With the
enforcement of the Law on Entry, Exit and Residence of Foreigners in Vietnam
No. 47/2014/QH13 dated 16
June 2013 by the National Assembly of Vietnam (“Law No. 47/2014”), as from 01 January 2015, the foreign nationals
who have the business investment in Vietnam may be granted a 05 year visa. Previously, the foreign nationals were only
allowed to obtain one year visas and three years residency
cards.
Under the Law No. 47/2014,
the foreign investors in Vietnam who are eligible will be issued a visa named “ĐT”
which has the duration of maximum 05 years. A temporary residence card will be
accordingly considered for issuance to those who have got this type of visa.
The Law No. 47/2014 also allows the foreigners that are parents, spouse,
children under 18 years of age of the foreigners issued with a ĐT visa to
receive the same treatment.
In order to be
considered as the foreign investor in Vietnam, the foreign nationals must
qualify for the definition of foreign investor under the Law on Investment in
Vietnam and also obtain an investment certificate for their business investment
in this country.
Under the current Law on
Investment No. 59/2005/QH11, foreign investor means any foreign organization or
individual using capital in order to carry out an investment activity in
Vietnam (In this Law, the investment activity means the activities of an
investor in the investment process, comprising the stages of investment
preparation, [and] implementation and management of an investment project). However,
when applied in practice, the definition of foreign investment and investment
activity under this current Law is not clear and make confused to determine
those to whom are subject.
Recently, the National Assembly of Vietnam promulgated the Investment Law No. 67/2014/QH13 on 26 November 2014 which will take effect from 01 July 2015 (“Investment Law No. 67/2014”) and this new Investment Law provides with clearer definitions.
Under the Investment Law No. 67/2014, foreign investor is defined as any individual with a foreign nationality or organization established in accordance with foreign law conducting business investment activities in Vietnam while the business investment means the expenditure of capital by an investor to conduct business activities via establishment of an economic organization; investment by capital contribution, purchase of a portion of capital contribution or shares in an economic organization, to conduct investment on the basis of a contract or implement an investment project.