Circular No. 236/2009/TT-BTC dated December 15, 2009 of the Ministry of Finance guiding the collection, remittance, management and use of consular charges and fees by overseas Vietnamese diplomatic representative missions and consular representative missions

THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE

Circular No. 236/2009/TT-BTC of December 15, 2009, guiding the collection, remittance, management and use of consular charges and fees by overseas Vietnamese diplomatic representative missions and consular representative missions

Pursuant to June 18, 2009 Law No. 33/2009/QH12 on Overseas Representative Missions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

Pursuant to August 28, 2001 Ordinance No. 38/2001/PL-UBTVQH10 on Charges and Fees, the Government’s Decree No. 57/2002/ND-CP of June 3, 2002, detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Charges and Fees, and Decree No. 24/2006/ND-CP of March 6, 2006, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 57/2002/ND-CP;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 136/2007/ND-CP of August 17, 2008, on the entry and exit of Vietnamese citizens;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 118/2008/ND-CP of November 27, 2008, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

The Ministry of Finance provides for the collection, remittance, management and use of consular charges and fees by diplomatic representative missions, consular representative missions and other agencies authorized to perform consular functions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in foreign countries (below collectively referred to as overseas Vietnamese representative missions) as follows:

Article 1. Consular charge and fee payers

Vietnamese as well as foreign organizations and individuals that are provided with state management-related services at their own request or as required by law by overseas Vietnamese representative missions shall pay consular charges and fees under this Circular.

Article 2. Charge and fee rates

The rates of consular charges and fees specified in the consular charge and fee tariff attached to this Circular shall be applied in all overseas Vietnamese representative missions.

When necessary and at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance shall consider and adjust the above-said Table of consular charge and fee rates.

Article 3. Cases eligible for charge and fee non-collection, exemption or reduction

1. Consular fees shall not be collected in the following cases:

a/ Foreign guests (including their accompanying spouses and/or children) invited in their personal capacity by the Party, the National Assembly, the State and the Government or by leaders of the Party, the National Assembly, the State and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

b/ Employees, administrative and technical staff (including their spouses and minor children) of foreign diplomatic representative missions, consular representative missions and international organizations, who are eligible for privileges and immunities on the principle of reciprocity;

c/ Foreigners bearing diplomatic passports, official passports, ordinary passports or travel papers used as passport substitutes issued by foreign countries, who are eligible for visa fee exemption under treaties to which Vietnam is a contracting party or on the principle of reciprocity;

d/ Foreigners entering Vietnam to provide humanitarian relief or assistance for Vietnamese organizations and individuals;

e/ Cases as required by external relations or humanitarian activities or Vietnamese citizens in exceptionally difficult circumstances or facing risks under case-by-case decisions of the Minister of Foreign Affairs;

f/ Other cases as decided by the Prime Minister.

2. Overseas Vietnamese and foreigners being spouses or children of Vietnamese citizens or overseas Vietnamese who apply for visa exemption certificates under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 135/2007/QD-TTg of August 17, 2007, promulgating the Regulation on visa exemption for overseas Vietnamese, are eligible for non-collection of the fee for issuance of visa exemption certificates.

3. Vietnamese permanently residing in China, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia are eligible for reduced consular fees as prescribed in the consular charge and fee tariff attached to this Circular.

4. Fee-collecting agencies shall append the “mien phi” (GRATIS) seal to papers issued to entities eligible for exemption from consular fee according to the above provisions.

Article 4. Refund of charges and fees

1. In case a Vietnamese or foreigner has paid a consular charge or fee under this Circular but is not qualified for being issued a consular paper, the charge- and fee-collecting agency shall refund the collected consular charge and fee amount to the payer (after subtracting the money-transfer charge).

