Overview of residence ownership for foreigners in Vietnam

Property Ownership in Vietnam

Since there have been some questions about house ownership in Vietnam, I am trying to put together a short overview. I don't claim to be a lawyer, not even an expert.


1.    Owning land

First of all, land cannot be owned either by individuals or by organizations, whether they are Vietnamese or foreign. The Constitution stipulates that land is owned by the entire people of Vietnam and that the State administers the land on behalf of the people.

The key governing two laws are
-    Law on Land No. 13/2003/QH11 and
-    Law on Amendment to Article 126 of the Law on Residential Housing and Article 121 of the Law on Land No. 34/2009/QH12.

The State can lease the land for a specific usage, e.g., for agriculture, for building a residence, a process called issuing Land Usage Right (LUR). This is equivalent of selling the land combining with zone regulating in the West. This LUR process is a complex topic by itself which I may describe in another thread.

This issue of not being able to own land is a hot topic now in Vietnam because of a recent incident in Haiphong and it is a common cause of corruption. Legal experts claim that it is the biggest roadblock for progress. However, the vested interest is so big that I doubt anything will be done.


2.    Owning residence

The key two laws are
-    Law on Residential Housing No. 56/2005/QH11 and
-    Law on Amendment to Article 126 of the Law on Residential Housing and Article 121 of the Law on Land No. 34/2009/QH12.

As opposed to the land, you can own buildings on the land (so called land-attached assets in Vietnamese legalese), if qualified.

There are four different categories: Vietnamese, Viet Kieu, foreign individuals and foreign organizations, each with its own rights.

I will focus on the foreign individuals here since it is most relevant for the readers of this forum.

The relevant regulations are Resolution No. 19/2008/QH12 on pilot scheme permitting foreign organizations and individuals to purchase and own residential houses in Vietnam passed by the
National Assembly of Vietnam on 3 June 2008 (Resolution No. 19); and Decree No. 51/2009/ND-CP of the Government dated 3 June 2009 providing regulations for implementation of Resolution No. 19.

Per definition, a foreign national is a foreign individual who does not have a Vietnamese nationality but meets any of the 5 following criteria:
• has a direct investment in Vietnam (i.e., an investor);
• holds a managerial position in company currently operating in Vietnam under the enterprise law (including both domestic enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises);
• has made contribution to Vietnam as recognized by the President or the Prime Minister;
• has either (at least an university degree and works in the socio-economic sector) OR has
technical skills critical to Vietnam; or
• is married to a Vietnamese citizen,

In addition, he/she must meet ALL of the following conditions:
• must be currently living in Vietnam;
• has a permanent or temporary residence card and/or a document permitting residence in Vietnam for 12 months or more; and
• is not entitled to diplomatic or consular immunity and privilege.

This individual can own at any one time only ONE apartment in an apartment block (NB: not a house) in Vietnam for a period of 50 years. He/she needs first to obtain a residence ownership certificate from the government showing proof for each of the above-mentioned relevant criteria.

The policies were expected to create breakthroughs in the domestic real estate market but they have not created as much interest as expected.

Experts said regulations on property trading for overseas Vietnamese and foreigners are too strict; ref, they can own only apartments but not houses mentioned above.

According to statistics, around 300 overseas Vietnamese and foreign individuals and organizations bought apartments in Vietnam before the Lunar New Year in 2012.