Establishment of a foreign representative office in Vietnam
A foreign trader’s representative office is one of the most popular forms of presence in Vietnam Within the scope of activities permitted by law, the representative office can carry out functions of liaison office, market research, promotion of business investment opportunities of the trader, excluding services that establishment of representative office in that field is prescribed by specialized legal documents.
Conditions for establishing a foreign representative office in Vietnam
The foreign representative office must meet the following conditions:
- Foreign enterprise is established and registered for business in accordance with the regulations of the law of countries, and territories participating in international treaties in which Vietnam is a member or is recognized by the law of other countries;
- Foreign enterprise or foreign trader has been operating for at least 01 year from the date of establishment or registration;
- In case Business Registration Certificate or equivalent documents of the foreign enterprise, a foreign trader has regulation of the operational period, this period must be at least 01 year from the date of dossier submission;
- The representative office’s content of operation must be consistent with Vietnam’s commitments in international treaties that Vietnam is a member;
- In case the Representative Office’s content of operation is not consistent with the commitments of Vietnam or foreign trader which does not belong to countries, or territories participating in international treaties that Vietnam is a member, the establishment of the Representative Office must be approved by the Minister or the Head of ministerial-level agencies managing specialized fields.
Procedures for establishing a representative office of foreign traders in Vietnam
| Process | Detailled description |
| Step 1 | Prepare dossiers
Traders need to prepare a dossier full of the documents listed above and submit it to the competent authority. |
| Step 2 | Submit Dossiers
Within 03 working days from the date of receiving the dossiers, the competent authority shall check and request a supplement if the dossier is not complete and valid. The request for the supplement is carried out once during the processing dossier. |
| Step 3 | Receive results
Within 07 working days from the date of receiving the valid dossier, the competent authority shall issue or not issue a License for the Establishment of a Representative Office for foreign traders. In case of rejection, the competent authority must clearly state the reason in writing. Notes:
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| Step 4 | Engrave the seal and register the seal sample
Foreign trader’s representative offices operating in Vietnam can register a seal for carrying out management activities of a representative office in Vietnam. |
| Step 5 | Register for tax code notification
Foreign trader’s representative office in Vietnam has its own tax code to fulfil the tax obligations and declare with tax management authority, specifically the Department of Taxation. |
LIST OF DOCUMENTS
To prepare for the establishment of a foreign trader’s representative office in Vietnam, a trader needs to prepare the following documents:
- Application for License to establish Representative Office according to the form signed by the competent representative of the foreign trader;
- Copy of Business Registration Certificate or equivalent documents of foreign trader;
- Documents of foreign traders appointing the head of representative office;
- Copy of audited financial statement or documents confirming the fulfilment of tax or financial obligations in the most recent fiscal year or equivalent documents issued or confirmed or proved the existence and operations of foreign trader in the most recent fiscal year by competent authorities where foreign trader was established;
- Copy of passport or ID card (if Vietnamese) or copy of passport (if foreigner) of the head of Representative Office;
- Documents on the expected location of the Representative Office, including:
- Copy of the memorandum of understanding or agreement to rent the location or a copy of the document proving that the trader has the right to exploit and use the location of the Representative Office.
- Copy of documents on the expected location of the Representative Office prescribed by related laws.
COMMITMENT TO SERVICES
On time
All that we do will be planned specifically in terms of time and content. You can control what we do, and the time to completion, and in all cases, we help you maintain the enterprise’s compliance with the deadlines with competent authorities and employees.
Exactly
We commit to the accuracy of the contents of consultation, established documents, and services we provide to customers. We aim to provide you with a safe and effective legal solution for your business operations.
Security
We establish a confidentiality commitment with you, so information about the enterprise, human resources, finance, etc., and other contents related to enterprises and investors will only be disclosed with your consent or in accordance with the laws of Vietnam.
SERVICE PERFORMANCE PROCESS
Assign
CDLAF assigns designated personnel responsible for ensuring information security, ensuring that only assigned individuals have the right to access information and handle client communication.
Collect information and prepare the service contents
Assigned personnel are responsible for collecting clients information, reviewing regulations and preparing service content.
Control the quality
The Board of Lawyers and Counsels reviews the service content prepared by the assigned personnel before it is sent to clients for their review.
Clients’ approval
Clients review and approve the service content prepared by CDLAF. When requested, meetings are held to explain the prepared content.
Completion
Personnel responsible for service completion directly implement it at the competent authority (if required). They also monitor the progress, report the results, and hand them over to clients.
After-service support
Guide clients to perform necessary tasks related to the delivered results and provide updates on changes in legal regulations.
REASONS FOR CHOOSING CDLAF’S SERVICES
- We provide you with effective and comprehensive legal solutions, help you save your money, maintain compliance in the enterprise, and simplify all legal issues when doing business in Vietnam;
- As a law firm established in Vietnam, we have close relationships and knowledge of working methods, and policies of competent authorities, which facilitates you when operating in Vietnam;
- CDLAF Lawyers have held many important positions in law firms, banks, financial enterprises, foreign enterprises. Therefore, our lawyers provide students with the legal regulations as well as the actual solutions and opinions of competent authorities, see more about human resources.
- The system of forms about enterprise, labor, tax, etc. available and constantly updated will be provided as soon as customers request.
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