Vietnam's Hague status & what it means
Vietnam has signed up, and that is worth knowing, but a signature is not a start date. The Convention enters into force for Vietnam on 11 September 2026. Everything sent before then is judged by the rule that came first, which asks the destination to put its own seal on the page. Everything sent after is judged by the new rule, where one Italian certificate travels alone.
Apostille vs. Embassy legalisation for Vietnam
The difference is who has to trust whom. Under the Hague route, states agree in advance to accept each other's certificates, so one stamp ends the matter. Under the consular route, the receiving state trusts nobody in advance and asks its own staff to look at the Italian stamp and add a seal above it. Vietnam is on the second footing until the date above.
The Venice → Vietnam route step by step
Three moves, in order. Get the original from the office that holds the record, since a copy has no signature to certify. Take it to the Prefettura or to the Procura, chosen by who signed it, and pay the tax stamp there. Then lodge the stamped file with the destination's mission in Italy. Miss the middle move and the mission has nothing to seal over.
Cost & timing for this route
One price is known, one is not. Italy charges a €16 tax stamp per document, and some records escape it entirely. The consular fee is set by the destination and paid at the destination's desk, so it is quoted when the file is lodged rather than in advance. Timing follows the same split: the Italian step is short, and the second step sets the true finish date.
Points that belong to Vietnam alone
Two things trip Venetian files bound for Vietnam. The first is the name: Vietnamese runs on Latin letters with tone marks, and a mark dropped in one place turns a name into a near miss, so the passport spelling should rule every page. The second is order of assembly. If the file needs a Vietnamese text alongside the Italian one, bind it in before the last seal, because that seal covers the pages under it and not a page slipped in later.