A series of policies relating to foreigners and overseas Vietnamese came into effect in the first ten months of 2013.
Supporting anti-human trafficking
Decree 09/2013/ND-CP stipulating in detail a number of articles of the Anti-human Trafficking Law took effect on April 15, 2013.
Accordingly, victims of human trafficking will receive financial support sourced from the State Budget for their basic needs and travel costs.
The victims will also get free-of-charge medical care services for 60 days.
In addition, those from poor and near-poor families will be exempted from vocational training fees if they wish to take vocational courses when returning home.
The beneficiaries include (1) Vietnamese citizens, non-nationals, and foreigners who are victims of human trafficking in Viet Nam; (2) people who are identified as victims; (3) minors who follow victims.
Marriage involving foreign elements
Under Decree 24/2013/ND-CP guiding the Marriage and Family Law on marriage and family relations involving foreign elements, marriage registration will be refused in the nine following cases:
- One or both parties fail to reach the marriage ages according to Vietnamese laws;
- The foreign party fails to be eligible for the marriage according to the laws of the country which he/she is citizen of or where he/she permanently resides (for stateless persons);
- The marriage is not voluntarily decided by the male and/or the female;
- There is deception or coercion in the marriage;
- One or both parties are having wife or husband;
- One or both parties lose the civil act capacity;
- The marriage parties are in the direct lines of descent or relatives within three generations;
- The marriage parties are or were once the adoptive father, adoptive mother and the adopted daughter, son; the father-in-law and daughter-in-law; the mother-in-law and son-in-law; the step father and his step- daughter; the step-mother and her step-son;
- The marriage parties are of the same sex (marriage between men, marriage between women).
Marriage registration will also be rejected if the interview, inspection and verification results show that the marriage is conducted through illegal brokerage or is sham, not for the purpose of building a prosperous, equitable, progressive, happy and sustainable family; or aims at human trafficking, labor exploitation, sexually abusing women or other self-seeking purposes.
FDI re-registration
According to the Law amending and supplementing Article 170 of the Law on Enterprises, FDI enterprises which were established before July 1, 2006 are allowed to choose between two options:
Firstly, they can re-register for management and operation in line with the Law on Enterprises and related regulations.
Accordingly enterprises which were established before July 1, 2006, and not yet implement procedures on enterprise dissolution and have proposal for further operation, must re-register before February 01, 2014 in accordance with the Government’s conditions. In this case, the re-registration takes effect on the expiry date of operation stated in the investment licenses;
Secondly, when firms do not re-register, they will continue to operate under their investment license and corporate charter.
Recognizing foreign diplomas
Circular 26/2013-TT-BGDDT stipulates orders and procedures for recognizing diplomas granted to Vietnamese by foreign educational institutions.
According to the amendments to the Circular, records of suggestion for recognition of foreign diplomas in Vietnam must be added to one of the following documents to prove time of studying abroad:
- Certification of the Vietnamese diplomatic mission in the host country;
- Certification of the foreign educational institution where he/she has studied;
- A copy of the passport stamped with the date of entry or exit;
- Document showing the registration in the system of electronic database related to the management of Vietnamese students studying abroad of the Ministry of Education and Training.
The Circular takes effect from August 30, 2013.
Increase of import tax on used cars
Import tax for second-hand nine-seat cars will be increased from June 20, this year, according to PM Nguyen Tan Dung’s recent Decision 24/2013/QD-TTg.
Accordingly, cars with less than 1,000 cc, will be levied with a tax amount of US$5,000 while cars from 1,000 cc to 1,500 cc will be subjected to tax rate of US$10,000.
The current tax categories are US$4,200 and US$9,600, respectively, according to the Ministry of Finance’s Circular 28/2013/TT-BTC which took effect on April 29, 2013.
Electronic gaming for foreigners
A decree on money-winning electronic gaming for foreigners came into force since October 1, 2013.
Under the Decree, money-winning electronic games are reserved only for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese who hold valid foreign passports granted by foreign competent agencies and legally enter Viet Nam.
The above subjects must have the full civil act capacity and voluntarily obey gaming rules and regulations prescribed in this Decree.
Businesses offering money-winning electronic gaming services are allowed to set up only one establishment where only one machine for the game is installed per five chambers as stipulated in their business certificates.
(Source:VGP)
