Dual-degree rules · Decrees 86/2018 and 124/2024; Circulars 07/2025 and 65/2026
What this means for you
- Name the two degree issuers and the requirements for each award before promising a dual degree.
- For a jointly delivered Vietnamese and foreign award, students must satisfy both issuers' applicable admission and academic requirements.
- An agreement or institutional decision does not guarantee recognition of the foreign award. Keep the cohort, program and lawful-delivery evidence for each degree.
- Agree the fees, appeals and funded completion plan, including what happens if a student qualifies for only one award.
Questions about how this applies to your institution? Talk it through with a USVN senior advisor.
The detail
Last verified: 2026-10-30. Not legal advice.
For this guide, “dual degree” means a pathway intended to issue two separate institutional awards. Do not assume that a jointly branded certificate or one jointly signed degree has the same structure. This is editorial terminology; the Vietnamese legal analysis must follow the actual issuers, curriculum and delivery.
What the texts require
Where a joint program awards both a Vietnamese and a foreign degree, students must meet the admission conditions associated with both issuers under Article 16(3)(c). The amended decree allows foreign curricula or jointly developed curricula and distinguishes the awards issued. Assessment and graduation follow the relevant awarding systems. Official consolidated Decree 86/124, Articles 16–17 and 20, pages 13–16. Last verified: 2026-10-21.
Circular 07/2025 requires joint-program awards to provide rights equivalent to those of the corresponding home-country program. The Vietnamese institution issues a supplementary graduation certification, when required for use with the degree, identifying the joint program, delivery form, time studied in each country and other information listed in Article 6. Official Circular 07, Article 6, pages 5–6. Last verified: 2026-10-21.
Approval and recognition are separate questions
For a linked program, retain the cooperation agreement and curriculum, faculty, assessment, award, financial and learner-protection evidence. The older Article 21 ministry dossier is historical where Resolution 66.18 displaces that procedure; preserve the actual institutional decision and required disclosure/database records instead. See the joint-program rules.
Approval-route update, checked October 30, 2026: Resolution 66.18/2026/NQ-CP, Annex I.11 section 1.C.IV–VI, replaces the specified prior approval/extension/adjustment procedures with HEI decisions, disclosure, database updates and supervision, while retaining substantive quality conditions. Its relevant window generally runs July 1, 2026–February 28, 2027, subject to Article 7(4)'s intervening-instrument rule and the specific existing-approval/pending-file transitions. An old ministry dossier, five-year renewal period or autonomy label does not by itself establish the current route. Official resolution · Tracker and transition detail. Verify the institution's decision-maker and the actual program's current legal basis.
Practical agreement checklist
Recommended provisions: exact degree titles and issuing entities; required credits and capstones for each award; which credits satisfy both programs; transcript wording; intellectual-property rights; admission and progression decisions; fees and refunds; academic appeals; and who funds completion if one award is discontinued. Model the case in which a student meets one institution's requirements but not the other's before promising two degrees.
Before you act
The current identified recognition rule is Circular 65/2026, effective September 26, replacing the 2021/2024 rules subject to Article 9 transitions. Its Article 3(3) requires lawful Vietnam-based operation and its Article 7 requires cohort-level cooperation/approval records. Neither two awards nor a program approval creates blanket automatic recognition. Check professional-licensing consequences and institution-specific decision authority for the proposed activity. Program accreditation must be checked for the exact award and delivery site; an institution's reputation is not proof of that scope. Last checked: 2026-10-22.
Public example: Keuka. Related: joint programs; online/blended.
For general information only, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with qualified counsel and the relevant Vietnamese authorities before acting.