During the preparation phase for enterprise registration in Vietnam, an investor must choose the location as the headquarter of the enterprise. So, is it permissible to register the headquarter of an enterprise in an apartment building?
Article table of contents
Vietnam: Is it permissible to register the headquarter of an enterprise in an apartment building? (Illustrative image)
1. What are the legal regulations on the headquarter of an enterprise in Vietnam?
According to the current regulations (Enterprise Law 2014), an enterprise in Vietnam means an organization that has its own name, assets, office, and is registered in accordance with law to do business. Thus, the enterprise must have its headquarters.
Under Article 43 of the Enterprise Law 2014, the headquarter of an enterprise is a location in the territory of Vietnam with an address, which consists of the house number, street, commune, district, province, phone number, fax number, and email address (if any).
Thus, the Enterprise Law 2014 only specifies that the headquarter of an enterprise is a location in the territory of Vietnam without specifying prohibited locations.
2. What is an apartment building/apartment in Vietnam?
With the socio-economic development, more apartment building projects are emerging, especially in developed urban areas characterized by "limited land and crowded people," where these apartments show their convenience advantages. So, what is an apartment building? What purposes can an apartment building be used for?
According to Clause 3, Article 3 of the Housing Law 2014, an partment building means any multi-storey building which has multiple apartments, public stairs, hallways, private areas, common areas and common infrastructural works for organizations, households or individuals, including:
+ apartment buildings for residential use and
+ mixed-use buildings for both business and residential purposes:
An apartment building will include multiple apartments, which can be used solely for residential purposes or combined for both residential and business purposes, depending on the construction investment project.
3. Is it permissible to register the headquarter of an enterprise in an apartment building in Vietnam?
To answer this question, Clause 11, Article 6 of the Housing Law 2014 stipulates the prohibition of using apartments for non-residential purposes.
In the citizen response section of the Government of Vietnam's electronic portal, the answer to this issue was given as follows: "It is not allowed to register the main headquarters of the enterprise in apartments; the main headquarters can only be located in areas approved for business use within apartment buildings according to the approved project."
Thus, from the above regulation, enterprises are not allowed to register their headquarters in apartments but only in areas within apartment buildings where the enterprises may use under the residential construction project combined with business purposes already approved by the competent authorities.
Additionally, to address the situation of organizations, households, and individuals who have business locations at apartments in Vietnam before the Housing Law 2014 come into force, Clause 7, Article 80 of Decree 99/2015/ND-CP provides guidance as follows:
In case a business registration document issued by a competent authority indicates that an apartment is used as business location before the effective date of the Law on Housing, the organization, household, or individual granted with such business registration document must move the business to another location other than an apartment within 06 months from the effective date of this Decree. The competent authority that issued the business registration document must initiate procedures for changing the business location on the business registration document issued to the organization, household, or individual into another location by the deadline specified in this Clause. After this deadline, the organization, household, or individual must not do business at the apartment.
Thus, if an apartment has been used as a business location before December 10, 2015, the organization, household, and individual must transfer the business activities to another location other than an apartment within six months from December 10, 2015.
Therefore, not only is it not allowed to register the enterprise's headquarter in an apartment, but the business location of organizations, households, and individuals is also not permitted in the apartment in Vietnam.
Thuy Tram
