An Investment Registration Certificate (IRC) is a type of license issued by a competent authority to individuals or organizations that have completely satisfied certain conditions as prescribed by law. An IRC is one of documents required for setting up a foreign capital company in Vietnam.

It can be said that the Investment Registration Certificate is the very first condition for establishing a foreign-invested company in Vietnam. The IRC is issued by the Department of Planning and Investment in written or electronic form, with the investor’s registration information recorded on it.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Law on Investment, the IRC is required in the following circumstances:

a) Investment projects of domestic investors;

b) Investment projects of a business organization investing in the establishment of another business organization, contributions of capital, the purchase of shares or the purchase of stakes in a business organization; investment in the form of a BBC contract by foreign investors who are not required to apply for an IRC;

c) Investments in the form of capital contributions and/or purchases of shares or stakes in a business organization

An IRC application dossier is prepared by an investor to apply for, adjust, and revoke an IRC, as well as deciding on investment policies and other procedures to conduct investment activities in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Investment.

The IRC application dossier, along with any relative documents and reports must be made in Vietnamese and sent to the competent agencies.

In the event that the investment registration dossier contains documents in a language other than Vietnamese, the investor must have a valid Vietnamese translation enclosed with them.

In the event that the papers and documents in the investment registration dossier are made in Vietnamese as well as foreign languages, the Vietnamese version must be used to perform investment procedures.

The investor is responsible for any differences between the translated content (or the copy) and the original AND any differences between the Vietnamese version and the foreign language version.

The content of the application for an IRC for an investment project is not subject to an investment policy decision.

• Submission:

For companies located in an industrial zone, the dossier may be submitted at the Management Board of industrial zones.

For companies located outside of an industrial zone, then the dossier may be submitted at the Department of External Economic Relations – Provincial Department of Planning and Investment

• Duration

Investment projects that are not subject to a decision on investment policies: 15-20 business days from the date of

Applying for an IRC is a complicated and challenging procedure for investors. Our team of experienced legal associates has successfully applied for investment certificates for a variety of investors and will diligently help you help you with this process. If you need help or have any questions about the above procedure, please contact us at  0916 545 618 or by email hung.le@cnccounsel.com and  thanh.tran@cnccounsel.com for a quick reply.