Vietnamese Criminal Record for Canada IRCC: Apostille or Translation?

💡 For Canadian permanent residence, IRCC requires the criminal record certificate No. 2 accompanied by a certified translation into English or French. No apostille is required. Vietnam's apostille convention (in force September 11, 2026) does not change this: IRCC evaluates translation quality, not whether the original carries an apostille stamp.

Which document does IRCC actually want?

IRCC's official guidance for Vietnam specifies the criminal record certificate No. 2 (Phiếu lý lịch tư pháp số 2), which IRCC labels Judicial Certificate #2 or Criminal Record Certificate #2. This is issued by the provincial Department of Justice (Sở Tư pháp) and records a person's full judicial history. Certificate #1, which is widely used for domestic employment purposes inside Vietnam, is not what IRCC asks for.

If you are currently in Vietnam, apply at your local provincial Department of Justice or through a provincial public-service portal. If you are outside Vietnam, contact the National Center for Judicial Records (Trung tâm Lý lịch tư pháp Quốc gia, under Vietnam's Ministry of Justice) by email at ttlltpqg@moj.gov.vn. IRCC's guidance page for Vietnam police certificates confirms this requirement.

Certificate #1 vs Certificate #2: what is the difference?

Certificate #1 states only whether the person currently carries any undischarged criminal conviction. It is a clean or not-clean snapshot of today. Certificate #2 lists every conviction on record, including those already served, suspended, or expunged. Immigration authorities almost always require Certificate #2 because they need the complete picture, not just the present-day status.

Submitting Certificate #1 when IRCC asks for Certificate #2 is a common mistake that leads to processing delays, follow-up requests, and potentially a refused application. Check your specific IRCC application checklist before you apply for the certificate.

Does the criminal record certificate need an apostille for Canada?

No. IRCC does not require an apostille on Vietnamese source documents. An apostille authenticates the seal and signature of the Vietnamese authority that issued the document. It tells a receiving country: this signature is genuine. IRCC is not asking that question. What IRCC is asking is: does this translation accurately render what the original says? That is a translation question, answered by a certified translation, not an apostille.

Practically: you go directly from receiving the original criminal record certificate No. 2 to having it translated. You do not need to visit a MOFA consular department to obtain an apostille first.

Vietnam joined the Hague Apostille Convention on September 11, 2026. This is useful when you use Vietnamese documents in other member countries that require an apostille, for example some European civil registries. It does not change IRCC's rules. Canada is an Apostille Convention member, but IRCC independently requires a certified translation, not an apostille on the source document.

What does a certified translation for IRCC look like?

An IRCC-accepted certified translation includes a complete rendering of every word and element in the original: seals, stamps, handwritten entries, marginal notes, registration numbers, and the issuing authority's heading. It also includes the translator's full name, contact details, the date, and a signed declaration that the translation is accurate and complete.

If the translator is a certified member of a recognized association, such as ATIO (Ontario) or OTTIAQ (Quebec), the membership credential and signed declaration are sufficient. If the translator is not a member of such an association, IRCC requires a sworn affidavit: the translator swears before a notary or commissioner of oaths that the translation is accurate. This affidavit is the translator's personal sworn statement, not a notarization of the translation document itself.

You can order a certified Vietnamese criminal record translation for your IRCC package, including the signed certificate of accuracy and all required details.

Does a notarized copy replace a certified translation for IRCC?

No, and confusing the two is one of the most common prep mistakes. A notarized copy is a photocopy of the original Vietnamese document that a notary has stamped to confirm it matches the original. It is still a copy of a Vietnamese-language document. IRCC needs an English or French translation of that document in addition.

A notarized copy and a certified translation serve two different purposes and are not interchangeable. You may need both, or only the translation, depending on your application stream. But having only a notarized copy without a translation does not satisfy IRCC's language requirement.

The correct sequence: how to prepare and submit

For a clean IRCC submission, follow this order:

• Obtain the original criminal record certificate No. 2 from your provincial Department of Justice or from the National Center for Judicial Records if you are overseas.
• Send the original (or a clear, complete scan) to a professional translator.
• Receive the certified translation with the signed declaration of accuracy and the translator's credentials.
• Submit the original (or a photocopy if your application stream accepts one) together with the certified translation.

No apostille step is required in this sequence for IRCC. If you are simultaneously submitting Vietnamese documents to another country that does require an apostille, keep that apostilled original separate from your IRCC package.

For more on what IRCC requires from Vietnamese documents generally, see IRCC: apostille, certified true copy, or certified translation? and certified Vietnamese translation for Canadian immigration. For the broader apostille question, see does Vietnam's 2026 apostille replace a certified translation?

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