The Complex of Huế Monuments is home to many citadels, palaces, mausoleums, cultural and artistic works, religious monuments, and scenic spots built during the Nguyễn dynasty (1802–1945). It took 8 years spanning between 1990 and 1998 for the sixteen monuments in the complex to be recognized as National Historical-cultural Monuments by the Vietnamese government. In between those eight long years, the complex in its entirety was designated a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in 1993. It was only in 2009 that the Vietnamese government finally recognized the complex in its entirety as a Special National Monument [Di tích Quốc gia Đặc biệt]. Through the author’s direct involvement in the case of the Complex of Huế Monuments, this chapter provides an autoethnographic account of the process in which historical-cultural monuments are recognized by the government in Vietnam before and after the enactment of the 2001 Law on Cultural Heritage. The author lays out the complex procedures involved in this important aspect of heritage conservation work and unveils how institutions and personnel coped with the challenges. In doing so, the chapter tells the backstory of how the Complex of Huế Monuments gained the much-coveted UNESCO World Cultural Heritage designation in the midst of plodding through the bureaucratic procedures and politics of national heritage recognition.