2. Those who have their visa exemption certificates cancelled are not eligible for refund of the dossier-processing fee.

3. Consular charges and fees will not be refunded to those who refuse to receive dossier-processing results.

Article 5.  Charge and fee collection and remittance

1. Consular charge- and fee-collecting agencies are overseas Vietnamese representative missions which directly provide organizations and individuals with state management-related services at the latter’s request or as required by law. Consular charge- and fee-collecting agencies shall:

a/ Publicly post up consular charge and fee rates in Vietnamese and English or in the official language of the host country at the places of collection;

b/ Collect consular charges and fees in accordance with this Circular. When collecting charges and fees, issue receipts to charge and fee payers. Consular charge and fee receipts shall be printed and used at overseas Vietnamese representative missions according to the form provided in Appendix 1 to this Circular (not printed herein) (This form has been registered with the General Department of Taxation - the Ministry of Finance);

c/ Open accounting books for monitoring and recording the collection and remittance into the state budget of consular charges and fees, and manage and use collected amounts according to regulations.

2. If consular charge- and fee-collecting agencies act against the provisions of this Circular, their heads and related persons shall take responsibility for their wrongdoings and be handled under the Government’s Decree No. 106/2003/ND-CP of September 23, 2003, providing for sanctions against administrative violations in the domain of charges and fees.

3. Consular charges and fees are set in the US dollar (USD) according to the consular charge and fee tariff attached to this Circular. When consular charges and fees are collected in the currency of the host country, the conversion between the US dollar (USD) and the currency of the host country shall be based on the selling rate of the US dollar (USD) announced by the bank at which the concerned overseas Vietnamese representative mission opens its account.

When the exchange rate between the US dollar (USD) and the currency of the host country fluctuates (increases or decreases) by more than 10% (ten per cent) compared with the currently applied exchange rate, the head of the overseas Vietnamese representative mission may reset the rates of consular charges and fees collected in the currency of the host country according to the new exchange rate and, at the same time, send a written report thereon to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance before applying the new rates.

In case there are two (2) or more Vietnamese representative missions permitted to collect consular charges and fees in one country or territory, the head of the Vietnamese representative mission with the highest competence shall base himself/herself on the local bank’s selling rate to decide on charge and fee rates for unified application by other overseas Vietnamese representative missions.

Article 6. Charge and fee management and use

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall remit 70% (seventy per cent) of the actually collected consular charge and fee amounts into the state budget custody funds at overseas Vietnamese representative missions (according to the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 29/2000/TT-BTC of April 24, 2000, on management of the state budget custody funds at overseas Vietnamese representative missions) for investment in the construction of physical foundations for overseas Vietnamese representative missions under the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 602/QD-TTg of May 12, 2009, approving the Scheme on construction of physical foundations of overseas Vietnamese representative missions through 2015.

2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs may use 30% (thirty per cent) of the actually collected consular charge and fee amounts for spending under the common regime prescribed in the Government’s Decree No. 57/2002/ND-CP of June 3, 2002, detailing the implementation of the Ordinance on Charges and Fees, and the Government’s Decree No. 24/2006/ND-CP of March 6, 2006, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 57/2002/ND-CP, covering the following expenses for the collection of consular charges and fees:

a/ Expenses for purchasing blank consular prints and expenses related to the collection of consular charges and fees (work-trip allowances for those who take trips to receive blank consular prints; freights for transport of blank consular prints; printing of forms and invoices; stationery; telephone and facsimile charges and postage);

b/ Setting up the reward fund and the welfare fund at a level not exceeding 3 (three) or 2 (two) months’ cost-of-living allowance actually paid to the section directly collecting consular charges and fees at an overseas Vietnamese representative mission, if the collected amount of this year is higher or lower than/equal to that of the preceding year, respectively.

c/ Overtime allowances for cadres, civil servants and public employees directly involved in collection work, paid according to current regulations on payment of night work salaries and overtime allowances to cadres, civil servants and public employees.

