buying property in vietnam

General Representative Office

Establish General Representative Office in Vietnam

A representative office is an office set up by a company, usually in a country. Representative offices can conduct certain business activities on behalf of its parent company.

Prerequisites and Requirements for Representative Offices

There is no capital requirement to open a representative office but must meet certain requirements so it can operate in Vietnam.

  • Businesses that trade goods and services, which have been registered for at least one year can establish a representative office in Vietnam.
  • The representative office needs a registered address in Vietnam.
  • The representative office must have an independent head. The head must not hold a management or director position in the parent company nor any company registered in Vietnam.
  • Representative companies in some sectors may need to get approval from relevant authorities.

To establish your representative office, you will have to submit documents related to your company. All documents must be consular legalized in the country of issuance.

  • Certificate of incorporation
  • Audited financial statement for the last year

You must also submit documents related to the representative office’s manager.

  • Vietnamese residential address
  • If the manager is a foreign national, his or her passport or a consular legalized copy of the passport from the country of issuance.
  • If the manager is Vietnamese, his or her original ID, or a copy notarized by a notary public in Vietnam.

Emerhub will assist in acquiring and preparing all necessary documents to establish your representative office in Vietnam.

Allowed Activities for Representative Offices

Representative offices can perform business activities on behalf of its parent company. It can conduct market research prior to establishing a local company for trading goods and services. The representative office may also build relationships with distributors and suppliers for the parent company through business matching.

While representative offices cannot generate income in Vietnam, it can promote the parent company’s business activities abroad.

Your representative office may also take care of your company’s back office activities like accounting, data entry, and payroll management just to name a few.

Representative offices may also hire employees, both local and foreign. Emerhub can also assist in obtaining relevant work and stay permits for foreign employees.

Additionally, representative offices can also open local bank accounts.

Timeline

Usually, Emerhub is able to obtain all documents necessary to establish a general representative office in 3 weeks. We can also assist with opening a local bank account within the timeframe.