LAW

ON AMENDMENTS TO CERTAIN ARTICLES OF THE Law on Notarization

Pursuant to Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam amended by Resolution No. 203/2025/QH15;

The National Assembly hereby promulgates the Law on amendments to certain articles of the Law on Notarization No. 46/2024/QH15 which is amended by Law No. 106/2025/QH15.

Article 1. Amendments to certain articles of the Law on Notarization

1. Amendments to Clauses 1 and 2 Article 2:

 “1. “Notarization” means a public service provided by notaries of notarial practice organizations to certify the authenticity and lawfulness of written transactions (hereinafter referred to as “transactions”) that are required to be notarized or requested by individuals and organizations themselves.

Overseas embassies and consulates of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam shall notarize transactions according to the provisions of Article 73 of this Law.

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2. Amendments to Article 3:

 “Article 3. Transactions to be notarized

1. A transaction required by law to be notarized is an important transaction that involve stringent requirements for the parties to the transaction and requires a high degree of legal certainty.

2. The Ministry of Justice shall take charge and cooperate with relevant ministries and central authorities in reviewing, updating and posting the list of transactions to be notarized and authenticated on its web portal.”.

3. Amendments to Clause 6 of Article 11:

 “6. The equivalence recognition for persons who have been given notary training abroad shall fall within the competence of the Chairpersons of the People’s Committees of the provinces where such persons reside.

The Minister of Justice shall stipulate the framework program for notary training and applications and procedures for equivalence recognition for persons who have been given notary training abroad.

4. Amendments to Clause 1 of Article 13:

 “1. Individuals fully satisfying the criteria specified in Article 10 of this Law and not included in the group of individuals ineligible for appointment as notaries specified in clauses 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 Article 14 of this Law may request the Chairperson of the People’s Committee of the province where they have completed the period of notarial apprenticeship to appoint as notaries.”.

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 “3. The Chairpersons of the People's Committees of provinces have the power to terminate notaries practicing in their provinces. Where the notary is not practicing at a notarial practice organization at the time the Chairperson of the People's Committee of the province where the notary last practiced has the power to terminate him/her. Where a notary has been appointed but has not yet commenced practice, the Chairperson of the People's Committee of the province where the notary was appointed has the power to terminate him/her.

The Government shall stipulate dossiers and procedures for termination of notaries.”.

6. Amendments to Clause 4 of Article 17:

 “4. The re-appointment as notaries shall fall within the competence of the Chairpersons of the People’s Committees of the provinces where such notaries have been terminated.

The Government shall stipulate dossiers and procedures for re-appointment as notaries.”.

7. Amendments to Article 19:

 “Article 19. Notarial practice organizations

1. Notarial practice organizations include Notary bureaus and notary offices that are organized and operate in accordance with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws.

2. The Provincial People’s Committees shall promulgate Schemes on management and development of notarial practice organizations in accordance with the provisions of this Law, its guidance documents and local actual conditions; consider deciding the transfer of the authority to authenticate transactions from the Chairperson of the commune-level People's Committees to notarial practice organizations for the notarization of transactions in commune-level administrative divisions where notarial practice organizations have been developed to meet the notarization requirements of individuals and organizations as prescribed by the Government.”.

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 “1. Notary offices shall be organized and operate according to the provisions of this Law and other provisions of relevant laws applicable to partnerships. In commune-level administrative divisions with low population density, underdeveloped infrastructure and services and difficulties during the establishment of notary offices in the form of partnerships, notary offices may be established in the form of sole proprietorships. If a commune-level administrative division ceases to qualify for establishment of a notary office in the form of a sole proprietorship, any notary office organized and operating in the form of the sole proprietorship that has been previously established may continue its operation.

The Government provides for the conversion from a notary office organized and operating in the form of a sole proprietorship to a notary office organized and operating in the form of a partnership.

