Procedures for changing the head office address of a foreign invested company

Is it complicated to change the head office address for a foreign invested company? What are the documents and procedures for changing the head office address for a foreign invested company? fdiinvietnam.com will provide detailed instructions 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.

PROCEDURES FOR CHANGING ADDRESS OF FOREIGN INVESTED COMPANY

The head office address of a foreign-invested company can also be the location for implementing the investment project. Therefore, when a foreign-invested company needs to change its head office address, the following two cases may occur:

• Case 1: Changing the head office address and at the same time changing the project implementation location of the company recorded on the Investment Registration Certificate, the company must carry out procedures to adjust the Investment Registration Certificate and procedures to change business registration.
• Case 2: Only changing the company’s head office address without changing the project implementation location, the company only needs to carry out the procedure to change the business registration (in case the foreign-invested company has separated the Investment Registration Certificate and the Business Registration Certificate).

Procedures for adjusting investment certificates

• Documents to prepare:

The dossier for changing the location of investment project implementation (address) on the investment certificate includes all the documents in the following table:

STT	Profile of changing the location of investment project implementation on the investment certificate
1	Document requesting adjustment of investment project.
2	Decision on adjustment of investment project of investor.
3	Report on the implementation status of the investment project up to the time of requesting adjustment of the investment project.
4	Original investment registration certificate.
5	Certified copy of Investment Registration Certificate, Business Registration Certificate.
6	Certified copy of ID card/CCCD/passport for individual investors; certified copy of Certificate of Establishment for institutional investors.
7	Certified copy of Tax Registration Certificate (for projects that have not been granted Investment Registration Certificate and Business Registration Certificate).
8	Investment report (Enterprises submit online at https://dautunuocngoai.gov.vn/fdi).
9	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 (in case of adding additional business lines).
10	Head office lease contract, valid certified copy of documents proving the lessor’s right to lease (Certificate of land use rights, construction permit, Certificate of business registration with real estate business function of the lessor or equivalent documents).
11	Authorization document for individuals to submit documents and receive results according to the provisions of law (if any).
12	Certified copy of ID card/CCCD/passport of authorized person.

>> FREE DOWNLOAD: Application for changing the location of investment project implementation on the investment certificate .

• Submitting documents: Enterprises submit documents 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, the Department of Planning and Investment shall check the validity of the application and issue a new Investment Registration Certificate to the enterprise.

Procedures for changing business registration (Case 2)

• Documents to prepare

• Submitting documents: Enterprises can submit documents directly at the Business Registration Office where the enterprise has its head office or submit documents online on the National Business Registration Information Portal at http://dangkykinhdoanh.gov.vn.
• Time to complete the procedure for registering a change of head office address is from: 5-7 working days from the date of application submission.

NOTES WHEN CHANGING HEADQUARTERS ADDRESS FOR FOREIGN INVESTED COMPANIES

• The head office of an enterprise cannot be an apartment building or collective house unless it can prove that the purpose of use according to the construction planning is an office building, or has legal rights to use it through the Land Use Rights Certificate.
• For enterprises that have not yet completed the procedure to separate the Investment Certificate into a Business Registration Certificate, they will immediately complete the procedure to separate the Investment Certificate at the Investment Registration Agency.
• In case of changing the head office address within the same province: Unlike Vietnamese enterprises, foreign-invested companies are managed by the Tax Department. Therefore, foreign-invested companies can change their head office address to another location within the same province/central city without having to carry out the procedures for closing the district transfer tax.
• In case of changing the head office address to another province, it will change the tax management department, change the health insurance agency, social insurance agency… so the enterprise must follow the following procedures: 

1. Carry out tax closing procedures;
2. Carve new seal;
3. Notify the tax authority of changes in invoice information and adjust the information on the invoice for continued use;
4. Carry out procedures to transfer the place of insurance registration to the Social Insurance Agency at the new headquarters;

• Businesses must remake their company signboards with the new address and hang them at their headquarters.

It can be seen that the documents and procedures for changing the head office address for foreign-invested companies are more complicated and time-consuming than for 100% Vietnamese-owned enterprises. Therefore, most foreign-invested enterprises often hire reputable and professional units to do this. 

If you need advice and support on address change services for foreign-invested companies in particular or investment certificate adjustment services in general, you can contact fdiinvietnam.com at 0978 578 866 (North) –  033 9962 333 (Central)  –  033 9962 333 (South)  for support.

SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS WHEN CHANGING THE HEADQUARTERS ADDRESS OF FOREIGN-INVESTED COMPANIES

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