VietnamLicenses.com deals with one part of doing business in Vietnam: the licences a company needs before it can legally operate, and the ones it needs to keep. Our readers are foreign investors setting up a company, in-house teams adding a new business line, and advisers checking whether a client's existing licences still match what the business actually does.
The questions we focus on
Licensing in Vietnam is layered. A typical foreign-invested company starts with an investment registration certificate and an enterprise registration certificate. If it wants to import and distribute goods or open retail outlets, it may then need a business licence for trading activities. Sectors such as education, healthcare, logistics or advertising add their own conditions and approvals. Our articles explain which layer applies, which authority issues it, what documents are usually requested, and what has to be updated when the company changes its capital, address, investors or scope of activities. Questions about personal permits for foreign staff, such as work permits and temporary residence cards, are outside our focus.
Sections and current coverage
The site has 94 published articles in five sections:
- Investment License (16 articles) – investment registration, investment policy approval and project amendments.
- Business License (16) – enterprise registration, changes to company details and branch or representative office setup.
- Trade License (16) – licences for import, distribution and retail activities of foreign-invested companies.
- Special Licenses (14) – conditional business lines that require sector approvals or certificates of eligibility.
- License Renewal (14) – expiry, extension, re-issuance and what happens when a licence lapses.
How articles are prepared
We write from the Law on Investment, the Law on Enterprises, the Law on Commerce and their implementing decrees, together with sector regulations where relevant. Practice can differ between provinces and between industrial-zone authorities, so where we know of a common variation we say so, without claiming it applies everywhere. Licensing rules and the names of authorities change; the 2025 government restructuring, which moved investment registration to provincial Departments of Finance, is one example. Articles are revised when such changes affect them.
Limits
Our content is general information, not legal advice. Whether a specific business line is restricted for foreign investors, or whether a particular licence is required, depends on the facts and on Vietnam's market access commitments, and should be confirmed for each case. Readers who need that confirmation can send a request through the contact page; detailed licensing work is referred to the partner team at VDD Lawyers, who agree scope and terms directly with the client.
Corrections
If an article is inaccurate or out of date, please send us its address and the point in question through the contact page. We review each report and update the article where needed.