I have questions to ask the attorney for help. "Can foreigners buy land and houses in Vietnam?" If so, what conditions and procedures?

Question 4: I have questions to ask the attorney for help. "Can foreigners buy land and houses in Vietnam?" If so, what conditions and procedures?

According to the Land Law 2013, land users include Vietnamese residing overseas or foreign organizations with investment projects having land use rights in Vietnam.

According to Article 5 of Land Law 2013: “Land users may be allocated land or leased land, have land use rights recognized by the State, or receive transfer of land use rights in accordance with this Law, including:

1. Domestic organizations, including state agencies, people’s armed forces units, political organizations, socio-political organizations, economic organizations, socio-politico-professional organizations, social organizations, socio-professional organizations, public non-business organizations, and other organizations as prescribed by the civil law (below referred collectively to as organizations);

2. Domestic households and individuals (below referred collectively to as households and individuals).

3. Communities, including Vietnamese communities residing in the same village, street quarter or similar residential area sharing the same customs and practices or the same family line.

4. Religious establishments, including pagodas, churches, oratories, shrines, monasteries, abbeys, religious schools, head offices of religious organizations, and other religious establishments.

5. Foreign organizations with diplomatic functions, including diplomatic representative missions, consulates, other foreign representative agencies with diplomatic functions recognized by the Vietnamese Government, representative missions of organizations of the United Nations, inter-governmental agencies or organizations, and representative missions of inter-governmental organizations.

6. Overseas Vietnamese as prescribed by the nationality law.

7. Foreign-invested enterprises, including 100% foreign-invested enterprises, joint-venture enterprises, Vietnamese enterprises in which foreign investors purchase shares, merge or acquire in accordance with investment law.”

            Thus, according to the above regulations, foreigners only have the right to own houses under two forms: the investment in housing development projects in Vietnam according to the provisions of this Law and relevant laws; purchase, lease-purchase, inheritance or donation of houses including apartments and detached houses in housing development projects, except for areas for defense and security maintenance according to regulations of the Government.

  Accordingly, your friends will be able to own a house if they have enough documents to prove their eligibility and meet the conditions stipulated in Decree 99/2015/ND-CP as follows:

 Article 74. Documents proving eligibility for owning houses in Vietnam.

1. A foreign individual must have an unexpired passport bearing the entry seal of the Vietnam’s immigration authority and not given diplomatic immunity and privileges according to Ordinance on diplomatic immunity and privileges of diplomatic missions, consular offices, and representative authorities of international organizations in Vietnam”.

According to Clause 2 Article 76 Decree No. 99/2015/ND-CP dated October 20th 2015 by the Government on guidelines for the law on housing,  Foreign entities eligible to own houses in Vietnam may only purchase, lease-purchase houses from owners of housing construction projects, or purchase houses of the foreign entities specified in Point b Clause 4 Article 7 of this Decree, and may only receive houses as inheritance of gifts from households or individuals, or receive houses as gifts from organizations provided the quantity does not exceed the limits specified in Clause 3 and Clause 4 of this Article of the housing construction projects whose houses they may own. Where a foreign entity who is not eligible to own houses in Vietnam receives a house in Vietnam as a gift or inheritance, provisions in Article 78 of this Decree shall apply.

  Foreign entities are entitled to purchase, lease-purchase, inheritance or donation of commercial houses including apartments and detached houses in housing development projects, except for areas for defense and security maintenance according to regulations of the Government. Foreign entities may own up to 30% of the total number of apartments of an apartment building. In an area whose population is equivalent to that of a ward, if there are many apartment buildings for sale or lease-purchase, foreign entities may own up to 30% of the number of apartments of each apartment building, and up to 30% of the total number of apartments of all these apartment buildings.

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