Is it possible for a foreigner to co-own land and property with their Vietnamese spouse and have their name on the ownership documents in Vietnam?

Lawyer Vo Dan Mach, from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, responded:

According to Article 4 of Vietnam’s 2024 Land Law, land users whose land use rights are recognized by the state include:

- Vietnamese organizations.

- Religious organizations and affiliated religious groups.

- Vietnamese individuals living in Vietnam and Vietnamese citizens residing abroad.

- Residential communities.

- Foreign diplomatic organizations, including diplomatic missions, consular offices, and other foreign representative agencies recognized by the Vietnamese government, as well as agencies of the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations.

- People of Vietnamese origin living abroad.

- Foreign-invested business organizations.

Based on these provisions, foreigners are not eligible for state recognition of land use rights in Vietnam.

As a result, foreigners cannot have their names listed on land use rights certificates or property ownership certificates related to land in Vietnam.

However, they can have their names listed on the certificates for apartments and individual houses within housing construction projects.

Specifically, Article 17 of the 2023 Housing Law outlines that foreign organizations and individuals are allowed to own housing in Vietnam, including apartments and individual houses, under the following conditions:

- Economic organizations with foreign investment capital involved in housing construction projects in Vietnam, in compliance with the relevant legal provisions.

- Economic organizations with foreign investment, branches or representative offices of foreign enterprises, foreign investment funds, and branches of foreign banks operating in Vietnam (referred to as foreign organizations).

- Foreign individuals permitted to enter Vietnam.

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