I. Legal basis 

• Investment Law 2020
• Investment Law 2025

II. What are conditional business lines?

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 7 of the Investment Law 2025:

“Conditional investment and business lines are business lines conducted within the territory of Viet Nam for which the conduct of investment and business activities must satisfy certain necessary conditions for reasons of national defense and security, public order and safety, social ethics, and public health.”

In other words, when registering to conduct business in these lines, business entities are required to satisfy specific conditions in order to be permitted to operate or to supply goods and services to the market, such as requirements on capital, professional practicing certificates, sub-licenses, certificates of eligibility, and other regulatory conditions.

III. Conditions to be satisfied for registration of conditional business lines

Để được kinh doanh ngành, nghề kinh doanh có điều kiện thì các doanh nghiệp phải đáp To engage in conditional business lines, enterprises must fully satisfy the following prescribed conditions:

1. The director, head, or professional staff of the enterprise must hold a practicing certificate. A practicing certificate is the most important and fundamental requirement, and is regarded as a mandatory condition for an enterprise to register and conduct business.
2. Depending on the specific business line and sector as prescribed in the relevant specialized legislation, the required number of individuals holding practicing certificates and the positions they must hold within the enterprise may vary.
3. Practicing certificates must be issued by a competent Vietnamese state authority or by a professional association authorized by the State to individuals who possess the requisite professional qualifications and practical experience in the relevant business line.

IV. Procedures for registration of conditional business lines

In general, the procedure for registering conditional business lines must comply with the following prescribed steps:

Step 1: Preparation of the dossier

• Individuals and organizations must prepare all necessary information for the establishment of the enterprise;
• Select the appropriate type of enterprise;
• Prepare copies of the identity cards or passports of the members (shareholders);
• The director, head, or professional staff determine the company name;
• Determine the head office address that is lawfully used by the company;
• Determine the charter capital to be contributed for business operations;
• Determine the legal representative of the company;
• Determine the business lines in accordance with the standardized classifications prescribed by the law on enterprise registration.

Step 2: Submission of the dossier

• Place of submission: the Business Registration Office of the Department of Finance, or submission via the electronic information portal.

Step 3: Receipt of results

• The Business Registration Office shall issue the Enterprise Registration Certificate or the Confirmation of Changes to Enterprise Registration Information within three (03) working days from the date of receipt of a valid dossier.
• In the event that the dossier is invalid or the proposed enterprise name does not comply with regulations, the Business Registration Office must notify the enterprise founder or the enterprise in writing of the required amendments or supplements within three (03) working days from the date of receipt of the dossier.
• The Business Registration Office shall record all requests for amendment and supplementation of the enterprise registration dossier for each dossier submitted by the enterprise in a Notice of Request for Amendment and Supplementation of the Enterprise Registration Dossier.
• In exceptional cases, if upon expiry of the above-mentioned time limit the Enterprise Registration Certificate or the Confirmation of Changes to Enterprise Registration Information has not been issued, or the enterprise registration information has not been updated in the National Database on Enterprise Registration, or no Notice of Request for Amendment and Supplementation of the Enterprise Registration Dossier has been received, the enterprise founder or the enterprise shall have the right to lodge a complaint in accordance with the law on complaints and denunciations.

V. The latest list of business lines subject to conditions for investment in 2026

The new List is prescribed in Appendix IV promulgated together with the 2025 Law on Investment, which clearly specifies the business lines and sectors in which investment and business activities are required to satisfy the necessary statutory conditions, including:

1. Manufacture of seals (production of official seals)
2. Business of support tools (including repair services)
3. Business of fireworks (excluding explosive fireworks)
4. Business of covert recording/audio/video/location tracking equipment and software
5. Business of paintball guns
6. Business of military and quasi-military equipment, including equipment for armed forces and police, components, specialized technology, and vehicles
7. Pawnshop services
8. Massage services
9. Business of priority vehicle signal devices
10. Security services

…

Accordingly, 38 business lines and sectors have been removed from the list of conditional business lines under the 2025 Law on Investment as compared with the 2020 Law on Investment, whereby many activities that previously required licenses are no longer subject to business-investment conditions prior to the commencement of operations, including:

1. Business of tax procedure services
2. Business of customs clearance services
3. Business of commercial inspection services
4. Temporary import and re-export of goods subject to special consumption tax
5. Temporary import and re-export of frozen food products
6. Temporary import and re-export of goods included in the list of used goods
7. Energy auditing services
8. KEmployment service business
9. Labor sub-leasing (labor outsourcing) services
10. Motor vehicle warranty and maintenance services
11. Construction, conversion, repair and restoration services for inland waterway vessels
12. Maritime safety assurance services
13. Sea-going vessel towing services
14. KConstruction, conversion and repair of sea-going vessels
15. Flight operations safety assurance services
16. Multimodal transport services
17. Architectural services
18. Construction project management consultancy services
19. Construction execution services
20. Construction activities carried out by foreign contractors
21. Business of construction investment cost management services
22. Business of apartment building management and operation services
23. Business of cremation facility management and operation services
24. Data center service business
25. Business of cybersecurity and information security products and services
26. Overseas study consultancy services
27. Breeding and cultivation of wild fauna and flora species listed in the Appendices to the CITES Convention and in the lists of endangered, precious and rare forest plants, forest animals and aquatic species
28. Breeding of ordinary forest animals
29. Export, import, re-export, transit and inland import from the sea of specimens taken from the wild of species listed in the Appendices to the CITES Convention and in the lists of endangered, precious and rare forest plants, forest animals and aquatic species
30. Export, import and re-export of captive-bred, artificially propagated or cultivated specimens of species listed in the Appendices to the CITES Convention and in the lists of endangered, precious and rare forest plants, forest animals and aquatic species
31. Processing, trading, transportation, advertising, display and storage of specimens of plant and animal species listed in the Appendices to the CITES Convention and in the lists of endangered, precious and rare forest plants, forest animals and aquatic species
32. Trading in food products under the specialized management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
33. Business of quarantine and isolation services for animals and animal products
34. Business of cosmetic surgery services
35. Business of services for verification, calibration and testing of measuring instruments and measurement standards
36. Business of services for preparation of master plans, projects and designs, organization of construction, and consultancy and supervision of construction for projects on the conservation, renovation and restoration of monuments
37. Business of services for artistic performances, fashion shows, and organization of beauty and model contests
38. Printing and minting of money

VI. Conclusion 

The registration of conditional investment and business lines is a specialized procedure requiring foreign investors not only to comply with the general regulations on investment and enterprises but also to fully satisfy the sector-specific conditions prescribed by Vietnamese law. The entry into force of the Law on Investment 2025, with many significant amendments—particularly the substantial narrowing of the list of conditional business lines—has contributed to improving the investment environment and facilitating the production and business activities of foreign investors in Viet Nam.

However, with respect to business lines that remain subject to conditional business requirements, investors are required to carefully study the relevant legal regulations and to prepare in full the necessary dossiers, personnel, professional practice certificates, and sub-licenses in order to ensure that the registration and implementation of business activities are carried out in compliance with the law and that potential legal risks are minimized. In practice, consulting professional legal advisory firms is essential to help investors save time and costs while ensuring effective and sustainable legal compliance.

VII. About Us, Hankuk Law Firm

■ Hankuk Law Firm – Introduction

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