9 cases of foreign degrees recognized in Vietnam from September 2026

Lawyer Nguyen Thi Thuy, YouMe Law Company Limited answers:

Article 3, Circular No. 65/2026/TT-BGDDT of the Ministry of Education and Training stipulates the conditions, procedures, and authority to recognize foreign diplomas issued by foreign educational institutions for use in Vietnam (effective from September 26, 2026) stipulates the conditions for recognizing diplomas as follows:

1. Diplomas issued by legally operating foreign educational institutions with quality-assured education programs for learners are recognized when meeting one of the following conditions:

a) Educational institutions that issue diplomas are licensed by the competent educational authority of the country where the head office is located to train and license diplomas requested for recognition;

b) Educational institutions that issue diplomas are qualified by qualified educational quality accreditation organizations of the country where the educational institution has its headquarters to accredit quality and the proposed recognition diploma is recognized by the educational authority of the country where the educational institution has its headquarters;

c) The education program is quality accredited by a competent educational quality accreditation organization of the country where the educational institution has its headquarters or is licensed for training by the competent educational authority of the country where the headquarters is located, and the degree requested for recognition is recognized by the competent educational authority of the country where the educational institution has its headquarters.

2. Diplomas issued by foreign educational institutions when learners study directly in the country where the educational institution is headquartered are recognized if they meet the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article.

3. Diplomas issued by foreign educational institutions with educational and training activities, educational links, training links or opening branches in Vietnam are recognized when educational and training activities are legally implemented in Vietnam, meeting the conditions on program approval, enrollment, program duration and other conditions according to legal regulations at the time of program implementation to be granted diplomas, and at the same time meeting the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article.

4. Diplomas issued by foreign educational institutions with educational and training activities, educational links, training links or branches in another country where the head office is located (excluding Vietnam) are recognized if they meet the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article and one of the following conditions:

a) Educational institutions performing educational and training activities (hereinafter referred to as training institutions) are recognized for quality by the competent authority of the country where educational and training activities are carried out or are accredited for quality by the competent authority for education quality accreditation of the country where educational and training activities are carried out;

b) Training institutions licensed for educational and training activities or licensed for diplomas by the competent educational authority of the country where educational and training activities are carried out;

c) The education program is permitted to be implemented by the education competent authority of the country where educational and training activities are carried out or is quality accredited by the education quality accreditation competent authority of the country where educational and training activities are carried out.

5. Diplomas issued by foreign educational institutions for educational programs implemented remotely (online, online combined directly or combined with distance learning methods via computer networks and telecommunications, mail, radio - television...) are recognized when they meet the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article, and at the same time, when learners reside and study in which country, the educational program must be permitted to be implemented by the competent educational authority of that country.

6. Vocational education diplomas issued by foreign educational institutions are recognized when they meet the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article and one of the conditions specified in Clauses 2, 3, 4, 5 of this Article corresponding to the training methods; and at the same time ensure equivalence in terms of entrance qualifications, compatibility in terms of study time calculated by school year or according to the accumulated credits at the end of the course according to the regulations of Vietnamese levels.

7. Doctoral degrees issued by foreign educational institutions in the form of direct training at foreign educational institutions and field research in other countries are recognized when the degree meets the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article and the study and direct research time at the training institution is at least 12 months throughout the entire course.

8. Doctoral degrees issued by foreign educational institutions in the form of recognition of research results and scientific works that have been recognized when meeting the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article and the following conditions:

a) The learner has a scientific guide, fully completes the academic requirements of the doctoral training program and defends the thesis before the academic council according to the regulations of the training institution;

b) The training institution confirms the research results and scientific works that have been available as part of the doctoral training program and the academic and research results that meet the output standards of the doctoral training program standards in the corresponding industry and field of Vietnam.

9. The recognition of diplomas issued by foreign educational institutions to learners affected by wars, natural disasters, epidemics, fires, force majeure cases and other special cases is decided by the Minister of Education and Training when the learning and research results meet the output standards of the training program standards under the corresponding industries and fields of Vietnam.

Thus, from September 2026, for the above cases, foreign diplomas will be recognized for use in Vietnam.