New regulations of Laws effective from July 01, 2015

1. Simplifying of procedures enterprise establishment

According to Law on Enterprises 2014, procedures for registration of enterprise establishment have been simplified as follows:

- Certification of legal capital and practicing certificate are no longer mandatory;

- Time limit for issuance of Certificate of Enterprise registration is reduced from 05 to 03 working days;

- The Certificate of Enterprise registration only has 4 parts; the parts business lines, shares, value of contributed share capital, etc. are removed.

The Certificate of Enterprise registration will be revoked in the following cases:

- Information provided in the application for enterprise registration is found to be false;

- The enterprise is established by a person banned from enterprise establishment;

- The enterprise has been suspended for 01 year without notifying the business registration authority and tax authority;

- The enterprise fails to submit a report to the business registration authority within 06 months from the deadline for report submission or from receipt of a written request;

- The revocation is decided by court.

2. Specific regulations on duration for promotion to general

On November 27, 2014, the National Assembly ratifies the Law on Amendments to the Law on Vietnam’s Military Officers 2014.

According to the Law, the minimum duration for considering promoting a commissioned officer to general is 4 years in the following cases:

- From Colonel to Major General or Rear Naval Admiral

- From Major General or Rear Naval Admiral to Lieutenant General or Deputy Naval Admiral

- From Lieutenant General or Deputy Naval Admiral to Senior Lieutenant General or Admiral

- From Senior Lieutenant General or Admiral to General.

The age of in-service officers considered for promotion from Colonel to major General or Rear Naval Admiral must not exceed 57, unless otherwise requested by the President.

The award, promotion, demotion, and stripping of a military rank is carried out as follows:

- The Prime Minister shall propose award, promotion, demotion, and stripping of the rank of General, Rear Admiral, Deputy Admiral and Admiral ranks to the President.

The promotion, demotion and stripping of the general rank of seconded People’s Army officers shall be requested by the organization or unit where they are seconded to and the National Defense Minister.

- Procedures for award, promotion, demotion of major, lieutenant-colonel, senior lieutenant-colonel, colonel, second lieutenant, lieutenant, senior lieutenant, captain ranks, and officers’ pay raise shall be prescribed by the Minister of National Defense.

3. New regulations of Law on the People’s Public Security Forces 2014

On December 09, 2014, the President signs Order No. 33/2014/L-CTN to announce the Law on the People’s Public Security Forces 2014. Some remarkable regulations of the Law:

- Graduate cadets having excellent degrees will be awarded a higher rank.

- Limit on quantity of generals:

+ General: Minister of Public Security;

+ Senior Lieutenant Generals: not more than 06 Deputy Ministers of Public Security;

+ Lieutenant Generals and Major Generals: Point c, d Clause 1 Article 24 of the Law.

- It takes at least 4 years to be promoted from one general rank to the next; an officer must not be older than 57 years to be promoted from colonel to major general, unless otherwise requested by the President.

- Ranks of seconded police officers are also specified in the Law.

The Law comes into force from July 01, 2015.

Regulations on award, promotion, demotion, stripping of general ranks; assignment, dismissal, demotion of holders of up to general ranks are in force from the day on which the Law is announced.

4. Cases of direct admission to vocational colleges

Any person who has graduated high school or has obtained sufficient school knowledge will be directly admitted to a vocational college in the following cases:

- The person has an associate degree that is ranked excellent or better and applies for the same major or vocation;

- The person has a good associate degree that is ranked good, has at least 02 years’ experience of the trained major or vocation, and applies for the same major or vocation;

- The person wins the first, second, or third prize in a national vocational skill competition. In this case, he/she will be admitted to a college that suits the vocation.

The aforementioned regulations are issued in the Law on Vocational Education 2014.

According to the Law, the following students of junior colleges and colleges will be exempt from tuition fees:

- Meritorious persons sponsored by the government and relatives thereof;

- Ethnics in poor families or families living near poverty; members of very small ethnic groups in disadvantaged and extremely disadvantaged areas;

- Persons who are homeless and/or have lost both parents;

- Learners of majors or vocations that are demanded by society but hard to recruited according to the list issued by the head of the central education authority;

- Learners of special majors or vocations necessary for socio-economic development, national defense and security prescribed by the government.

5. Conditions for investment in establishment of business organizations

From July 01, 2015, the Law on Investment 2014 officially comes into force with remarkable new regulations such as:

Foreign investors who establish business organizations must satisfy conditions in terms of charter capital holding, method of investment, scope of operation, Vietnamese partners, and other conditions according to agreements to which Vietnam is a signatory.

