminal record (Police check) card, a written authorization is not required.

4. Time limit for issuance of Criminal record (Police check) cards for foreigners in Vietnam.

The time limit for issuance of Criminal record (Police check) cards to foreigners according to Article 48 of the 2009 Law on Judicial Records is prescribed as follows:
+ The time limit for issuance of criminal  record cards shall not exceed 10 days from the date of receipt of a valid application files.
+ In case the person who is issued a Criminal record (Police check) card is a Vietnamese citizen who has resided in many places or has a period of residence abroad, a foreigner, the case must be verified on the conditions for automatically having previous criminal convictions expunged. the time limit shall not exceed 15 days.
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