The provincial People’s Committee shall decide the list of commune-level administrative divisions that are permitted to establish notary offices organized and operating in the form of sole proprietorships within their provinces.”.

9. Amendments to Point d Clause 2 Article 24:

 “d) The 2-year term prescribed in clause 6 Article 27, clause 5 Article 30, clause 5 Article 31 and clause 4 Article 34 of this Law has not yet expired.”.

10. Amendments to Clauses 1 and 2 Article 26:

 “1. Within 10 days from the day on which one of the contents specified in clause 2 Article 25 of this Law is changed, a notary office shall register the changes with the Justice Department of division where the notary office has registered its operations.

Where additional partners or notaries working under employment contracts are admitted to a notary office, such newly admitted notaries may practice from the day on which the Justice Department re-grants the registration certificate or records the changes in the registration certificate of the notary office.

The change in the address of a notary office must be in conformity with the Scheme on management and development of notarial practice organizations of their division.

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2. The Justice Department shall reissue the registration certificate when a notary office changes its name, address of its headquarters or its head; in case of changing other contents of the registration certificate, the Justice Department shall reissue the registration certificate or record the changes in the registration certificate of the notary office.”.

11. Amendments to certain clauses of Article 42:

a) Amendments to Clause 1:

 “1. A notarial requester shall submit an application for notarization online, in person or by post to a notarial practice organization. The application for notarization shall include the following documents:

a) The draft transaction;

b) The identity card or passport or another personal identity paper of the notarial requester in accordance with law;

c) The certificate of property ownership or rights to use property, or the legally effective judgment or decision of a court, or another decision of a competent regulatory agency regarding the handling of property or its substitute paper as prescribed by law, for property for which the registration of ownership or rights to use is required by law, where the transaction relates to such property;

d) Other papers related to the transaction as required by law.

The documents specified in points b, c and d of this clause shall be physical or electronic copies or electronic originals.";

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 “7. The notarial requester shall sign every page of the transaction, write his/her full name and affix his/her organization's seal (if applicable) to the last page of the transaction if agreeing with the whole contents of the draft transaction; In case fingerprinting, it shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Article 50 of this Law. The notary shall request the notarial requester to present the physical originals or the electronic originals of the documents specified in point b, c and d clause 1 of this Article for examination and verification prior to writing testimonies and signing every page of the transaction. In the case of notarization of a written disclaimer of estate as prescribed in Article 60 of this Law, the notarial requester shall not be required to present the physical original or electronic original of the document specified at Point c Clause 1 of this Article for the notary's examination and verification prior to writing testimonies and signing every page of the transaction. With respect to the documents specified at Point d Clause 1 of this Article, where the notarial requester does not possess the physical original or electronic original at the time the notary writes testimonies and append a signature, he/she may present a copy from the master register, a certified true copy, or an electronic certified true copy issued from the original.

7a. Where information contained in the documents forming part of an application for notarization as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article is already available in databases that have been made publicly accessible by their owners, the notarial requester shall not be required to submit documents containing such information and may independently access the data for provision to the notary. Where the notarial requester requests the notary to access such data, he/she shall pay the fees for access to and use of information in the databases in accordance with law. The notary receiving the application for notarization shall access and use information already available in the national database and other publicly accessible databases for the purpose of reviewing and processing the application for notarization, and shall not require the presentation of originals for verification as prescribed in Clause 7 of this Article. The notary shall only request the notarial requester to provide additional documents included in the application for notarization where the relevant information cannot be accessed within the prescribed time limit for processing the notarization request, or where the information obtained from the database is incomplete or inaccurate.”.

12. Amendments to Clauses 3 Article 43:

 “3. Other procedures shall comply with the provisions of clauses 6, 7, 7a and 8 Article 42 of this Law.".

