I heard many people saying that one needs to live in Vietnam for 12 months to buy a house. How can I do that when my Vietnam visa only allows a maximum of 6-month stay? (Nguyen Ba Tung)
Answer:
Vietnamese laws do not require a Vietnamese living overseas to come back and stay for 12 months or 6 months in order to buy a house. Home buyers should take the following steps:
First, the buyer and the seller need to establish a house purchase contract, with enough personal information of both sides, and information of the house.
Second, the contract needs to be notarized.
Third, the buyer needs to request relevant authorities to issue a house ownership certificate.
Vietnamese living abroad when buying a house in Vietnam also need to meet requirements as stated in Articles 7 and 8 of the Housing Law 2014.
Accordingly, if you are in Vietnam, you need to present your Australia passport with immigrant seals, and papers proving that you are of Vietnamese descent, issued by the relevant city/provincial Justice Department, or agencies representing and managing Vietnamese overseas.
If you are still in Australia, you need to ask for papers proving that you are of Vietnamese descent from the Vietnam Embassy. The Committee of Vietnamese people there can also help you with this.
Procedures for Vietnamese coming back from overseas and buying a house in Vietnam is pretty simple and many people have done it.
Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau
Chairman of communication of Vietnam Bar Association