According to the Law, foreign investors may hold an unlimited amount of charter capital in business organizations, except for that of:

-  Listed companies, public companies, securities companies, and securities investment funds.

-  State-owned companies that are equitized or otherwise converted.

-  In case of holding in entities other than those mentioned above, relevant regulations of law and agreements to which Vietnam is a signatory shall apply.

6. Foreigners permitted to own housing in Vietnam

This is one of major changes in the Law on Housing 2014.

However, foreigners' ownership of housing is still somehow restricted compared to that of Vietnamese citizens:

Foreigners are only permitted to purchase or lease purchase housing, receive housing as gift or inheritance, and own not more than 30% of apartments in an apartment building or not more than 250 detached houses in a single residential area, which is equivalent to a ward.

In case a foreigner holds an amount of housing beyond the said limits or inherits commercial housing (including apartments and detached houses of a housing project) in a high security area, such foreign only has the right to use such housing.

Every foreign who marries a Vietnamese citizen or a Vietnamese citizen residing overseas is allowed to own long-term housing and has the same rights as those of a Vietnamese citizen.

7. Management of state investment in enterprise establishment

From July 01, 2015, the Law on Management and Use of State Capital Invested in Other Enterprises’ 2014 officially takes effect.

According to this Law, state capital may be invested in establishment of:

- Enterprises providing essential public services and products for society;

- Enterprises whose activities directly serve national defense and security;

- Enterprises engaged in natural monopolies;

- Enterprises that apply high technologies, make major investments, motivate development of other fields and the whole economy.

Specific regulations are issued by the government on investment of state capital in enterprise establishment and mechanism for the state to place orders with enterprises whose functions involve regulation of macroeconomic and assurance of the country’s social security.

8. Increase in legal capital of entities trading in real estate

At the end of November 2014, the National Assembly ratified the Law on Real Estate Trading, which contains many new regulations such as:

- An organization or individual must have a legal capital of at least VND 20 billion in order to trade in real estate (previously VND 6 billion).

- It is not required to establish an enterprise to trade in, lease out, or lease purchase small real estate or on an irregular basis; However, tax must be declared and paid as prescribed by law.

- The investor must obtain a guarantee from a capable credit institution (on the list published by the State bank) before selling or leasing out off-the-plan housing.

- Specific regulations that real estate trading projects must conform to approved land use planning, urban planning, and rural planning.

9. New regulations of Law Amendments to the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments 2014

The  Law on Amendments to the Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgments 2014 specifies rights and obligations of judgment debtors, persons with related interests and obligations.

According to the Law, a judgment debtor has the right to:

- Voluntarily execute judgments; reach an agreement with the judgment creditor or those with related rights and obligations on the time, place, method and contents of judgment enforcement; voluntarily transfer his/her assets for judgment enforcement;

- Directly request or authorize another person to request judgment enforcement in accordance with this Law;

- Be informed of judgment enforcement;

- Request the court to determine and divide the right to own or use property; request the court to explain unclear points, correct spelling mistakes or inaccurate information; initiate civil lawsuits to protect his/her lawful rights and interests if there is a dispute over property related to judgment enforcement;

- Transfer the right to judgment execution to another person in accordance with this Law;

- Request replacement of the enforcer if there are grounds for presuming that the current enforcer is not impartial while performing his/her duties;

- Be considered for exemption from, or reduction of, judgment enforcement obligation; be considered for partial or whole exemption from, or reduction of, expenses for judgment enforcement in accordance with this Law;

- Lodge complaints and denunciations about judgment enforcement.

10. Additional aviation fees, charges, and service prices

The Law on Amendments to Vietnam Aviation Law 2014 provides specific regulations on aviation fees, charges, and service prices as follows:

- Services of aviation industry include:

+ Aviation services include those directly related to operation of aircraft, air transport, and flight activities;

+ Non-aviation services are those provided at the airport/airfield, on aircraft that are not classified as aviation services.

- Aviation fees and charges include:

+ Charges for crossing Vietnam’s airspace, charges for franchise of operation right, and other charges prescribed by regulations of law on fees and charges;

+ Fees for issuance of certificates and licenses related to civil aviation activities.

- Prices for aviation services, including:

+ Takeoff and landing service; administration of inbound and outbound flights; air navigation supporting service; passenger services; aviation security, and administration of flights through flight information regions under the management of Vietnam;

+ Other aviation services.

- Prices of non-aviation services, including:

+ Premises lease, essential services at the airport/airfield;

+ Other non-aviation services at the airport/airfield.