13. Amendments to Article 44:

 “Article 44. Authority to notarize real estate-related transactions

1. A notary of a notarial practice organization may only notarize real estate-related transactions within the province or city where the notarial practice organization headquartered, excluding testaments or written disclaimers of real estate and letters of authorization related to the exercise of real estate-related rights, and notarizing the modification, supplementation, termination, or cancellation of these transactions in accordance with the law.

2. The Government shall provide for a roadmap for the nationwide implementation of the authority to notarize real estate-related transactions as provided in Clause 1 of this Article after the notarization database prescribed in Article 66 of this Law has become operational and the information contained in the relevant databases has been made available by their owners in accordance with law.”.

14. Amendments to Clause 4 of Article 50:

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15. Amendments to Article 57:

 “Article 57. Notarization of an authorization contract in case the authorizing party and authorized party cannot appear together at the same notarial practice organization

1. In case the authorizing party and authorized party cannot jointly appear at a single notarial practice organization, the authorizing party may request a notary of a selected notarial practice organization to certify the request for authorization in an authorization contract; the authorized party may then request a notary of a selected notarial practice organization to make a further certification on the original of such authorization contract, confirming the acceptance of authorization and thereby completing the notarization of the authorization contract.

The notarized authorization contract shall take effect from the time when the notaries of both the notarial practice organizations that the authorizing party and the authorized party have requested notarization appended their signatures and affixed the seals of the notarial practice organizations. For an electronic notarized document, digital signatures of the notaries and the notarial practice organizations are required.

2. The notarization of amendments or supplements to, or an agreement on the termination of, an authorization contract in cases where the authorizing party and the authorized party are unable to jointly appear at a single notarial practice organization shall comply with the provisions of Article 53 of this Law and clause 1 of this Article. The

In case both parties request notarization of the amendments or supplements to, or the agreement on the termination of the authorization contract at one of the two notarial practice organizations that have previously performed the notarization, such notarial practice organization is responsible for notifying and sending one copy of the amendments, supplements to, or the agreement on the termination of the contract to the other notarial practice organization within 05 working days for archiving purposes.

3. Technical errors of notarized documents as prescribed in clause 1 and clause 2 of this Article shall be corrected at one of the two notarial practice organizations that have performed the notarization, unless otherwise provided for by law. The notary shall correct technical errors according to the provisions of clause 3 and clause 4 Article 52 of this Law, and send a written notification of the technical error correction to the parties to the transaction and the other notarial practice organization that have performed the notarization within 05 working days; in cases where the other notarial practice organization has terminated its operations, such notification shall be sent to the notarial practice organization storing the notarial record of such notarial practice organization within 05 working days.”.

16. Amendments to Article 66:

 “Article 66. Notarial database

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a) Information on the notary, notarial practice organization and notarized transaction;

b) Information on the transaction status of the property;

c) Information on preventive measures and risk warnings during the notarization;

d) Notarized document and other documents included in the notarial record.

2. Notarial database must be updated fully, accurately, promptly in a manner that ensures security and safety in accordance with law. The collection and provision of information for inclusion in the notarial database and the access and use of notarial database must comply with the provisions of this Law and other relevant laws on confidentiality of notarized contents and the protection of privacy, personal secrets and family secrets.

The connection and sharing of information between the notarial database and national databases, databases of ministries, central and local authorities and other databases must ensure effectiveness, safety and compliance with the functions, tasks and powers as prescribed by this Law and other relevant laws.

3. Notarial database shall be managed centrally while management responsibilities shall be decentralized in accordance with the responsibilities for state management of notarization of the Ministry of Justice and the provincial People’s Committees.

4. The Ministry of Justice shall develop a synchronized and uniform notarization database from central authorities to local authorities in accordance with technical standards and technical regulations applicable nationwide.

The Minister of Justice shall promulgate regulations on management, updating, access, use and sharing of the notarial database nationwide.

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6. The Government of Vietnam shall elaborate clauses 1, 2, 3 and 5 of this Article.”.

