Question: We would appreciate if you could give us your view on the following, on a complimentary basis at this juncture, and provide us with your quotation thereafter for assisting us with reviewing and revising the necessary documents.
We set out below our understanding of franchising requirements in Vietnam:
- The Franchisor must have been in operation (domestic or otherwise) for at least one year.
- The franchised goods and services must not be prohibited from sale or supply, and must be within the business activities registered with the competent authorities.
- Foreign franchisors must register their franchising activities with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (“MOIT”) before conducting franchising activities in Vietnam. The registration procedure is as follows:
- Sending a “dossier” of “application for registration of commercial franchising” to the MOIT, as defined in Article 18 of Decree No. 35. A dossier of application for registration of commercial franchising comprises the following:-
- An application for registration of commercial franchising, made according to the form provided by the MOIT;
- A written introduction of the commercial franchise, made according to the form as set by the MOIT (for the purposes of information disclosure);
- Written certifications of the legal status of the intended franchisor, industrial property right protection titles in Vietnam or a foreign country in case of licensing industrial property subject matters for which protection titles have been granted;
- Where papers are written in foreign languages, they must be translated into Vietnamese, and the translations must be duly notarised and legalised up to the Vietnamese Embassy.
Within 7 – 10 working days of receiving the complete and valid dossier, the competent stage agency shall register the commercial franchising in the commercial franchise register, and notify the franchisors of such registration.
iii. Where the dossier is not complete/invalid, the competent state agency shall within 5 – 7 working days after receiving such dossier, notify in such writing to the intended franchisor for supplementation and completion of its dossier. The time limits specified in here shall not include the time for the intended franchisor to amend and supplement its dossier of application for registration of commercial franchising.
If the agency refuses to effect the registration past the time limits specified, it will notify such refusal to the intended franchisor (in wiring, via phone call or any other mode of communication), stating the reasons for refusal.
The franchise process in Vietnam will take about 2 – 3 weeks if all required documents (which have been duly notarised and legalised up to the Vietnamese Embassy) are deemed acceptable by the relevant authority.
Kindly confirm if our understanding above is indeed accurate.
Answer: Please see our comments under each of your inquiries:
We set out below our understanding of franchising requirements in Vietnam:
The Franchisor must have been in operation (domestic or otherwise) for at least one year.
Correct.
The franchised goods and services must not be prohibited from sale or supply, and must be within the business activities registered with the competent authorities.
Correct.
Foreign franchisors must register their franchising activities with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (“MOIT”) before conducting franchising activities in Vietnam. The registration procedure is as follows:-
Sending a “dossier” of “application for registration of commercial franchising” to the MOIT, as defined in Article 18 of Decree No. 35. A dossier of application for registration of commercial franchising comprises the following:-
- An application for registration of commercial franchising, made according to the form provided by the MOIT;
- A written introduction of the commercial franchise, made according to the form as set by the MOIT (for the purposes of information disclosure);
- Written certifications of the legal status of the intended franchisor, industrial property right protection titles in Vietnam or a foreign country in case of licensing industrial property subject matters for which protection titles have been granted;
- Where papers are written in foreign languages, they must be translated into Vietnamese, and the translations must be duly notarised and legalised up to the Vietnamese Embassy.
The translation into Vietnamese shall be notarized in Vietnam only. Neither legalization is required.
Within 7 – 10 working days of receiving the complete and valid dossier, the competent stage agency shall register the commercial franchising in the commercial franchise register, and notify the franchisors of such registration.
I may taker longer based on the workload of the authority, normally it should be about 15 days.
iii. Where the dossier is not complete/invalid, the competent state agency shall within 5 – 7 working days after receiving such dossier, notify in such writing to the intended franchisor for supplementation and completion of its dossier. The time limits specified in here shall not include the time for the intended franchisor to amend and supplement its dossier of application for registration of commercial franchising.
Again, it may taker longer in practice. They can communication in an unofficial way such as via phone.
If the agency refuses to effect the registration past the time limits specified, it will notify such refusal to the intended franchisor (in wiring, via phone call or any other mode of communication), stating the reasons for refusal.
Correct
The franchise process in Vietnam will take about 2 – 3 weeks if all required documents (which have been duly notarised and legalised up to the Vietnamese Embassy) are deemed acceptable by the relevant authority.
Correct
