Foreigners wishing to purchase houses in Vietnam should pay special attention to the conditions and procedures prescribed by Vietnamese law to avoid fraud and legal risks.

    In parallel with the needs of foreigners working in Vietnam is the demand for stable living. Accordingly, depending on the economic ability, foreigners choose different forms such as renting apartments, renting villas, in dormitories at work if their economic capacity does not allow or not. wishing to live permanently in Vietnam. In addition, there is a part of foreigners who have economic potential and consider Vietnam as their second home, wishing to own an apartment for a long and stable living. Based on that demand, on the real estate market, many individuals, brokers and businesses act as a bridge for foreigners to access and buy houses in Vietnam. In addition to organizations and individuals that comply with the law and provide accurate information to help homebuyers avoid risks, there are many organizations and individuals that take advantage of the tastes of foreigners. should have provided inaccurate information, advice, brokerage for foreigners to buy but real estate is not eligible or not sold to foreigners, leaving many homebuyers having legal problems and property damage, irrevocable.

    So what are the factors that foreigners who want to buy houses in Vietnam need to consider before making a decision? Below is a summary of the issues that foreigners need to consider before deciding to buy a home in Vietnam:

1. Can foreigners own houses in Vietnam? What are the forms of foreigners owning houses in Vietnam?

Answer: Foreigners are allowed to buy houses in Vietnam in accordance with the Housing Law 2014

- Foreigners can own houses in Vietnam according to Article 159 of the Housing Law:

"Foreign organizations and individuals that are entitled to own houses in Vietnam include:

a) Foreign organizations and individuals invest in the construction of houses under projects in Vietnam in accordance with this Law and relevant laws;

b) Foreign-invested enterprises, branches, representative offices of foreign enterprises, foreign investment funds and foreign bank branches operating in Vietnam (hereinafter referred collectively to as organizations foreign);

c) Foreign individuals are allowed to enter Vietnam. "

Thus, there are 03 groups of foreign organizations and individuals (collectively referred to as foreigners) who can own houses in Vietnam.

- Foreigners can own houses in Vietnam through the forms prescribed in Article 159 of the Housing Law:

"Foreign organizations and individuals may own houses in Vietnam in the following forms:

a) Investment in housing construction under projects in Vietnam in accordance with this Law and relevant laws;

b) Purchase, lease-purchase, donation, inheritance of commercial housing including apartments and detached houses in housing construction investment projects, except for areas where national defense and security are ensured. Government regulations"

2. Conditions for foreigners to buy houses in Vietnam?

Documents proving entities and conditions for house ownership in Vietnam are prescribed in Article 74 of Decree No. 99/2015 / ND-CP guiding the Housing Law. Specifically, papers proving the subjects and conditions for house ownership in Vietnam include:

- For organizations: Being subjects entitled to own houses in Vietnam and possessing investment registration certificates or papers permitted by competent Vietnamese agencies to operate in Vietnam at the time of validity. signing housing transactions (hereinafter collectively referred to as investment registration certificates).

- For individuals: Subjects entitled to own houses in Vietnam and have valid passports with the stamp of verification of entry of the Vietnamese Immigration Management Agency and not entitled to privileges and diplomatic immunities in accordance with the Ordinance on privileges and immunities for diplomatic missions, consular offices and representative offices of international organizations in Vietnam.

3. What types of houses are foreigners allowed to own in Vietnam?

Foreigners may only own apartments and separate houses (including: villas, adjacent houses and independent houses) in housing construction investment projects, except for areas where defense is ensured , security according to the regulations of the Vietnamese State according to Article 159 of the Housing Law

4. Types of taxes and fees for foreigners when buying houses in Vietnam?

When buying a house in Vietnam, the following fees must be paid:

- Registration fee when registering ownership of competent State agencies (according to Decree 140/2016 / ND-CP):

Registration fee = 0.5% * (House area * Price of 01m2 * Percentage of remaining quality of the project)

- Fee of granting land use right certificate

- Contract notarization fee (if any)

5. How long is a foreign individual allowed to own a House?

- Foreigners can own houses for 50 years in accordance with Article 161 of the Housing Law

- Within 03 months before the expiry, foreigners who own houses have the right to renew as prescribed in Article 161 of the Housing Law and Article 77 of Decree 99/2015/ND-CP with a maximum extension of 50 years and can only be extended 01 time

6. Can foreigners resell houses purchased in Vietnam?

Answer: Foreigners are PERMITTED to resell purchased houses in accordance with Article 7 of Decree 99/2015 / ND-CP guiding the housing law.

However, it should be noted that buying and selling activities should not be done on a regular basis, only from essential needs. Activities of buying and reselling houses in Vietnam by foreigners for the purpose of making profits are prohibited acts under Article 79 of Decree 99/2015 / ND-CP

7. What are the rights of a foreigner to his / her house in Vietnam?

Foreigners owning houses in Vietnam have the following benefits:

• Inviolability of accommodation
  
• To be granted a land use right certificate with ownership of houses and other land-attached assets
• Sell, transfer contracts on sale, lease, lease-purchase, gift, exchange, inheritance, mortgage, capital contribution, loan, authorize housing management, and stay
• Maintenance, renovation, demolition, reconstruction of houses (when permitted)
• To be compensated according to the provisions of law when the State demolishes, buys or requisition houses
• To lodge complaints and denunciations about acts of infringing upon the lawful property rights to their houses and other acts of law violation on their houses

8. Foreigners can buy houses from whom?

Foreigners are only allowed to buy houses from only 02 subjects:

• Directly from the project investor, the purchased house must be in an apartment fund which is allowed to be sold to foreigners
• Acquired from other foreign organizations and individuals. It is necessary to comply with the regulations on transfer in accordance with the laws of Vietnam