One thing that may be crossing your mind as you plan that fun-filled excursion to Vietnam is how much cash you can safely carry when visiting. A wise choice indeed would be to bring both Vietnamese Dong and a bit of foreign currency as well, just in case. But before you get any bright ideas about stuffing your briefcase full of hundreds and hopping on the next plane to Saigon, it might behoove you to check out this nifty information on Vietnamese laws on foreign currency.

How much cash can I carry into Vietnam?

Currently, there is no legal limit on the amount of cash you can bring to Vietnam (either for Vietnamese Dong or any other foreign currency). However, in order to do so legally, you’ll need to declare it by following the proper lawful procedure.

So what do I need to do?

Well, you could certainly sew it all up into the lining of your posh waistcoat or cram it into secret pockets, but we’ll go into why that’s not such a great idea in just a moment. Let’s talk amounts. Lawfully and legally speaking, under the provisions of Article 2 of Circular 15/2011/TT-NHNN:

• If you bring over $5,000 US Dollars, other foreign currencies of the same value (or 15,000,000 Vietnamese Dong, you’re going to have to declare it at customs when you get here.

• If you bring under that amount, but you’re also planning on depositing it into a foreign currency payment account at a credit institution or branch of a  foreign bank authorized to engage in foreign exchange, you should also plan on chumming up with the customs officers, because you’re going to need to declare it on arrival.

• However, if you’ve got under $5,000 USD and you just came here to sip margaritas by the pool or whatever, you’ll be off the hook for any customs declarations. Simple as that!

If I bring cash into Vietnam without declaring it, what will they do to me?

Well I’m so glad you asked! Under the provisions of Article 10 of Decree 128/2020/ND-CP, those bringing hefty wads of cash into Vietnam without complying with the law can be fined up to 50,000,000 VND, an exorbitant sum equal to around $2,000 USD. Imagine what a damper paying that would put on your vacation!

To have the absolute maximum in good times when coming to Vietnam (or any country, for that matter), the importance of respecting the local laws and customs cannot be stressed enough. When carrying your fat stacks into Vietnam, make sure you’re clear as crystal as to the laws and regulations regarding cashflow across borders.

Former US President Donald Trump is a typical representative of the prenuptial agreement with three marriages and two divorces. ‘A prenuptial is a horrible document, because it says, ‘When we get divorced, this is the way we’ll split things up.’ And when you’re a believer in positive thinking, it isn’t good. But it’s a modern-day necessity.’, he said. Prenuptial agreement is a binding agreement on legal responsibilities between the parties when signing, agreed before marriage to clearly define issues related to the spouses’ property regime.

In Vietnam, the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 does not have a specific concept of a prenuptial agreement, but in Article 47 of this Law, it has recognized the spouses’ property agreement regime: ‘In case a married couple that selects the agreed property regime, this agreement shall be made in writing before their marriage and be notarized or certified. The agreed matrimonial property regime shall be established on the date of marriage registration’. Compared with the Law on Marriage and Family 2000, the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 allows the parties to agree on the property before marriage. This is an open and progressive rule that allows couples to come to an agreement before getting married. When making this prenuptial agreement, the parties will minimize disputes about the use of the common property and separate property for each purpose. This agreement is not only advantageous in making it easier to determine property in the marriage but also after the divorce, making the divorce process easier. The court will base on the agreement to determine what is common property and what is separate property to divide, ensuring it is not against the law.

However, couples need to keep in mind the following points so that their prenuptial agreement can be recognized by law:

1. Forms of a prenuptial agreement

The prenuptial agreement must be made before the marriage, in writing, and shall be notarized or legally authenticated at a competent agency or organization (Notary Offices, People’s Committees, etc.).

2. Contents of a prenuptial agreement

It is compulsory that the prenuptial agreement contains all the basic terms as prescribed in Article 48 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 and Article 15 of Decree 126/2014/ND-CP dated December 31, 2014 detailing a number of Articles and Measures to implement the Law on Marriage and Family including property identified as common property, separate property of spouses; rights and obligations of spouses with respect to common property, separate property, and related transactions; property to meet the family’s essential needs; conditions, procedures, and principles of property division upon termination of the property regime; other relevant contents.

3. Principles of application

When applying the property regime under the agreement, the parties will have to rely on the terms stipulated in the agreement to resolve issues related to the property. However, when implementing to divide the property under the agreement that have not been agreed upon by the spouses or the agreement is unclear, the provisions of the law on marriage and family and the corresponding regulations of the statutory property regime will apply (Article 48.2 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014). Accordingly, Article 6.1 of Joint Circular No. 01/2016/TTLT-TANDTC-VKSNDTC-BTP dated January 6, 2016 guiding the implementation of a number of provisions of the Law on Marriage and Family also stipulates as follows:

• The agreement on the property regime of spouses may be declared invalid by the Court in whole or in part.

• In case the agreement on the property regime of spouses is declared completely invalid by the Court, the statutory property regime of the spouses shall apply.

• In case the agreement on the spouses’ property regime is declared partially invalid, the contents that are not invalidated shall still apply; for the invalid content, the corresponding provisions on the statutory property regime of spouses shall apply.

4. Amendment of a prenuptial agreement

The agreement on marital property regime is made before marriage and takes effect from the time of marriage registration; however, stemming from the needs of married life, the law allows spouses to amend and supplement the contents of the agreement on the spouses’ property regime to suit the will and aspirations of the parties. However, couples should note that the amendment of agreement must be in writing and notarized or authenticated. The notarization and certification of the document amending and supplementing the pre-marital agreement must be carried out at the place where the spouses have notarized the pre-marriage agreement on the property regime as prescribed in Article 51.2 of the Law on Notarization 2014. LTT & Lawyers hope that the above article brings useful legal information related to prenuptial agreement for couples who intend to agree on the property regime before getting married and limiting their marriage, minimizing disputes arising related to property during the marriage or divorce, even after the divorce.

