GUIDANCE ON SETTING UP REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN VIETNAM 2020

Vietnam is a potential and well-developing market to many merchants in the Orient areas as well as from other side of the planet. So naturally, many foreign companies are trying to dig in and expand their business here with an initial step that is establishing representative office (“RO”) in Vietnam. The RO shall work on behalf of its parent company in Vietnam, or in a certain region in Vietnam with functions such as liaising customers, partners in Vietnam with parent company, researching and promoting parent company on market and alike. Both Vietnamese and foreign company can establish their representative office but each has a different set of requirements. In this article, Ditravel shall focus on how to set up representative office for foreign companies in the first step to Vietnam.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ESTABLISHING REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE OF FOREIGN TRADERS IN VIETNAM

Application forms for setting up a representative office “RO” with company seal and signature of legal representative;
Business Registration Certificate and/or Certificate of Incorporation for the Company;
Documents proving that the company is operating abroad issued by a competent authority;
Audited financial report of the company for the latest fiscal year;
Appointment letter of Chief of RO with company seal and signature of legal representative;
Valid passport of the head of the representative office in Vietnam;
Power of attorney in favor of consultant to submit the application dossier;
Leasing office contract with the term of at least 6 months;
Documents providing legal rights of landlord regarding the right of leasing office such as certificate of land use right and ownership of houses;

The documents above should be issued by the competent authority of the country where the company is operating, and MUST have consular authentication by Vietnamese embassy/consulate as well as notarized Vietnamese translation for submitting.

WHAT ARE REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES PERMITTED TO DO IN VIETNAM?

The representative offices of foreign trade in Vietnam are permitted to conduct the following activities:

Conducting market research;
Performing the functions of a liaison office for its parent company;
Promoting the activities of its head office through meetings, and other activities, that leads to business at later stages.
Carrying out activities to market research, providing information, supporting parent company to access new markets and partners
Representatives offices are dependent on their parent company and are not allowed to issue VAT invoices, generate their own profits or enter directly into contracts.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO AFTER YOU GET THE REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE LICENSE?

Make and register a seal/ chop for the Representative Office:

Notarized true copy of certificate of Representative Office License
Notarized true copy of passport of Chief of RO if foreigner or passport/ID card if Chief is Vietnamese
Notification of seal specimen
Notification of the use of the seal sample of the representative office

Tax Code registration documents for Representative Office:

Notarized true copy of certificate of Representative Office in Vietnam
Tax Code registration declaration
Power of attorney
Notarized true copy of certificate of seal registration

Open a bank account of Representative Office:

Notarized true copy of license on the establishment of Representative Office
Notarized true copy of certificate of seal registration
Notarized true copy of certificate of tax code registration
Letter of authorization appointing the authorized signatories of the bank accounts
Announcement of the establishment of Representative Office of Company.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO COMPLETE A REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE?

The Representative Office license can be completed in between six to eight weeks.

OTHER INFORMATION RELATED TO VIETNAM'S WORK PERMIT, VISAS AND TEMPORARY RESIDENCE CARD