17. Amendments to Clause 3 of Article 68:

 “3. Where a competent regulatory authority make a written request for the provision of a notarial record for supervision, examination, inspection, investigation, prosecution, trial or judgment enforcement related to notarized affairs, the concerned notarial practice organization shall supply copies of notarized documents and other relevant papers. The comparison of copies of a notarized document with its original shall be carried out at the notarial practice organization where the notarial record is stored, except where a procedural authority requests the original notarized document for the purpose of verification or forensic examination of documents. The period for provision of the original notarized document shall not exceed 10 working days from the date of handover. The procedural authority shall be responsible for preserving the original notarized document and returning it to the notarial practice organization fully and punctually The handover of the original notarized document shall be documented in writing, specifying the time by which it must be returned, the person responsible for returning it and the liability in the event of loss of or damage to the original notarize document.".

18. The following phrases in certain points and clauses shall be replaced as follows:

a) The phrase "the People’s Committee of a province or central-affiliated city (hereinafter referred to as “the provincial People’s Committee”) shall be replaced with the phrase “the provincial People’s Committee” in clause 4 of Article 8;

b) The phrase “thanh tra viên chính ngành tư pháp” shall be replaced with the phrase “thanh tra viên chính trong lĩnh vực tư pháp” (both mean “chief inspectors of justice”) in point a clause 3 of Article 11; the phrase “thanh tra viên cao cấp ngành tư pháp” shall be replaced with the phrase “thanh tra viên cao cấp trong lĩnh vực tư pháp” (both mean “senior inspectors of justice”) in point d clause 3 of Article;

c) The phrase “commune, ward, commune-level town” shall be replaced with the phrase “commune, ward, special zone" specified in clause 3 of Article 14;

d) The phrase “địa bàn cấp huyện” (“district-level division”) shall be replaced with the phrase “địa bàn cấp xã” (“commune-level division") in point a clause 2 of Article 20 and clause 1 of Article 21’

dd) The phrase “provinces, central-affiliated cities” shall be replaced with the phrase “provinces, cities" in clause 4 Article 20, clause 1 Article 29, clause 1 Article 41 and clause 5 Article 68.

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This Law comes into force from January 01, 2027.

Article 3. Transitional provisions

1. Any person who was appointed or reappointed as a notary before the effective date of this Law may continue to practice notarization and perform authentication duties in accordance with Law No. 46/2024/QH15 on Notarization amended by Law No. 106/2025/QH15, and the provisions of this Law.

2. Notaries who have completed their notarial apprenticeship in a province or city merged with another province or city shall be notarized by the Chairperson of the People's Committee of the province or city after such reorganization.

3. The termination of notaries appointed by the Minister of Justice shall be carried out in accordance with this Law. Where a notary appointed by the Minister of Justice has not yet commenced notarial practice, the Chairperson of the provincial People's Committee that proposed the appointment of such notary has the power to dismiss him/her.

5. Local notarial databases established before the effective date of this Law shall continue to be managed, exploited and used in accordance with Law No. 46/2024/QH15 on Notarization amended by Law No. 106/2025/QH15, until the notarial database established under this Law is put into operation and use, and all necessary data have been fully and accurately synchronized thereto.

The Provincial People's Committees shall be responsible for directing the updating, management and exploitation of existing local notarial databases during the period in which the notarial database prescribed by this Law is being established; and for directing the connection and integration of local notarial data with the notarial database established under this Law in a timely, secure, complete and accurate manner.

6. Within one year from the effective date of this Law, the Government shall review provisions on transactions required to be notarized under legislative documents promulgated before the effective date of this Law and complete the amendment, supplementation or abolition thereof within its competence or submit proposals to competent authorities for amendment, supplementation or abolition of provisions that do not meet the requirements applicable to transactions  required to be notarized as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 1 of this Law.

This Law was passed on April 23, 2026, by the XVIth National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 1st session.

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CHAIRPERSON OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY




Tran Thanh Man