Policy personnel: As of March 6, 2020, the COVID-19 has appeared in 89 countries and territories making 98,588 people infected and 3,388 deaths (1).

The epidemic situation is growing daily in terms of the number of infections and the number of affected countries.

Nó đã ảnh hưởng nghiêm trọng đến nền kinh tế thế giới, do đó hầu hết các chính phủ phải công bố các kế hoạch hỗ trợ kinh tế và hỗ trợ doanh nghiệp về thuế, lãi suất và các hỗ trợ kỹ thuật khác.

In Vietnam, many manufacturing enterprises suffer from shortage of serious input materials that affect production Policy personnel.

Some businesses operating in the service sector such as transportation, tourism and dining have quite high rates of revenue decline from the same period of the previous year.

Many companies in financial difficulties, no revenue still have to pay the rental of factories, business premises, interest bank loans and personnel costs.

Before the epidemic situation could not predict when it will end, many businesses have been making plans to cut costs, of which the cost of human resources is making businesses most headache.

Because if the employers dismissed the employee, they are afraid of legal risks and shortage of human resources after the disease storm, as well as affecting their reputation in the labor market.

At this time, Business owners need to find a complete solution to survive the difficulties and keep the development resources after the epidemic storm.

The agreements to share difficulties

Frank discussion is a solution to solving difficult situations that modern society prefers to perform unilaterally from one side. In the context of the epidemic, the business is severely affected, so employees also understand the difficult situation of the business owner. The options below are arranged in increasing order of impact on employees for business owners to choose Policy personnel.

The agreements on termination of labor contract:

On the basis of voluntary agreement, the company may negotiate with employees a financial support in its capacity for employees to agree to end the labor relations and seek new opportunities.

This approach is suitable in the case of business owners who consider about business suspension, dissolution or bankruptcy due to unable to revive the business or need to cut down a portion of the human resources. Article 36.3 Labor Law 2012 allows parties to freely agree to terminate the labor contract with supporting financial or non.

The method of postponing the implementation of labor contracts for a period:

The company negotiates with the employee to pay a sum or not to pay if the worker agrees. This approach will help businesses maintain labour relations with employees as well releasing the obligation to pay for wages, welfare, insurance and personal income tax Policy personnel.

It also helps businesses do not have to perform re-recruitment of workers as well helping workers have a job opportunity in the future at the continuing implementation of the labor contract. (According to Article 32 Labor Code 2012)

The agreements on payment of severance pay:

According to Article 98.3 Labor Code 2012, the company is entitled to negotiate with employees to pay severance pay. Accordingly, the severance pay may be agreed but not lower than the regional minimum wage in 2020 according to Decree 90/2019/ND-CP (Region I: VND 4,420,000/month; Region II: VND 3,920,000. VND/month; Region III: VND 3,430,000/month; Region IV: VND 3,070,000/month).

The agreements to reduce working hours and reduce wages:

This approach will balance the interests of the workers and the company according to the situation of the epidemic and production capacity of the company. In order to implement this approach, the company may rely on article 35 BLLĐ 2012 to request a modification, additional labor contract or contract addendum to change working hours and wages for a consistent period of time with the situation of the epidemic and the company’s business plan. Policy personnel.

The right to be cut personnel to survive

According to Article 38.1. (c) Labor Law 2012, the employer is entitled to unilvocally terminate the contract of employment “c/ If, as a result of natural disaster, fire or another force majeure event as prescribed by law, the employer, though having applied every remedial measure, has to scale down production and cut jobs;”

This regulation is guided by Article 12.2 Decree 05/2015/ND-CP; accordingly, the term “other force majeure” belongs to one of the following circumstances: (i) Enemy-inflicates destruction, epidemics; (ii) Relocation or narrowing of the production and business sites, at the request of competent State agencies.

With the Ministry of Health issued Decision No. 219/QD-BYT on 29/1/2020 supplementation of acute respiratory tract infections due to new strains of Corona-induced viruses (called COVID-19) to the list of infectious diseases of group A (especially dangerous infectious diseases capable of very fast transmission, widespread spreading and high mortality or unknown causative agent) and the Prime Minister issued the decision No. 173/QD-TTg dated 01/02/2020 on the publication of acute respiratory viral epidemic caused by new strains of Corona virus; then the company has a legal basis determining the case of COVID-19 disease as force majeure in accordance with the current Labor Law (required conditions).

According to the above regulations, the company also needs to prove that it has sought all remedies but still forced to reduce production and reduce workplaces.

This is the subjective, internal factor of the business, therefore, the business also needs to explain to the State or court agency in case the worker does not agree with the company’s unil-aware decision.

This sufficient condition will be able to convince the agency to issue a judgment if there are evidence such as a decline in revenues, the company’s cash source is insufficient to pay if it continues to employ employees.

External factors such as whether the company is unable to acquire input materials, the output market is narrowed, it must take measures to self-restrict business development in accordance with the administrative decision of the State as not to go into the epidemic region…etc.

When it meets the required and sufficient conditions, the enterprise completely has enough legal ground to implement the right to cut personnel or/and to reduce the cost of human resources in difficult times caused by the epidemic.

Entrepreneurship and Business ethics

It did not deny that at this period of time the thousands of businesses were suffered about a decline in revenues, many financial burdens.

If business owners can find a difficult remedy at this point to keep the workforce intact, many employees is assured of income, indirectly stabilizing the production force as well building the employer image in the labor market.

At the same time, keeping human resources at this time will help build a better labor relationship and do not take the cost of recruiting and training new people when the epidemic is over.

One of the ways to create value for many departments, departments and idle workers at that time is that performing professional training, soft skills, workflow improvement, focus on researching new products, new technologies, testing work methods online, work at home… etc. In the period of the digital economy, the most valuable strength and property of the business is talent, the human resource has been a mature team.

