A foreign arbitral award cannot be enforced in Vietnam directly. You must first apply for recognition and enforcement by the competent Vietnamese court, which checks the award against limited grounds based on the New York Convention, without re-hearing the merits. Once the court recognises the award and the decision takes effect, you ask the civil judgment enforcement agency to collect.
Vietnam has been a party to the New York Convention since 1995, so awards made in other member states, such as Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, France or the United States, have an established path. The path has practical hurdles, though: translations, certified copies, proper notice to the other side, and a public policy ground that Vietnamese courts have sometimes applied broadly. This guide explains each step and what tends to go wrong, so you can prepare before the award is even issued.
What "recognition" means and why it is needed
An award made by a tribunal seated outside Vietnam is a foreign award from the Vietnamese point of view, even if one party is Vietnamese and the dispute concerns a project in Vietnam. Vietnamese enforcement officers can only act on Vietnamese court decisions and domestic awards, so a foreign award needs a Vietnamese court decision recognising it. That decision turns the award into something the domestic enforcement system can act upon.
Recognition is not an appeal. The court does not ask whether the tribunal decided the facts correctly or applied the contract’s governing law properly. It checks a closed list of grounds: whether there was a valid arbitration agreement, whether the losing party had proper notice and a chance to present its case, whether the tribunal stayed within its mandate and was properly constituted, whether the award is binding, whether the dispute is arbitrable under Vietnamese law, and whether recognition would be contrary to the fundamental principles of Vietnamese law.
Vietnam applies the Convention on the basis of reciprocity, meaning to awards made in other member states. An award from a country outside the Convention may still be considered on a reciprocity basis, but the route is less certain. Commercial matters are the main focus of the Convention as Vietnam applies it, so an award about a non-commercial relationship needs particular care.
The application, step by step
The structure below reflects how recognition applications generally proceed. Confirm the current receiving body, court level and deadlines before filing, since court organisation changed in 2025.
- Check the deadline. The law sets a limitation period for applying, counted from the date the award becomes effective. Missing it can be fatal unless you can show a valid reason for the delay.
- Gather the core papers: the original award or a duly certified copy, and the original arbitration agreement or a certified copy.
- Translate and certify. Papers not in Vietnamese need Vietnamese translations, certified as required. Papers issued abroad generally need consular legalisation unless an exemption applies; check the current position.
- Prepare the application identifying the parties, their addresses, the award, what you are asking the court to recognise, and information about the losing party’s assets or residence in Vietnam that founds the court’s jurisdiction.
- File through the correct channel, which may be directly with the competent court or through the Ministry of Justice where a treaty requires it, and pay the court fee for the application.
- Attend the court session. The court considers the application at a session, usually with a panel of judges, hears the parties and the procuracy, and issues a decision recognising or refusing the award.
- Track any appeal. The decision can be challenged to a higher court within a short period, so the result is not final immediately.
Throughout this process, keep a single person responsible for the file. Recognition proceedings involve several institutions and long gaps, and cases have stalled simply because nobody followed up on a court request for additional papers.
The grounds on which recognition is refused in practice
Defective notice. If the losing party can show it was not properly informed of the appointment of arbitrators or the proceedings, recognition can be refused. Keep complete records of how every notice was delivered, and to which address, throughout the arbitration.
Problems with the arbitration agreement. A party may argue that the signatory lacked authority or that the agreement is invalid under the law the parties chose or, failing that, the law of the seat. This argument is far easier to defeat if authority was checked at signing.
Tribunal composition or procedure not as agreed. If the clause required three arbitrators and the case proceeded with one, or the agreed rules were not followed, the award is exposed.
Non-arbitrable subject matter. Disputes that Vietnamese law reserves for courts or authorities, certain land matters for example, can lead to refusal even if arbitration was valid at the seat.
Public policy. The ground most discussed. Vietnamese courts have in some cases refused recognition by treating breaches of ordinary mandatory rules as violations of fundamental principles. Higher court guidance has pushed toward a narrower reading, limited to basic principles of Vietnamese law, but you should still anticipate the argument and prepare evidence that the award respects core Vietnamese principles.
After recognition: actually getting paid
A recognition decision that has taken effect is enforced by the civil judgment enforcement agency, which can verify the debtor’s assets, freeze bank accounts, and seize and sell property under the procedures of civil enforcement law. You file a request for enforcement within the time allowed, attaching the court decision and the award. Enforcement officers usually first give the debtor a period to comply voluntarily before taking coercive measures.
The practical bottleneck is often locating assets. Enforcement officers act on information about bank accounts, real property, vehicles, shares and receivables. If you have already identified these, through due diligence before the contract or through investigation during the arbitration, enforcement moves faster. If the debtor has moved assets to related companies, you may need separate legal action to reach them.
Enforcement is local. The agency acting is generally the one where the debtor has its registered office, residence or assets, and practice can differ between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and smaller provinces. If assets sit in several provinces, the file may need coordination between agencies. Ask counsel which agency should receive the request so it does not bounce between offices.
