What is land use term upon change of land use purpose from special-use forests converted from rice cultivation land in Vietnam? If agricultural lands expire, can they be cultivated in Vietnam?

What is land use term upon change of land use purpose from special-use forests converted from rice cultivation land in Vietnam?

I live in Thanh Son commune, currently my family intends to move from rice cultivation land to special-use forest, but we do not know how many years it will take to produce and use this forest land? Please advise, so that we can make this transfer.

Reply:

Pursuant to Point b, Clause 1, Article 127 of the 2013 Land Law stipulating the land use term when changing the land use purpose:

1. The land use term for households and individuals upon change of land use purpose is prescribed as follows:

b) In case the land use purpose is changed from land for rice cultivation, other annual crops, perennial crops, production forest, aquaculture or salt production to land for protective forest or special-use forest, households or individuals may use the land for a stable and long term;

Thus, according to the land law in Vietnam, when a household converts planting land to special-use forest, there is no time limit, which means that the production and use will be stable and long-term.

If agricultural lands expire, can they be cultivated in Vietnam? How long does it take to process the name change when trading land in Vietnam? 

My family's certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets includes many plots, residential land and agricultural land, including the land plot for growing annual crops that has expired. Can we still continue farming when this land expires? Nguyen Van Hai (Cam Nghia, Cam Ranh)

Reply:

According to the 2013 Land Law, time limit for land allocation and recognition of agricultural land use rights for households and individuals directly engaged in agricultural production is 50 years, including the following types of land: land for growing annual crops and land aquaculture, land for salt production, land for planting perennial crops, land for production forests; bare land, bare hills, land with water surface in the group of unused land, assigned to households and individuals to put into use according to planning for agricultural production, forestry, aquaculture, and salt production.

Thus, compared with the 2003 Land Law, the current Law has provisions to adjust the time limit for land allocation and recognition of agricultural land use rights for households and individuals directly engaged in agricultural production within the limit. land use is 50 years uniform for the above agricultural land types (Adjusted from 20 years to 50 years, except land for perennial crops and production forest land is kept unchanged).

Due to the change of the above time limit, the 2013 Land Law has provisions for households and individuals directly engaged in agricultural production who have been allocated land, recognized the right to use land, and received the transfer of agricultural land use rights. Before the effective date of this Law, upon the expiration of the land use term, if there is a need, they may continue to use the land according to the time limit prescribed by this Law. The land use term is calculated from October 15, 2013 in case it expires on October 15, 2013 according to the provisions of the 2003 Land Law; from the date of expiration of the land allocation period in case it expires after October 15, 2013.

The land allocated or recognized for land use rights must be within the limits prescribed by the Law. Specifically: Land for annual crops, aquaculture, and salt production for each household or individual directly engaged in agricultural production is no more than 03 hectares for each type of land in the province or city. directly under the central authority in the Southeast region and the Mekong Delta region; no more than 02 hectares for each type of land for other provinces and centrally run cities. For land for growing perennial crops, each household or individual must not exceed 10 hectares, for communes, wards and townships in the delta; no more than 30 hectares for communes, wards and townships in the midland and mountainous areas. For production forest land, it is not more than 30 hectares. In case households and individuals are assigned many types of land, including land for growing annual crops, land for aquaculture, land for salt production, the total land allocation quota must not exceed 05 hectares. In case of additional land for perennial crops, the land limit for perennial crops shall not exceed 5 hectares for communes, wards and townships in the delta; no more than 25 hectares for communes, wards and townships in the midland and mountainous areas. If additional production forest land is allocated, the allocation limit for production forest land must not exceed 25 hectares.

How long does it take to process the name transfer when trading land in Vietnam? 

I just bought a land plot 3 days ago, the contract has been notarized. But in the near future, I have to go far away, so I want to do the procedure for the name change in 2-3 months. So let me ask, does the law stipulate that within how many days from the date of purchase must carry out procedures to transfer the name?

Reply:

Based on the information you provide, we would like to offer the following advice:

Clauses 4 and 6, Article 95 of the 2013 Land Law provide:

4. Change registration is conducted in the cases in which the certificates have been granted or change occurs after the first registration as follows:

a/ The land user or the owner of land-attached assets exercises the right to exchange, transfer, lease, sublease, inherit, donate land use rights or land-attached assets; mortgage or contribute as capital land use rights or land-attached assets;

b/ The land user or the owner of land-attached assets is allowed to change his/her name;

c/ There is a change in the shape, dimension, area, number and address of the land parcel;

d/ There is a change in land-attached assets compared with the registered contents;

e/ There is a change of land use purpose;

f/ There is a change of land use term;

g/ There is a change from land lease with annual rental payment to land lease with one-off rental payment for the entire lease period, from land allocation without land use levy to land lease, or from land lease to land allocation with land use levy in accordance with this Law;

h/ Land use rights or the ownership of houses and other land-attached assets of the wife or husband is converted the joint land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets of both husband and wife;

i/ The joint land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets of the organization or the household, of both husband and wife, of joint land users group and joint owners of land-attached assets are split;

k/ There is a change in land use rights or ownership of houses and other land-attached assets as a result of the successful conciliation of land disputes which is confirmed by a competent People’s Committee, the agreement in the mortgage contract to settle the debt, the decision of a competent state agency on settlement of land dispute, complaint and denunciation, the decision or judgment of a People’s Court, the decision on enforcement of the enforcement board which has been implemented, or the document recognizing the result of the auction of land use rights in accordance with law;

l/ The limited use rights to the adjacent land parcel are established, changed or terminated;

m/ There is a change in the limitations on the rights of land users.

6. For the cases of change registration specified at Points a, b, h, i, k and 1, Clause 4 of this Article, land users shall perform the procedures for change registration within 30 days from the date of the change. In case of inheritance, this period is calculated from the date the inherited land use rights are divided.

Thus, based on the above provisions, within 30 days from the effective date of the land use right transfer contract, you must carry out the procedures for registration of changes in Vietnam.

In order to carry out the procedures for transferring the land use right certificate, you need to prepare a dossier and submit it at the district-level land registration office and pay all fees and charges such as registration fee, appraisal fee and fees for grant of land use right certificates according to regulations in Vietnam.

The profile you need to prepare includes:

An application for registration of changes in land and land-attached assets, made according to Form No. 09/DK;

Identity card (notarized copy not older than 06 months); Household registration book (notarized copy not older than 06 months); Certificate of land use right (original + notarized copy not older than 06 months); Land use right transfer contract notarized or authenticated by a competent agency; Receipts have fulfilled financial obligations as prescribed.

Best regards!