This is the time when entrepreneurial spirit and business ethics need to be promoted and challenged most intensely as well the time to eliminate businesses and entrepreneurs who are not capable enough to hold the game on the market.

(1) According to information from the Ministry of Health at 15:50 on 06/03/20 https://ovov.moh.gov.vn/

*Le Trong Them Lawyer, LTT & Lawyers law Firm

Introduction

You are the foreigners and

You plan to invest in Vietnam; or

You have a short-term business trip; or

You are employed and sponsored by a Vietnamese Company or a foreign entity to work in Vietnam

Then, you should take a look on our legal service – “The legal services for foreign employees”.

Why Choose LTT & LAWYERS To Support You?

1. LTT & Lawyers is a is a reputable law firm with a team of lawyers, experienced legal experts with in-depth knowledge in the field of legal services for foreign employee.
2. We have an experienced team in the field of legal services for foreign employees. Our services shall bring you the stress-free procedures, save your time and provide tailored, practical advice, a strategic plan on your matter to achieve your goal.
3. Dedicated, professional working style, putting the interests of customers first, ensuring the confidentiality of information, minimizing risks for customers.

Some General Information Regarding The Laws Of Vietnam For Foreign Employees

Types of visa in Vietnam

No.	Type of Visas		Sign	Term	Number of Entry
1	E-visa	EV	Foreigners	Maximum 30 days	Single entry
2	One-year business visa in Vietnam	DN1	Foreigners working with other enterprises and organizations that are juridical person as per the law of Vietnam	Do not exceed 12 months	Multiple entries
		DN2	Foreigners making entry to promote services, establish commercial presence or conducting other activities according to international agreements to which Vietnam is a signatory.
3	Long-term business visa	LD1	Foreigners working in Vietnam and certified of eligibility for work permit exemption, unless otherwise specified by international agreements to which Vietnam is a signatory	Do not exceed 2 years
		LD2	Foreigners working in Vietnam requiring work permit		Multiple entries
4	Investor visa	DT1	– Foreign investors and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam and contributing capital of VND 100 billion or more; or – Investing in business lines or administrative divisions benefiting from investment incentives.	Do not exceed 2 years	Multiple entries
		DT2	– Foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam and contributing capital of VND 50 billion to less than VND 100 billion; or – Investing in business lines benefitting from investment incentives.
		DT3	Foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam and contributing capital of VND 3 billion to less than VND 50 billion.	Do not exceed 3 years	Multiple entries
		DT4	Foreign investors in Vietnam and representatives of foreign organizations investing in Vietnam and contributing capital of less than VND 3 billion.	Do not exceed 12 months	Multiple entries

Temporary Residence Card

Temporary residence card (“TRC”) is a document issued by an immigration authority or a competent authority of the Immigration department Vietnam to a foreigner who is permitted to reside in Vietnam for a certain period of time. This card has the same validity as a visa.

Foreigners making entry on the following visas shall be granted the TRC:

No.	VISA	Term
1	DT1	Do not exceed 10 years
2	DT2	Do not exceed 05 years
3	DT3	Do not exceed 03 years
4	LD4	Do not exceed 2 years
5	LD2	Do not exceed 2 years

Note:

– Validity of issued temporary residence cards shall be at least 30 days shorter than remaining validity of passports. – Time limit for obtaining the TRC: 05 days according to the laws of Vietnam

Work Permit

Foreigners must apply for a work permit in order to be eligible to work in Vietnam, unless they fall under some circumstances that are  exempted from requiring a work permit, ex. foreign investors. Upon meeting the conditions, a work permit is issued for two years.

Some common circumstances that the foregin employee is only required to have the Certification of foreign workers eligible for exemption from work permit

• The workers are internally reassigned in the companies which engage in 11 service industries in the Vietnam’s WTO commitments on services, including: business, communication, construction, distribution, education, environment, finance, health, tourism, culture, entertainment and transportation;

• The workers enter Vietnam to hold the positions of experts, managers, chief executive officers or technicians for a period of under 30 days and an accumulated working period of under 90 days per year;

• Capital-contributing members or owners of limited liability companies;

• Members of the Board of Directors of joint-stock companies;

• Chiefs of representative offices and directors of projects of international organizations or non-governmental organizations in Vietnam;

• Those who stay in Vietnam for under 3 months to offer services for sale.

Driving license for foreigners in Vietnam

In order to be able to drive in Vietnam, the foreign employee is required to implement the procedure on renewal of foreign driving license.

Accordingly, the foreign employee shall send a set of application in person to Directorate for Roads of Vietnam or Department of Transport (where the residence is registered). The dossier is including:

• The written request for renewal of driving license (Appendix 20 enclosed with Circular 20/2017/TT-BGTVT); and

• A written translation of the driving license in Vietnamese guaranteed in quality by notary office or Embassy, Consulate in Vietnam where the translator works, affixed with a stamp on adjoining edges of pages and copy of the driving license; and

• The copy of passport (passport number, full name, passport photo, validity period and page of entry visa to Vietnam), people’s identity card, citizen’s identity card issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam or a photocopy of the Permanent Residence Card, Temporary Residence Card, stay permits or the papers proving the foreigner’s long-term residence in Vietnam.

Please be noted that the foreign shall be photographed when submitting the application for replacement and must present the original copy of aforesaid documents (except for sent original documents) for comparison.