3. After subtracting expenses specified in Clause 2, Article 6 above, the remainder of the amount of 30% (thirty per cent) of the actually collected consular charges and fees shall be divided and used as follows:

a/ 1/3 (one-thirds) shall be paid for such activities as regular repair or overhaul of assets; renovation of equipment, modernization of information technology, training and re-training of diplomatic cadres, civil servants and public employees in professional skills and foreign languages.

b/ 2/3 (two-thirds) shall be used to support cadres, civil servants and employees under Clause 4 below.

4. Support levels:

a/ For members of overseas Vietnamese representative missions defined in Clause 5, Article 4 of the Law on Diplomatic Representative Missions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: The maximum support level is equal to 0.8 (zero point eight) of the actually paid cost-of-living allowance. Based on the practical conditions in each area, the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall decide on the specific support level not exceeding 0.8 (zero point eight) of the total actually paid cost-of-living allowance.

b/ For cadres, civil servants and employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working in the country: The maximum support level is 0.8 (zero point eight) of the total actually paid rank- and grade-based salary.

c/ For cadres and employees of other overseas Vietnamese agencies (Vietnam News Agency bureaus, permanent agencies of the “Nhan Dan” newspaper, the Voice of Vietnam and the Vietnam Television; and overseas Vietnamese culture centers): The specific support level for each area shall be decided by the Minister of Foreign Affairs but must not exceed 50% (fifty per cent) of the minimum cost-of-living allowance/person/month applicable to each area.

5. After providing supports for those defined in Clause 4 of this Article, if the remainder is still enough to further provide additional supports for cadres, civil servants and employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall consider and decide to provide additional supports at the rate of 0.2 (zero point two) of the actually paid salary or cost-of-living allowance which, however, must not exceed the cost-of-living allowance paid in the year, for members of Vietnamese overseas representative missions, or the rank- and grade-based salary, for cadres, civil servants and employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working in the country.

6. If the collected amounts of consular charges and fees decrease, the supports for members of overseas Vietnamese representative missions and other overseas Vietnamese agencies and cadres, civil servants and employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working in the country shall decrease correspondingly. The deficit shall not be offset by the state budget.

7. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall promulgate a regulation on the management and use of the amount of 30% (thirty per cent) of consular charges and fees left at the Ministry. Annually, if the consular charge and fee amount left at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not spent up, the remainder may be carried forward to the subsequent year for spending under this Circular.

Article 7. Finalization of consular charge and fee revenues and expenditures

1. Overseas Vietnamese representative missions shall open accounting books for recording and accounting consular charge and fee revenues and expenditures according to current regulations on administrative and non-business accounting. Heads of overseas Vietnamese representative missions shall take responsibility for the management and accounting of consular charge and fee revenues and expenditures of their missions and send monthly reports on the collection of consular charges and fees (made according to the form provided in Appendix 2 to this Circular - not printed herein) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall inspect and finalize consular charge and fee revenues and expenditures of overseas Vietnamese representative missions; and send summary reports on the collection of consular fees and charges, made according to the forms provided in Appendices 3 and 4 to this Circular (not printed herein), to the Ministry of Finance for appraisal according to current regulations.

3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall coordinate with the Ministry of Finance in organizing periodical or irregular inspections of the collection, remittance and management of consular charges and fees at overseas Vietnamese representative missions under this Circular.

Article 8. Organization of implementation

This Circular takes effect 45 days from the date of its signing and replaces the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 134/2004/TT-BTC of December 31, 2004, guiding the collection, remittance, management and use of consular fees at overseas Vietnamese diplomatic missions and consular missions; and annuls the Finance Ministry’s Decision No. 77/2007/QD-BTC of August 31, 2007, providing for the rates and the collection, remittance, management and use of fees for processing dossiers of application for visa exemption certificates for overseas Vietnamese.

Any problems arising in the process of implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and settlement.

For the Finance Minister
Deputy Minister
TRAN XUAN HA

CONSULAR CHARGE AND FEE TARIFF

(Attached to the Finance Ministry’s Circular No. 236/2009/TT-BTC of December 15, 2009)

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