The process for applying for an Investment Registration Certificate and registering an enterprise for foreign investment in Vietnam are as follows:
1. Determining the type of project requiring an investment policy decision
In the case of projects that require an investment policy decision, depending on the type and scale of the project, the investor must register with the relevant agency. The authority to decide on investment projects at the relevant agencies includes the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, and the Provincial People's Committee.
1.1 Investment projects under the authority of the National Assembly to approve investment policies:
- Investment projects that have a major impact on the environment or have the potential to have a serious impact on the environment, including: nuclear power plants; investment projects requiring the conversion of land use purposes of special-use forests, upstream protection forests, and border protection forests of 50 hectares or more; windbreak protection forests, sandbreak protection forests, and wave-blocking and sea-encroachment protection forests of 500 hectares or more; production forests of 1,000 ha or more;
- Investment projects requiring the conversion of land use purposes for rice cultivation of 02 crops or more with a scale of 500 ha or more;
- Investment projects requiring the resettlement of 20,000 or more people in mountainous areas, 50,000 or more people in other areas;
- Investment projects requiring the application of special mechanisms and policies that need to be decided by the National Assembly.
1.2 Investment projects under the Prime Minister's authority to approve investment policies:
- Investment projects regardless of capital sources: investment projects requiring the resettlement of 10,000 or more people in mountainous areas, 20,000 or more people in other areas; new construction investment projects: airports, airfields, ports, port areas of special seaports; new investment projects for passenger transport business by air; oil and gas processing investment projects; Investment projects with betting business, casinos, etc.
- Investment projects of foreign investors in the field of telecommunications services with network infrastructure, afforestation, publishing, press;
- Investment projects that are simultaneously under the investment policy approval authority of 02 or more provincial People's Committees;
- Other investment projects under the investment policy approval authority or investment decision of the Prime Minister according to the provisions of law.
1.3 Investment projects under the investment policy approval authority of provincial People's Committees:
- Investment projects that request the State to allocate land, lease land without auction, bidding or receiving transfer, investment projects that request permission to change land use purpose;
- Investment projects for housing construction (for sale, lease, lease-purchase), urban areas in the following cases: investment projects with a land use scale of less than 50 hectares and a population scale of less than 15,000 people in urban areas; investment projects with a land use scale of less than 100 hectares and a population scale of less than 10,000 people in non-urban areas; investment projects regardless of land area scale, population in restricted development areas or historical inner cities (determined in urban planning projects) of special-class urban areas;
- Investment projects for construction and business of golf courses;
- Investment projects of foreign investors, economic organizations with foreign investment capital implemented on islands and communes, wards, towns in border areas, coastal areas and other areas that affect national defense and security.
2. Procedures for applying for an Investment Registration Certificate
2.1 Components of the dossier:
- Document requesting to implement an investment project;
- Documents on the legal status of the investor;
- Documents proving the financial capacity of the investor;
- Investment project proposal;
- Copy of documents on land use rights or other documents determining the right to use the location to implement the investment project;
- Explanation of the technology used in the investment project;
- Other documents related to the investment project, requirements on conditions and capacity of the investor.
2.2 Implementation time:
- Projects under the investment policy of the Prime Minister: about 60 days
- Projects under the investment policy of the Provincial People's Committee: about 40 days
2.3 Resolving agencies: Prime Minister, Provincial People's Committee
3. Applying for a Certificate of Business Registration
After being granted an Investment Registration Certificate, investors can choose the type of enterprise to apply for a Certificate of Business Registration. Accordingly, the dossier includes:
- Application for business registration;
- Company charter;
- List of members or list of shareholders;
- List of authorized representatives;
- Copy of personal identification documents if the founding member is an individual;
- In case the investor is an organization: Copy of the Certificate of Business Registration or establishment decision; document appointing an authorized representative with a copy of one of that person's identification documents;
- Investment registration certificate.
Investors submit 01 set of the above documents to the Department of Planning & Investment. After 03 working days from the date of receiving valid documents, the Department of Planning & Investment will issue a Certificate of Business Registration to the investor.