CONTACT DETAILS

Phone number: (+84) 28 6285 8591

E-mail: info@lttlawyers.com

Website: www.lttlawyers.com

Address:

• 185 Co Bac street, Co Giang Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

• Room 226, S – office Areas, 2nd floor Chamvit 117, Tran Duy Hung Street, Trung Hoa Ward, Cau Giay District, Hanoi City

• No. 2 Doan Nhu Hai, Hoa Khe Ward, Thanh Khe District, Danang City

I. Conditions and procedures to establish

1. Contribution Capital

At least 50 billion VND, as equivalent to 2.2 million USD. In case the foreign investor does not build new facilities but sublease them or the Vietnamese partner contributes its existing facilities, the minimum investment shall be at least 35 billion VND, as equivalent to 1.5 million USD;

2. Facilities

• The school area shall be calculated based on the quantity of classes and students:at least 06m² per student, applicable to urban areas, including at least 2.5 m² per student regarding the areas for learning and teaching.
• There must be a playground, training ground and parking lot that account for at least 30% of the total area of the school. There must be surrounding walls and a gate specifying the school’s name.
• There must be specialized classrooms, office room, library, desks, chairs, teaching equipment, materials, clean water supply and drainage systems and appropriate bathrooms that satisfy the current standards of the Ministry of Education and Training.
• There must be multi-purpose gyms, art rooms, computer labs, supporting rooms for disabled students and school clinics. There must be canteens and break rooms (for day-boarding schools).

3. The Education Program

In case only use the foreign Education Program: shall demonstrate the educational target, without damaging the national security and public interests; without spreading religion and distorting history; without negatively affect the cultures, ethics and traditional customs of Vietnam, and shall ensure the connection between levels and grades.

4. Number of personnel and students

Teachers shall hold at least bachelor’s degrees in pedagogy or equivalent.

The ratio of teachers shall be kept at least 2.25 teacher per class.

The quantity of students shall not exceed 35 students per class.

Shall be permitted to enroll Vietnamese students for their foreign educational programs. Accordingly, the number of Vietnamese students shall be lower than 50% of the total foreign students.

Notes:

Since each student is the basis for calculating the minimum investment amount and land use area, we have the following example:

Number of students	Investment capital per student	The school area per student
01	50 million VNĐ, as equivalent to 2,150 USD; OR 35 million VNĐ, as equivalent to 1,504 USD (In case the foreign investor does not build new facilities but sublease them or the Vietnamese partner contributes its existing facilities)	6m2
1000	50 billion VNĐ, as equivalent to 2,149,613 USD; OR 35 billion VND, as equivalent to 1,504,729 USD (In case the foreign investor does not build new facilities but sublease them or the Vietnamese partner contributes its existing facilities)	6000m2

Therefore, to establish a school, the investor must: have at least 1000 students; have at least 6000 m² for the school areas; and invest at least 50 billion VNĐ, as equivalent to 2,149,613 USD OR35 billion VND, as equivalent to 1,504,729 USD OR 35 billion VND, as equivalent to 1,504,729 USD (In case the foreign investor does not build new facilities but sublease them or the Vietnamese partner contributes its existing facilities) (Conditions and procedures)

About the issue of work permit in Vietnam

The development of the economic in Vietnam has opened up plenty of opportunities for foreign employees in Vietnam.

Hence, the Vietnamese government has improved its legal framework for foreign employees more effectively.

In fact, upon the specific circumstance of the foreign employee, the foreign employees are approved to work in Vietnam without a work permit.

Specific cases for foreign employees working in Vietnam without a work permit

Pursuant to Article 172 of the Labour Code, Article 7(2) of the Decree 11/2016/ND-CP supplemented and amended by Article 11(4), 11(3) of the Decree 140/2018/ND-CP, some common circumstances that foreign employees are exempt from work permit as follows:

• Being internally reassigned in the companies which engage in 11 service industries in the Vietnam’s WTO commitments on services
• Holding the positions of experts, managers, chief executive officers or technicians for a period of under 30 days and an accumulated working period of under 90 days per year;
• Being responsible for establishing the commercial presence
• Other cases decided by the Prime Minister at the request of the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

Requirements to work in Vietnam without a work permit

Nevertheless, in such circumstances, the foreign employees working in Vietnam without work permit are required to implement the procedure to obtain the certification of foreign employees eligible for exemption from work permits. The procedure is comprised of two steps:

In addition, according to Article 11(5) of Decree 140/2018/ND-CP amending Article 8(2) of Decree No.11/2016/ND-CP, the cases stipulated in in Article 172(4) and 172(5) of the Labour Code and Article 7(2)(e) and 7(2)(i) of the Decree No.11/2016/ND-CP are not required to follow the above-mentioned procedures.

How to prepare the dossier for obtaining the certification of foreign employees eligible for exemption from work permits

With respect to a certification application, the dossier consists of the following documents:

For such documents to prove the eligibility of the foreign employees working in Vietnam without a work permit, it shall include 01 photocopy to be enclosed with the original or 01 certified copy.

For other documents exempting from consularization, these documents must be translated into Vietnamese and certified in accordance with regulations of Viet Nam.

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[LTT & LAWYERS:] This article is published for the purpose of educating, disseminating and propagating laws and guidelines and policies of the Party, the State and for non-commercial purposes. The information above is for reference only and some legal information may have expired at this period. Therefore, please kindly render the legal advice of the lawyer before excecuting in  practice.

Should you have any inqueries regarding this legal matter, please do not hesitate to contact us: LTT & Lawyers Company Limited
– E-mail: info@lttlawyers.com
– Phone: (+84) 862.707.278
– Website: www.lttlawyers.com
– Our head office: Floor 3rd, No. 185 Co Bac Street, Co Giang Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Advertising license: Advertising is the employment of various means in order to present the public with the profitable products, goods and service; non-profitable products and services; organizations and individuals trading and providing the presented products, goods and services, except for news, social policies; personal information.

(According to Clause 1, Article 2, Law on Advertising 2012)

Advertising is a very important means in conveying, creating trust and persuasion to the public. Currently, many people use advertising for the wrong purpose, to the wrong person and use false information, especially for advertising food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, … which directly affects human body and health. Therefore, Vietnam’s law has imposed regulations on advertising and strictly controlled advertisement’s content in the process of applying for advertising content licenses.

