Vietnam: Conversion of land use purpose without application for permission

LawNet would like to answer your question as follows:

According to Clause 1 Article 11 of Circular No. 02/2015/TT-BTNMT of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam, there are 02 cases of conversion of land use purpose without application for permission of competent state agencies but registration for changes, including:

1. Convert annual crop land into construction of facilities for breeding livestock, poultry, and other animals permitted by the law;

2. Convert inhabited land into non-agricultural land (not inhabited land).

Land users that need conversion of land use purpose must submit one set of documentation including:

- Registration form for changes of land, land-linked properties according to Form No. 09/ĐK enclosed with Circular No. 24/2014/TT-BTNMT;

- Land use right certificate; Certificate of rights to land use, ownership of land, land-linked properties; Certificates of ownership of houses, rights to inhabited land use (hereinafter referred to as the certificates).

Sequence and procedures for registration for conversion of land use purpose without application for permission of competent state agencies as follows:

Step 1: Land users submit documentation to the document receiving place as prescribed in Clauses 2, 3, 4, 5 of Article 60 of Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP of Vietnam’s Government, specifically as follows:

- Agencies receiving dossiers and notifying results of settlement of procedures for registration of land and other land-attached assets; granting, renewing and re-granting certificates are land registration offices. In localities where land registration offices have not been established, 

+ provincial-level land use rights registration offices shall receive dossiers from organizations, religious institutions and overseas Vietnamese implementing investment projects, foreign organizations and individuals and foreign-invested enterprises; 

+ district- level land use rights registration offices shall receive dossiers from households, individuals, communities and overseas Vietnamese entitled to own houses associated with residential land use rights in Vietnam.

For households, individuals or communities wishing to submit dossiers to commune- level People’s Committees, commune-level People’s Committees of localities where the land is located shall receive dossiers and notify results. In case of registration of changes in land and land-attached assets; and grant and re-grant of certificates, within 3 working days after receiving a complete dossier, a commune-level People’s Committee shall forward that dossier to the land registration office.

- Localities that have organized the one-stop-shop section for receiving dossiers and notifying results of implementation of administrative procedures according to the Government’s regulations, the agencies specified above shall receive dossiers and notify results through the one-stop-shop section under decisions of provincial-level People’s Committees.

- Hi-tech zone and economic zone management boards; and airport authorities are focal points for receiving dossiers and notifying results of implementation of land-related administrative procedures in hi-tech zones, economic zones, airports and airfields.

Step 2: Check the documentation; update changes in cadastral records, land database (if any) and grant the Certificate.

Land registration office shall be responsible for conducting examination of documentation, field survey if necessary; giving confirmations on the registration form; giving confirmations of land use purpose on the certificates; making adjustments and updates on changes to cadastral documentation, land database (if any); handing the certificates to applicants or to People’s Committees of communes in case documentation is submitted to authorities at commune-level.

Thus, Vietnam’s current land law stipulates that there are 02 cases in which land use purposes are allowed to change without requiring permission from a competent state agency but must register changes according to the order and procedures mentioned above.

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