Are the criminal convictions recorded in the Vietnam Criminal Record Certificate? 

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Based on Article 70 of the Criminal Code of 2015, amended and supplemented in 2017, it is naturally possible to expunge a criminal conviction:

“Article 70. Natural expungement of the criminal convictions 

1. Natural expungement of conviction applies to persons convicted not of offenses specified in Chapter XIII and Chapter XXVI of this Code when they have completed serving the principal sentence, probation, or have completed the execution of the judgment and met the conditions specified in clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.
2. Persons convicted are naturally expunged of their conviction if, since the completion of the principal sentence or probation, they have completed serving any additional sentence or decision of the judgment and have not committed a new offense within the following time limits:

If the convicted person is serving an additional sentence such as probation, residence ban, prohibition of holding certain positions or practicing certain professions, or deprivation of certain citizenship rights that has a longer period of execution than the time limits specified in points a, b, and c of this clause, then the natural expungement of the conviction will expire when the person has completed serving the additional sentence.

3. Persons convicted are naturally expunged of their conviction if, since the expiration of the execution period of the judgment, they have not committed a new offense within the time limit specified in clause 2 of this Article.
4. The agency managing the criminal record database is responsible for updating information on the conviction status of the convicted person and, upon request, issuing a criminal record certificate confirming the absence of a conviction if the conditions specified in clauses 2 or 3 of this Article are met.”

If you have completed the sentence as prescribed for each case and during that time you have not committed any new criminal offenses, you will of course have your criminal record cleared. The person whose criminal record is cleared will be considered as not having been convicted and will be issued a Certificate of Clearance by the Court.

• According to clause 2 of Article 42 on the Content of Criminal Records Certificate No. 1 which stipulates the status of criminal records, the following are specified:

“a) For individuals who have not been convicted, it shall be stated as “no criminal record”. In case of individuals who have been convicted but not yet qualified to have their criminal record cleared, it shall be stated as “criminal record”, the offense, the main penalty, and additional penalty;
b) For individuals whose criminal record has been cleared and the information on the clearance of criminal record has been updated in the Criminal Records Certificate, it shall be stated as “no criminal record”;
c) For individuals who have been granted amnesty and the information on the amnesty has been updated in the Criminal Records Certificate, it shall be stated as “no criminal record”.

Therefore, when you have had your criminal record cleared and the information on the clearance has been updated, you are considered “not convicted”, and the Criminal Records Certificate issued to you will be stated as “no criminal record”. Hence, you do not need to do anything else other than the usual procedures for applying for a Criminal Records Certificate.

1. Types of Criminal Convictions  Records Certificate

There are two types of Criminal Records Certificates as stipulated in Article 41 of the Law on Criminal Records Certificate 2009, specifically as follows:

• Criminal Records Certificate No. 1 issued to individuals, agencies, and organizations including:

• Vietnamese citizens and foreigners who are residing or have resided in Vietnam have the right to request their Criminal Records Certificate.
• State agencies, political organizations, and socio-political organizations have the right to request Criminal Records certificates for personnel management, business registration, establishment, enterprise management, and cooperation.

• Criminal Records Certificate No. 2 is issued to agencies conducting prosecution to serve the investigation, prosecution, and trial, and is issued upon the request of individuals to know the content of their criminal records.

2. Application for Criminal Convictions Records Certificate for individuals

The application for a criminal records certificate for individuals includes:

• The application form for the Criminal Records Certificate according to the prescribed form:
  • Form No. 03/2013/TT-LLTP: Used for individuals who request a Criminal Records Certificate;
• A copy of the national identity card or passport of the person who is issued with the Criminal Records Certificate.
• An authorization document in case of authorizing someone else to perform the procedure for requesting Criminal Records Certificate No. 1 (if the authorized person is the father, mother, spouse, or child of the authorizing person, no authorization document is required).

3. Cases of refusal to issue a criminal convictions record card

According to Article 49 of the 2009 Law on Judicial Records, the agency managing the judicial records database has the right to refuse to issue a Judicial Record Certificate in the following cases:

• The issuance of a Judicial Record Certificate is not within their jurisdiction;
• The requester applies for a Judicial Record Certificate for someone else without meeting the conditions prescribed in Article 7 and Clause 3 of Article 45 of the 2009 Law on Judicial Records (Vietnam);
• The accompanying documents to the Application for a Judicial Record Certificate are incomplete or forged.

In case of refusal to issue a Judicial Record Certificate, the agency must notify the reason in writing.

Here is all the information about Criminal Convictions thank you for reading.