Additional Business Lines for Foreign Invested Companies

What are the documents and procedures for adding business lines for foreign-invested companies? What is the implementation process? What should be noted when adding business lines? Let’s find out the details with fdiinvietnam.com in this article.

Legal basis

• Enterprise Law No. 59/2020/QH14 was promulgated by the National Assembly on June 17, 2020;
• Investment Law No. 61/2020/QH14 was promulgated by the National Assembly on June 17, 2020;
• Decree No. 118/2015/ND-CP detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Investment Law;
• Circular 16/2015/TT-BKHĐT stipulates forms for performing investment procedures and reporting investment activities in Vietnam.

Conditions for changing and adding business lines of foreign-invested companies

The business lines planned to be added must meet the following conditions:

• The proposed additional business lines must be within the Vietnamese economic sector code system and not be included in the prohibited business investment sectors.

• If the proposed additional business line is a conditional business line, the investor must satisfy the conditions prescribed by law.
• Satisfy the conditions in WTO commitments, FTAS, AFAS agreements… and bilateral agreements between Vietnam and countries of which the investor is a national.

Procedures for adding business lines of foreign invested companies

1. Procedures for changing business registration

➤ Required documents

➤ Submit application

Businesses can submit applications in two ways:

• Method 1: Submit application directly to the Business Registration Office where the enterprise has its headquarters;
• Method 2: Submit application online (except Hanoi, Binh Duong) on ​​the National Business Registration Portal at http://dangkykinhdoanh.gov.vn. See detailed  steps for submitting application for change of business line online;
• Time to complete additional registration procedures and change of business lines is from: 5-7 working days from the date of application submission.

➤ Results received

• In case before changing or adding business lines, the enterprise used the old business registration certificate form before July 1, 2015 (with business lines displayed), then after completing the procedure, the enterprise will receive a new business registration certificate (without business lines displayed) with a confirmation of change in business registration content (with business lines displayed);
• In case before changing or adding business lines, the enterprise uses a new business registration certificate form after July 1, 2015, after completing the procedure, the enterprise will receive a certificate of change in business registration content (displaying the business lines).

2. Procedures for adjusting investment registration certificate

In case an enterprise wants to add a conditional business line, the enterprise must carry out the procedure to add a business line in the investment certificate first, then carry out the procedure to change the business registration certificate. ➤
Required documents

STT	DOSSIER FOR CHANGING, ADDING BUSINESS LINES ON INVESTMENT CERTIFICATE
1	Document requesting adjustment of investment registration certificate
2	Report on the implementation status of the investment project up to the time of requesting adjustment of the investment project
3	Decision and meeting minutes on changing or adding business lines (of the owner for a one-member LLC; of the company’s board of members for a LLC with two or more members; of the board of directors for a joint stock company; of general partners for a partnership)
4	The investment project proposal includes the following contents: investor implementing the project, investment objectives, investment scale, investment capital and capital mobilization plan, location, duration, investment progress, labor demand, proposal for investment incentives, assessment of the project’s socio-economic impact and efficiency.
5	Explanation of the ability to meet the conditions that the investment project must meet according to the provisions of law for projects in the conditional investment sector.
6	The economic and technical explanation includes the main contents: investment objectives, scale, location; investment capital; project implementation progress; land use needs; technological solutions and environmental solutions; (for projects with investment capital of 300 billion VND or more and not in the conditional investment sector)
7	Notarized copy of investment registration certificate
8	Appendix to amend the corporate charter
9	Certified copy of investment registration certificate
10	Certified copy of business registration certificate
11	Certified copy of ID card/CCCD/passport for individual investors; certified copy of certificate of establishment for institutional investors.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Additional business lines on investment certificate.

➤ Submit application: 

• Enterprises submit their applications directly to the Investment Registration Office – Department of Planning and Investment where the enterprise has its headquarters;
• Processing time: 15 working days from the date of receipt of the application. In case the enterprise registers to add a conditional business line, the time may be longer, depending on the conditions of the registered business line and the actual capacity of the investor.

➤ Results received: 

• If the dossier is valid, the investment registration agency will issue a new investment certificate to the enterprise;
• In case the dossier is invalid, the investment registration agency shall issue a notice instructing the enterprise to supplement and edit the dossier for re-submission.

Notes when changing or adding business lines for foreign invested companies

• For conditional industries (foreign investors can operate under the provisions of the WTO treaty and current regulations), after submitting the application to the investment registration agency, the application processing department will send an official dispatch requesting the opinion of the management agency of the conditional industry. If qualified, the investment agency will approve. Therefore, after completing the procedure for adjusting the investment registration certificate, the enterprise can carry out the procedure for adjusting the business registration;
• If the enterprise is still using the old investment certificate form (not yet issued), the enterprise will carry out the parallel procedure of issuing a new investment registration certificate and making changes;
• According to Decree 118/2015/ND-CP, investment projects must carry out procedures to change conditional business lines. For non-conditional business lines, enterprises are not required to make additions. However, in practice, when enterprises expand their business lines, they should still add additional business lines according to regulations.

In general, the procedures for changing and adding business lines for foreign-invested companies are more complicated and time-consuming than for Vietnamese enterprises. Therefore, when in need, foreign-invested companies often choose to hire professional units to optimize time and costs. You can refer to the service of changing and adding business lines of fdiinvietnam.com:

>> With full service fee from only: 15,000,000 VND;

>> Total completion time: 20 – 25 working days.

Above is information about documents, procedures for changing and adding business lines for foreign invested companies. If you still have questions or need more information, please call fdiinvietnam.com immediately at 0978 578 866 (North) –  033 9962 333 (Central)  –  033 9962 333 (South)  for support!

Frequently asked questions when changing or adding business lines for foreign invested companies

Call us at 0978 578 866 (North) –  033 9962 333 (Central)  –  033 9962 333 (South)  for support