Townhouse residential areas in HCM City's Long Bình Ward. — VNA/VNS Photo

This Q&A outlines key points for foreign homeowners in Việt Nam who wish to sell their houses in the country.

I am a foreigner owning a house in Việt Nam. Can I sell it after a certain period of use?

Yes. As long as you no longer wish to own the house, you may sell it. However, the sale must be completed before the expiry of your Certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets (the Certificate).

Under the 2023 Housing Law (the Law), foreign individuals may own a house for a maximum term of 50 years from the date of issuance of the Certificate. This term may be extended once for an additional period of up to 50 years.

Before the expiry of the ownership term stated in the Certificate, the foreign owner may directly, or authorise another person to, sell or gift the house to a person eligible to own a house in Việt Nam. Otherwise, the house will be transferred to public ownership.

Accordingly, within the ownership term, you have the right to transfer the house to another person. If the house is sold to a Vietnamese citizen or an overseas Vietnamese, the buyer will not be subject to any restriction on the ownership term. However, if the house is sold to another foreign individual, the buyer may only own it for the remaining term specified in the Certificate.

If I am permitted to sell the house, what should be noted during the transaction process?

Under Article 164 of the Law, a house sale and purchase contract must be notarised or certified and will take effect only from the date of notarisation or certification.

Notarisation must be carried out at a notary office, while certification is conducted by the commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where exists the house.

It should be noted that, according to Government Decree 23/2015/NĐ-CP, certification of a contract or transaction means that a competent authority certifies the time and place of conclusion of the contract or transaction, as well as the civil act capacity, voluntariness, and signatures or fingerprints of the parties.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Law on Notarisation defines notarisation as the certification of the authenticity and legality of transactions subject to notarisation. These are typically important transactions requiring a high level of legal certainty.

Given the significance of house sale and purchase transactions, notarisation is strongly recommended. The notarisation procedure generally involves the following steps:

Step 1: Submission of dossier

The notarisation requester may submit a notarisation request dossier to a notary office either online, in person, or by post. The dossier must comprise:

(i) The draft contract;

(ii) Copies of the involved parties’ identity card or passport or other identity documents;

(iii) A copy of the Certificate;

(iv) Copies of other documents related to the transaction as required by law.

If the notary office can access and exploit the information specified in items (ii), (iii) and (iv) from relevant national databases, the parties may not be required to resubmit those documents. However, a data access fee may be charged.

Step 2: Verification of the dossier

The notary will examine the dossier and, if the dossier is complete and valid, accept it for processing. In case of refusal, the notary will provide an explanation in person or issue a written response clearly stating the reasons.

Step 3: Explanation and guidance

The notary will provide guidance and explain rights, obligations and legitimate interests of the parties, as well as the meaning and legal consequences of entering into the transaction. Where there are grounds to believe that the notarisation requesting dossier contains unclear information, or that the transaction has been concluded under threat or coercion, or where there are doubts about civil act capacity of the parties, or where the subject matter of the transaction has not been specifically identified, the notary may request clarification. If such issues cannot be clarified, the notary may refuse to perform the notarisation.

Step 4: Review of the draft contract

The notary will review the draft contract. Where the draft contains any provision contrary to law or social ethics, or where the subject matter of the contract is not compliant with law, the notary will point this out and request the parties to amend the draft. If the parties fail to amend the draft, the notary will refuse to perform the notarisation.

Step 5: Reading and signing

The notary will ask the parties to re-read the draft contract or read it aloud at the latter’s request. If the parties agree with the entire contents of the draft, they will sign each page and sign and write their full names on the last page of the document. At this stage, the notary will request the parties to present the originals of the papers referred to in items (ii), (iii) and (iv) for verification before signing the certification and each page of the contract. For the papers specified in item (iv) where the original is not available at the time of certification, a copy from the original register or a certified copy may be presented.

Step 6: Issuance of the original notarised document

The notary office will record the notarised document, affixes its seal, and issues the original notarised document to the parties. — VNS