1. What does the advertising content license mean?

Registration for confirming advertising content is a mandatory procedure for organizations and individuals before conducting an advertising activity before widely introducing and disseminating products to the public. Applying for an advertising license is so important as:

• In order for the state agencies to manage and strictly control the advertising content during the registration of advertising content, to avoid the case of advertising the wrong content and easily causing confusion with the product

• Enterprises with advertising licenses will ensure advertising content in accordance with regulations, avoid the risk of administrative sanctions with very large fines and create trust and persuasion to the public.

2. Who needs permission?

Organizations and individuals doing business and intending to carry out advertising activities of all kinds of products and goods subject to permission, such as drugs (pharmaceuticals), cosmetics, food, chemicals, pesticides, medical equipment, ect relating to and directly affecting human health and body, are required to apply for advertising licenses.

For example, Vietnam’s law requires organizations and individuals to register content before advertising:

• Dietary supplements, medical foods, food for special dietary uses.

• Dietary products for children up to 36 months.

(According to Article 26, Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP)

• Mixed food additives with new uses, food additives that are not on the list of permitted food additives compiled by the Ministry of Health (hereinafter referred to as “unregistered food additives”).

(According to Article 21, Circular No. 06/2011/TT-BYT)

3. Procedures and fee for establishing a license?

Currently, most of businesses do not have enough knowledge and experience in carrying out the procedures for applying for advertising content licences. The best solution for businesses to carry out this procedure as soon as possible and most effectively is finding a law firm with many years of experience in this field to be advised, guided and supported in the process of applying for advertisement content, for example:

• Discussing and consulting with the Enterprise about initial information to carry out the registration procedure for advertising content licenses;

• Reviewing documents that Enterprise has provided before conducting services;

• Consulting with state agencies to advise and discuss documents (if any);

• Drafting, checking, modifying and completing necessary documents as prescribed;

• Supporting and representing the Enterprise to submit documents, following the settlement of documents at Authority agencies and additional explanations related to records (if any);

• Get the result and hand over licenses to Businesses.

Depending on the advertising license for each specific type of product, goods or service, the state agency will have different regulations on the license fee.

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[LTT & LAWYERS:] The article was published for the purpose of educating, disseminating and propagating laws and guidelines and policies of the State for non-commercial purposes. The information above is for reference only and some legal information may have expired, so please consult with professional lawyers or experts before applying those information in practice.

Should you need further information, please do not hesitate to contact us:

 LTT & LAWYERS LAW FIRM

• E-mail: info@lttlawyers.com
• Phone: (+84) 28 6270 7278
• Website: www.lttlawyers.com
• Head office: Floor 3rd, 185 Co Bac Street, Co Giang Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Food safety: Recently, the issue of dirty food has attracted special attention from the public. The number of food poisoning cases, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, are very alarming, highlighted the need for better food safety management in Vietnam. The authorities have now tightened the rules to prevent the harmful effects from food-related issues to the public’s health.

However, many food producers and traders have not paid adequate attention for assuring food safety, resulting in sanctions from management agencies.

CERTIFICATION OF FOOD SAFETY ELIGIBILITY

Certification of food safety eligibility is a mandatory requirement for most food producers and traders. Every food manufacturer and seller must obtain the certificate of food safety, except for those specified as followed:

1. Exemption from the certificate of food safety

The following entities are not required to obtain the certificate of food safety:

• Micro food manufacturers;
• Mobile food manufacturers and sellers;
• Micro food processors;
• Micro food sellers;
• Sellers of prepackaged foods;
• Manufacturers and sellers of instruments and materials for wrapping and storing food;
• Restaurants within hotels;
• Industrial kitchens not registered as a food business;
• Street food vendors;
• Any food business that has one of the following certificates: GMP, HACCP, ISO 22000, IFS, BRC, FSSC 22000 or an equivalent certificate.

(Article 12 of Decree 15/2018 / ND-CP guiding the Law on Food Safety)

2. Should businesses use fake certificates of food safety in their production and business processes?

There are many opinions that recommend the enterprises to use fake certificates to bypass competent authorities and customers. According to Vietnamese laws, this act is illegal and can lead to criminal prosecution.

Accordingly: Any person who fabricates an organization’s seal or document or use it to commit an illegal act shall be liable to a fine of from VND 30,000,000 to VND 100,000,000 or face a penalty of up to 03 years’ community sentence or 03 months – 7 years’ imprisonment:

(Article 341 Criminal Code 2015)

In addition, this act can adversely affect the enterprises’ reputation. It would be very risky to use fake certificates when operating business activities.

3. Food sellers and businesses should choose a reputable law firm to support in obtaining the certificates

The reality also shows that not all businesses have enough knowledge, experience and time to organize and build their facilities up to the standards required for food hygiene. The best solution is to find a reputable law firm with many years of experience in this field to advise, guide and support businesses to carry out the processes complied with the laws:

1. Checking and reviewing all documents, papers and information related to Clients’ businesses;
2. Advising the Clients on the shortcomings in equipment, facilities such as: arranging equipment, tools, background conditions, walls, ceilings, electrical systems, ventilation systems, warehouses yards, wastes, … on the one-way principle.
3. Organizing training courses on food safety and granting certifications for particitpants, conducting the health checks for all employees.
4. Preparing dossier of application for a certificate of food safety eligibility, which comprises an application, a written explanations about the satisfaction of food safety and hygiene conditions of physical foundations, equipment and tools,… and other documents.
5. Submitting dossiers at competent state agencies.
6. Joining with Clients to welcome the inspectorate, which will to carry out a site inspection.
7. Getting the results and hand over the results to the Clients.

