Overseas Vietnamese have more opportunities to own houses in Vietnam

The 2024 Land Law helps overseas Vietnamese who are Vietnamese citizens and people of Vietnamese origin residing abroad to buy houses in the country more conveniently, avoiding having to ask relatives to stand in their names.

Equal to the locals

Accordingly, the revised Land Law, which takes effect in early 2025, has provisions to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of land users, such as expanding land use rights to Vietnamese citizens, including Vietnamese people residing abroad. Overseas Vietnamese who are Vietnamese citizens (people who still have Vietnamese nationality) will enjoy full rights to land and housing like domestic citizens. Overseas Vietnamese who do not have Vietnamese nationality (also known as overseas Vietnamese) are allowed to enter Vietnam and are allowed to buy or rent houses attached to land use rights, receive land use rights in housing development projects; inherit land use rights and other types of land on the same plot of land with houses (current law does not have these provisions). Along with that, inherit land use rights and other types of land on the same plot of land with houses.

From now on, overseas Vietnamese can easily buy houses in Vietnam.

DINH SON

With the new regulations, overseas Vietnamese are allowed to invest in building houses, construction works for sale, lease, lease-purchase and invest in technical infrastructure in real estate projects for transferring, leasing, subleasing land use rights with technical infrastructure. People of Vietnamese origin residing abroad but do not have Vietnamese nationality also have the rights and obligations of citizens regarding land; the common rights of land users; the rights and obligations of individuals using land; the right to convert, transfer, lease, sublease, inherit, donate land use rights, mortgage, contribute capital with land use rights; receive land use rights; the rights and obligations of individuals using land including individuals in the country and Vietnamese residing abroad who are Vietnamese citizens are equal and equal.

This law amendment is reasonable and logical so that overseas Vietnamese can feel secure when returning to Vietnam to buy real estate to settle down.

Mr. Peter Hong, Permanent Vice President of the Association of Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Abroad

According to lawyer Hoang Thu (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association), this is a new point, different from the previous Land Law. Because the expansion of land users' rights to the group of land users who are Vietnamese people, Vietnamese citizens residing abroad is completely consistent with the policies of the Party and State. This policy is legitimate, can help mobilize investment resources to Vietnam for economic and social development. Previously, Vietnamese people residing abroad but without Vietnamese nationality would not have the same rights as those with Vietnamese nationality. Because although the current law allows overseas Vietnamese to buy houses in Vietnam, the conditions for proof are too strict, many people have to authorize relatives to stand in their name. This causes many consequences when many lawsuits occur. Therefore, the amendment of the Land Law and before that, the Real Estate Business Law, the Housing Law (amended) has created equality between individuals in the country and Vietnamese people residing abroad in real estate investment and business. This will help attract remittances to invest in the Vietnamese real estate market. "With this regulation, it will avoid the problem of the past when Vietnamese people living abroad wanted to buy real estate in the country, they had to ask relatives in the country to carry out the transfer transaction. This has caused many disputes and lawsuits," said lawyer Hoang Thu.

Mobilize more remittances

Mr. Doan Ngoc, General Director of Property X Real Estate Company, commented that the regulations in the new Land Law, along with the Housing and Real Estate Business Law that will take effect from 2025, will create more favorable conditions for overseas Vietnamese to invest and buy houses in Vietnam. He explained that according to current law, overseas Vietnamese are allowed to buy houses in Vietnam. However, the difficulty is that the complicated procedures and documents to prove Vietnamese origin have discouraged overseas Vietnamese. Therefore, when buying real estate in Vietnam, they choose to ask relatives to stand in their names. This has led to many consequences such as: disputes, litigation in some cases when the family "is not happy" or the person standing in their name has the intention of appropriating property. Thus, with the new clear regulations in the 2024 Land Law, it will create conditions for people to prove their Vietnamese origin more simply, thereby attracting more remittances into the Vietnamese real estate market in the context of the market still being gloomy. According to Mr. Peter Hong, Permanent Vice President of the Association of Overseas Vietnamese Entrepreneurs, many overseas Vietnamese have wanted to return home to settle down and invest, but they are hesitant because they do not know how to own real estate. Preliminary statistics show that there are nearly 6 million overseas Vietnamese and more than 1 million F2 and F3 generations whose parents or grandparents are Vietnamese. Of these, more than 20% are at retirement age, most of whom want to return to their homeland to live, invest, and stay close to their roots in their later years. The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Club (HREC) shows that about 3 million overseas Vietnamese have a need to own real estate when returning to Vietnam to live, of which the majority choose Ho Chi Minh City. As a foreigner with a Vietnamese wife, Mr. Kenneth M. Atkinson, President of the British Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (Britcham), said that he himself has invested in a lot of real estate in Vietnam. At first, the real estate he bought was under his wife's name. After he had dual citizenship, he was able to co-own and even own a piece of land in Nha Trang under his name. But not all foreigners are as lucky as he is. The Vietnamese real estate market still has a lot of potential, so it is necessary to develop laws and clearly define which houses are approved for sale to foreigners and overseas Vietnamese. Currently, the Housing Law, Land Law, and Real Estate Business Law have been adjusted to suit the current reality because real estate is a large asset that can be left to children and grandchildren, so allowing overseas Vietnamese to "freely" buy real estate like domestic people is the right decision to attract foreign currency. Having lived and worked in Vietnam for 30 years, Mr. Peter Hong, a Vietnamese Canadian, emphasized that this policy can "rescue" the real estate market, when remittances in 2023 are estimated to reach about 16 billion USD (estimated by the Foreign Exchange Management Department, State Bank on January 25). Many overseas Vietnamese shared with him that they wanted to return to Vietnam to settle down but did not know where to buy real estate, how much it cost, and how to own it. Many overseas Vietnamese have worked for decades abroad, depositing money in banks without interest, and even having to pay fees here, so they want to return to Vietnam to invest and buy real estate, so that when they pass away, they can leave it to their children and grandchildren. "This law amendment is reasonable and logical so that overseas Vietnamese can feel secure when returning to Vietnam to buy real estate to settle down," Mr. Peter Hong emphasized. Many opinions say that this is a great opportunity for overseas Vietnamese to buy real estate in Vietnam because prices are more reasonable than in the previous period. Therefore, the 2024 Land Law will strongly attract remittances into real estate, remove difficulties for the real estate market, and "unblock the meridians" for this frozen sector.

Statistics from the Ministry of Construction show that there are about 4 million people who want to buy houses in Vietnam in the future, including foreigners and overseas Vietnamese. Along with the strong flow of foreign direct investment into Vietnam, the number of foreigners coming to live and work long-term in Vietnam is also increasing every year.

Dinh Son - Thanhnien.vn

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