Expect some delay. Debtors sometimes file complaints about enforcement steps, or claim the assets belong to third parties. Patience and a well-documented file usually prevail, but a realistic timeline is longer than the few weeks some foreign creditors expect.
Preparing for enforcement before you win
The best time to think about recognition in Vietnam is when drafting the contract and running the arbitration, not after the award arrives. Choose a seat in a New York Convention state. Verify the Vietnamese party’s legal name, registration number and address exactly as they appear on official records, and use them consistently in every notice and in the award. A mismatch between the respondent named in the award and the entity on the business registry gives the debtor a needless argument.
During the arbitration, serve every notice in a way you can prove, ideally through methods that match both the agreed rules and what a Vietnamese court will accept. If the respondent refuses to participate, document every attempt to involve it. Ask the tribunal to state clearly in the award how notice was given at each stage. That paragraph will be read closely by the Vietnamese court. Keep courier receipts, delivery confirmations and email logs in one place, because you may need to produce them, translated, years after the event when the debtor finally disputes having been told.
Finally, ask the tribunal for a clear dispositive section: who pays whom, how much, in what currency, and when interest runs. Ambiguity in the operative part of the award creates room for argument at recognition and at enforcement, when officers must turn the award into specific actions.
Currency, interest and costs: turning the award into a payable sum
Foreign awards are often expressed in US dollars, euros or another foreign currency, while assets in Vietnam are mostly held in Vietnamese dong. Recognition does not rewrite the award into dong, but enforcement eventually has to deal with conversion, and the rules on foreign currency transactions in Vietnam are strict. Ask counsel early how the enforcement agency is likely to handle the conversion date and rate, and whether any amounts can be paid in foreign currency from the debtor’s foreign currency accounts.
Interest is another point of friction. If the award grants interest until payment, the amount grows during recognition and enforcement. Make sure the award states the rate, the starting date and the basis clearly, so that enforcement officers can calculate it without having to interpret the tribunal’s intentions. An award that simply refers to interest "at the applicable rate" leaves too much open.
Costs ordered by the tribunal, such as arbitration fees and legal costs, are part of the award and can be recognised with it. Costs you incur in Vietnam for recognition and enforcement, including court fees, translation and enforcement charges, follow Vietnamese rules and are not automatically covered by the award. Budget for them separately and keep receipts, since some enforcement costs can be charged to the debtor under civil enforcement law.
When you need a Vietnamese lawyer
Recognition of a foreign award is one of the clearest cases where a licensed Vietnamese lawyer is worth involving. The application is filed in Vietnamese, before a Vietnamese court, against arguments that turn on Vietnamese law. Counsel can confirm which court currently has jurisdiction after the 2025 reorganisation, which papers need legalisation and certified translation, and how recent court practice has treated public policy arguments.
Vietnamese counsel also handles the practical exchanges with the court registry, which may ask for supplementary papers or clarifications at short notice, and with the enforcement agency once the decision takes effect. Those exchanges happen in Vietnamese, often in person, and a missed request can push your file back by weeks.
Engage counsel early, ideally while the arbitration abroad is still running, so that service of notices and the drafting of the award are done with Vietnamese recognition in mind. Your foreign arbitration lawyers and Vietnamese counsel should talk before the final hearing, not after the award. If you want a quick sense of whether an existing award has any obvious weakness for Vietnamese recognition, you can ask a lawyer on AI Co Van (aicovan.com) before commissioning a full review.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Singapore arbitral award automatically enforceable in Vietnam?
No. Singapore and Vietnam are both New York Convention parties, so the award has a clear route, but it still needs recognition by a competent Vietnamese court before the enforcement agency can act. The court checks only the limited Convention-based grounds.
Will the Vietnamese court review whether the tribunal decided correctly?
It should not. The court does not re-examine the merits or the tribunal’s reasoning. It looks at a closed list of grounds such as validity of the arbitration agreement, proper notice, tribunal composition, arbitrability and fundamental principles of Vietnamese law.
How long does recognition take in Vietnam?
It varies widely depending on the court, service on the debtor, translation and legalisation, and whether the decision is appealed. Plan for many months rather than weeks, and check current procedural time limits with a licensed lawyer or the court.
What if the Vietnamese company has no assets in Vietnam?
Then recognition in Vietnam may not help much. Consider enforcing in countries where the company or its group has assets, using the New York Convention there. Asset tracing before choosing where to enforce saves time and cost.
Can the losing party appeal a recognition decision?
Yes. A first-instance decision recognising or refusing a foreign award can be challenged before a higher court within a short period. The decision becomes enforceable only once it takes legal effect, so factor that stage into your timeline.
Do I need the original award or will a copy do?
The court requires the original or a duly certified copy of the award and of the arbitration agreement, with certified Vietnamese translations. Documents issued abroad usually need consular legalisation unless an exemption applies.