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[LTT & LAWYERS:] The article was published for the purpose of educating, disseminating and propagating laws and guidelines and policies of the State for non-commercial purposes. The information above is for reference only and some legal information may have expired, so please consult with professional lawyers or experts before applying those information in practice.

Should you need further information, please do not hesitate to contact us:

☎️ LTT & LAWYERS LAW FIRM

• E-mail: info@lttlawyers.com
• Phone: (+84) 28 6270 7278
• Website: www.lttlawyers.com
• Head office: Floor 3rd, 185 Co Bac Street, Co Giang Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Doing business in Vietnam

I. Opportunities

1. Vietnam has a stable political – social economy with steady economic growth

Vietnam’s economy from 1991 to 2010 grew by 7.5% / year, and despite difficulties in the following period, from 2011 to 2013 the economy still grew by 5.6% / year. In the following years, the average growth rate is over 6%. (Source: World Economic Forum)

2. Vietnam government has implemented many policies to support and attract foreign investors

Vietnamese government committed to creating a fair, transparent investment environment, continuously improving the legal frameworks for investment and business activities.

The Law on Investment 2014 was enacted to create a transparent legal basis to ensure the exercise of the right to freedom of investment by providing the law on the sectors and trades banned from investment (6 industries) and conditional business lines (267 industries) and many regulations on simplifying administrative procedures.

In addition, policies on investment incentives and investment assistance are also applied.

Investors will enjoy preferential treatment on corporate income tax, import tax, land use tax, … when investing in the business lines given investment incentives and in the administrative divisions given investment incentives (Legal base: Law on Investment 2014; Decree 118/2015/NĐ-CP Stipulating and guiding the implementation of the Law on Investment)

Total foreign investment in Vietnam in 2018 reached US $ 35.5 billion, equaling 98.8% over the same period in 2017 (Source: VnEconomy)

3. Vietnam has been recognized as a country with abundant labor resources, backed by the young population.

Vietnam currently has a population of 95 million, ranking 14th in the world. The average age of Vietnam is 30.8, lower than the Chinese average of 37.3, about 60% of the labor force under 35 years old. (Source: Worldometer; Nielsen)

4. Vietnam is increasingly internationally integrate by accessing bilateral and multilateral trade agreements

Vietnam has signed many international treaties with major partners such as VKFTA (Vietnam – Korea), CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership), AHKFTA (ASEAN – Hong Kong). Kong), … and gradually remove tariff barriers, barriers to market entry for foreign investors.

II. Challenges

1. There are many constraints when setting up an enterprise

The World Bank recently released it’s latest Doing Business report, ranking Vietnam 69th among 190 economies for ease of doing business

Despite many proactive reforms, there comes with challenges when starting a business in Vietnam such as:

• Investors need to have a land lease contract for business location before registering to set up an enterprise
• There are some restrictions on business lines for foreign investors, especially those are not included in the international treaties, requiring investors to carry out investment evaluation and consult with relevant ministries and branches. For example: Debt trading service, property auction service, price appraisal, …
• It may take an average of 18 working days for a new business to set up, along with a number of mandatory and time-consuming administrative procedures.

2. The legal system is complex, incomplete, and there are many grey or ambiguous areas

In the field of tax, foreign investors in Vietnam should be subject to taxes such as corporate income tax; V.A.T tax; personal income tax; foreign withholding tax; severance tax; excise tax,…

When an investor wants to invest in the infrastructure sector, the investor encounters difficulties in the services to be sold, whether the Investment Registration Certificate is granted or not, and other risks.

For example, the direct purchase and sale contract between investors and Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN). Accordingly, EVN has the right to refuse to purchase electricity from these projects, which puts a burden of risk on investors.

Another example relates to the import regulation of used machinery. Accordingly, foreign investors cannot utilize their existing machines (especially those have been used for more than 10 years) to bring to Vietnam for production.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s supporting industry has not developed strongly, leading to difficulties in investing in manufacturing (Legal base: Decision 18/2019 / QD-TTg Regulation on machinery import, used equipment and technology lines).

In addition, some provisions of the Law on Investment are contradictory, overlapping or inconsistent with other Laws, such as some inconsistent clauses between the Investment Law and the Land Law, the Law on Environmental Protection, …

If you are having difficulty with investment in Vietnam, please contact us: LTT & Lawyers is a professional law firm established in Vietnam which has a number of notable practice fields in the legal market such as Labour and Employment, Enterprise and Investment, Selling and Merging, Dispute Resolutions and Intellectual Property. We are confident to provide clients with legal services optimally and effectively.

Procedures for business registration in Vietnam:

1. Legal grounds:

• Law No. 68/2014/QH13 – Law on Enterprises
• Decree No. 78/2015/ND-CP on Enterprise Registration

2. Content of consultation:

• Counseling on the Law on establishment and operation of businesses;
• Counseling on choosing the type of business entity;
• Collecting information and documents from customers;
• Prepare necessary documents to apply for business registration;
• Submit the application to the competent State authority and follow up on the processing of records and additional explanations (if any);

3. Profile components:

No.	Type of business	Composition of records
1	Private enterprise	– Application form for enterprise registration   – Legitimate copy of one of the private enterprises’ owner ID papers
2	Partnerships	– Application form for enterprise registration   – The Company’s charter   – List of members of the partnership   – Legitimate copies of ID paper of the founders   – Legitimate copies of The certificate of investment registration if the enterprise is founded or co-founded by foreign investors or foreign-invested business organizations according to the Law on Investment and its instructional documents
3	Limited liability company	– Application form for enterprise registration   – Company’s charter (if the enterprise is a multi-member limited liability company) – List of members of the enterprise (if the enterprise is a multi-member limited liability company) – Legitimate copies of ID paper if the founder is an individual; and The decision on establishment or certificate of enterprise registration or an equivalent document, ID paper of the authorized representative and the letter of attorney if the founder is an organization; – Legitimate copies of The certificate of investment registration if the enterprise is founded or co-founded by foreign investors or foreign-invested business organizations according to the Law on Investment and its instructional documents
4	Joint Stock Company	– Application form for enterprise registration – The company’s charter. – List of founding shareholders and foreign shareholders – Legitimate copies of ID paper if the founder is an individual;and The decision on establishment or certificate of enterprise registration or an equivalent document, ID paper of the authorized representative and the letter of attorney if the founder is an organization; – Legitimate copies of The certificate of investment registration if the enterprise is founded or co-founded by foreign investors or foreign-invested business organizations according to the Law on Investment and its instructional documents.

4. Authority to issue Certificates

Business Registration Authority of the province in which the company’s headquarter is situated

5. The process of granting business establishment certificates:

Step 1: Prepare the documents

Step 2: Submit application to Business Registration Office Form of submitting application:

• Form of paper
• Form of electronic document under website: dangkykinhdoanh.gov.vn

Step 3: Get results and publish business information

Receive directly at the Department of Planning and Investment of the province in which the company’s headquarter is situated.

Fee for publishing enterprise registration information: 50,000 VND/time

6. Time:

Procedures completed within 03 working days from the day on which the application is received.

7. Result

Certificate of Business registration.

If you are having difficulty opening a company in Vietnam, please contact us: LTT & Lawyers is a professional law firm established in Vietnam which has a number of notable practice fields in the legal market such as Labour and Employment, Enterprise and Investment, Legal Traning, M & A, Dispute Resolutions, and Intellectual Property. We are confident to provide clients with legal services optimally and effectively.

Company in Viet Nam: In recent years, business and investment enviroment in Viet Nam has been increasingly strong and vibrant. Therefore, to implement investment incentives and attraction policies, Vietnam’s legal frameworks governing investment regulation for foreign investors has also been loosened, resulting in creating favorable conditions for foreign investors to invest and do business in Vietnam market. However, when carrying out investment projects, forgein investors should pay attention the following:

1. General statue of foreign investors

• Investment method:

Vietnamese laws allow foreign investors to implement investment projects in the following forms:

• Investment in establishment of a business organization;
• Investment in the form of capital contribution, purchase of shares/stakes in a business organization;
• Investment in the form of a business cooperation contract.

In addition, foreign investors can make indirect investment through buying securities or through finacial intermediaries.

• Conditions for investment:

Although Vietnam’s investment incentive policies have been advanced, meeting certain investment conditions for foreign investors is still difficult beginning. Depending on the field of investment, foreign investors need to accommodate the following conditions:

• Ratio of the foreign investor’s charter capital in a business organization;
  • Investment method;
  • Scope of investment;
  • Vietnamese partners participating in the investment.

2. Investment project’s location

In some cases, the land and space which foreign investors leases is not in line with the purpose of using land and houses in accordance with the laws on land and housing, resulting in the change of land use purpose or find a suitable location, but this problem is quite complex, time-consuming and costly.

A typical provision that foreign investors should note is that Vietnamese law does not permit enterprises to locate head offices, representative offices, branches or business locations in apartments used for residential purposes.

Therefore, foreign investors need to pay special attention when establishing a business in Vietnam about choosing the investment project’s location to avoid the hassle and to shorten the time.

3. Business lines

Foreign investors must fullfill the following requirements of business lines:

• Business lines must not be on the list of business lines banned from investment in Vietnam prescribed in Article 6 of the 2014 Law on Investment.
• Foreign investors must abide by the investment conditions issued in Vietnam’s Schedule of Commitments in the WTO (if foreign investors in the territories which are WTO members) or international agreements Vietnam joins with the country which the investor holds nationality.
• Foreign investors must meet the conditions for business lines in the list of conditional business lines in accordance with Appendix 4 of the 2014 Law on Investment.

4. Procedures for investment registration

In order to conduct investment in Vietnam, foreign investors need to perform the following 3 steps:

Step 1: Carry out the procedure for issuance investment registration certificate.

Step 2: Carry out the procedure for issuance enterprise registration certificate / the procedure for capital contribution, purchase of shares/stakes to business organizations.

Step 3: Implement procedures to grant child licenses (for the list of conditional business lines)

Foreign investors should note that the procedure of enterprise establishment registration for domestic enterprises only takes about 04 working days but it may take foreign investors up to 30 working days to complete the procedure and start to conduct investment activities.

LEGAL BASIS:

• Investment Law 2014
• Decree 118/2015/NĐ-CP on guidelines for some articles of the law on investment
• Interprise Law 2014
• Housing Law 2014

Vietnam Visa for Citizens of South Korea

Koreans might apply for entry into Vietnam for tourism or commercial purposes, labor, investment …

Depending on the purpose of entry, Koreans can apply for visas with different deadlines: Tourist Visa 1 month, 3 months single time, 3 months multiple times. For Commercial Visa, you can apply for a 1-month visa, 3-month visa at the Embassy or Airport / International border.

1. Conditions for obtaining a Vietnam Visa for Koreans:

– Korean passport is valid for 6 months or more.
– In order to be able to apply for a long-term Vietnam visa, Koreans needs to be guaranteed by the Company, agency, organization, enterprise and individual in Vietnam (for Commercial visa or Visitation visa).
– If Koreans want to enter Vietnam for tourist purposes, they only need to provide the passport, the date of entry into Vietnam, the place to receive the visa so that we can apply for a tourist visa.

2. The process of applying for a visa for Koreans includes:

a. Application for a commercial visa:

an organization or business in Vietnam will prepare a dossier and submit an application for an entry letter to the Korean at a competent state agency.

– Original passport of Koreans is valid for at least 06 months.
– Application for entry under form NA2.
– Legal documents of the guarantee company: Registration of the notarized enterprise, registration of the seal and the official letter introducing the seal and signature of the legal representative of the company

Within 5 working days, the immigration office of Vietnam will issue an invitation letter if the application is valid.

b. Applying for a visa:

After receiving an immigration letter via email, Koreans will print an invitation to accept a visa to Vietnamese border gates, international airports or to the Vietnamese Diplomatic Mission at Korea to proceed with the visa application process. Documents to prepare include:
– Original passport of foreigners.
– Official letter of entry.
– Vietnam visa application form, under form NA1, issued at the Airport or Embassy

Note: Under the provisions of the law on entry and exit of Vietnam, visa types are not allowed to change the purpose so Client should pay attention to make a dossier to suit entry purposes.

If Client needs to apply for a visa for Korean people, please contact us to receive advice and support according to the information below.

☎️ LTT & Lawyers Law Firm:
– E-mail: info@lttlawyers.com
– Phone: (+84) 906 122 830
– Website: www.lttlawyers.com
– Head Office: 19th Floor, Section A, Indochina Park Tower, No. 4 Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, Da Kao Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Public opinion is heating up over auto owners being fined by traffic police for not displaying their original auto registration certificates held by banks as a mortgage.

It is a headache for almost everyone – car buyers on instalment plans and car mortgagors, while bankers are facing fear of failure of their car loan service. This scenario has led to multiple ideas and proposals including issuance of an auto ownership certificate besides an existing auto registration certificate.[1] This proposal may sound reasonable but should be considered from many aspects, especially as a matter of law, rather than dealing with this issue in an ad hoc fashion.

What do traffic police need from car owners?

Pursuant to the Law on Land Traffic, traffic police have the right to require car owners to show such papers as an identification card, driver’s license, car insurance and vehicle registration certificate, which all serve the purpose of an administrative check and sanction. Ultimately, this check is aimed at verifying information about car drivers (and other vehicles in general) and other elements associated with the car (type of vehicle, vehicle owner, its traffic eligibility etc.). Is it necessary for car drivers to show an original vehicle registration certificate? For the purpose of obtaining information, it is clear that a copy of a vehicle registration certificate will satisfy the need for information verification. Furthermore, in the age of the internet, traffic police can instantly check all information relating to any vehicle, or their owners.

Technically, it is not requirement for traffic police require further information such as where the car owner sourced the money to buy the car, or if the driver is the car owner because these are civil arrangements are beyond the authority of police forces. The law allows citizens to borrow or rent a car from others, for example.

Is a vehicle ownership certificate necessary?

Before answering this question, we need to understand the nature of vehicle registration certificates. Pursuant to Article 106 of the 2015 Civil Code, a car is a movable asset of which ownership must be registered. A vehicle registration certificate itself confirms the registration that the owner has made for the car. Therefore, as a matter of law, this registration certificate is by its nature the paper which establishes the ownership right to such car. The proposal for splitting the current vehicle registration certificate into vehicle registration and vehicle ownership certificates is redundant and indicates a misunderstanding of the legality of the current vehicle registration certificate.

Economically, this separation, if any, only serves the need of a small number of car owners who have mortgage transactions while the majority of other owners do not have this need.

On the other hand, for cars which have been granted registration certificates, this split into 2 certificates may cause confusion in the establishment of ownership rights prescribed by the 2015 Civil Code.

The idea of splitting the vehicle registration certificate is no different from the previous “green book”, “red book” and “pink book” proposals for land, or the proposal of changing driver’s licenses into PET material. Luckily these proposals were soon protested and “whistleblowed” by the Ministry of Justice.

Respecting the property rights of a citizen under the Civil Code

Mortgaging a car to borrow money from a bank is essentially the exercise of the ownership rights of a citizen as the owner of his own property. Under the Civil Code 2015, owners are entitled to perform all acts in their sole discretion in relation to property unless it is contrary to law or prejudicial to a country, a nation, the general public or others. The agreement between citizens and the bank on handing over the original auto registration certificate to the bank is in full conformity with the Civil Code and does not prejudice anyone, so there is no reason to say this agreement violates the law[2]. The bank’s holding of the original vehicle registration certificate aims to restrict the property disposal of a mortgagor, first ensuring compliance with the agreement of the two parties, and it is reasonable for the bank to control the mortgaged property while citizens (borrowers) are responsible for their loan. To date, this has been not just a professional practice but also a prevention of any risk of bad debts for banks. Depriving owners of the right to exploit their property in the pretext of administrative management is an infringement on the ownership of citizens and exposes the bank’s loan-on-mortgage transactions to risk.

In addition, the law on penalties for administrative offenses in the field of road traffic[3] only stipulate that drivers of cars, tractors and similar vehicles who do not carry their vehicle registration certificate while in control of such a vehicle will suffer a fine. However, the law fails to specify whether this is an original or certified copy of the vehicle registration certificate. Therefore, citizens are entitled to use a certified copy as an ad hoc solution, and this is absolutely not contrary to law.

The said analysis shows that the current legislation is sufficiently detailed and capable of addressing any practical situation. So separating the vehicle ownership certificate from vehicle registration is not necessary. There is no need to amend the relevant legislation or enacting more legislation to address this issue. The concerned parties need to apply the Civil Code – original civil legislation – and respect the ownership of citizens and their freedom to enter into agreements between them and banks. Accordingly, traffic police should accept a certified copy of the Certificate, along with a letter from their bank, if necessary.

Lawyer Le Trong Them- Lawyer Ho Thi Tram

[1] See “Separating vehicle registration certificate from vehicle ownership certificate” at http://www.thesaigontimes.vn/162676/Tach-bach-giay-dang-ky-va-giay-so-huu-o-to.html.

[2] Article 320.1 of the Civil Code 2015

[3] Article 21.3.b of Decree 46/2016/NĐ-CP dated May 26, 2016