Vietnam Investment Law 2025: A Smoother Entry, Clearer Compliance

  For foreign investors who have been following Vietnam’s development and considering Vietnam as one of the choices for their investment decision, they usually ask one practical question before entering, especially from the year 2026, that if the Vietnam investment Law 2025 makes this easier, or more complicated for investing and doing business here. 

The Vietnamese lawyers’ answer is as ironic and interestingly the same: both.

Let us explain why.

The Vietnam investment Law 2025, effective in 2026, aims to make the entry path more workable, but it also makes the compliance more strict and less forgiving.

For our positive thinking mindset, that is good news if your scope of business is clear, and your setup is realistic.

It will be challenging if you start with vague activities, minimal capital, and a fix later mindset plan.

Quick Reference of Vietnam Investment Law 2025

• The Vietnam investment Law 2025 takes effect March 1, 2026 and the conditional business list will be narrowed from July 1, 2026.
• Legal entry can be easier, but you need to early check if the investment areas belong to the list of prohibited, conditional, or non-conditional area lists.
• In practice, starting with low capital often collide with Vietnam’s expectations of a quality FDI project, especially if investor residence planning matters.
• The investment amount of USD 120k (VND 3 billion) remains a key practical threshold with DT3 visa and is eligible for Temporary Residence Card (TRC) validity up to 3 years. 

When Does Vietnam Investment Law 2025 Apply?

•       From March 1, 2026, the Vietnam investment Law 2025 generally takes effect and becomes the main baseline for investment related procedures and compliance expectations.
•       From July 1, 2026, the regulation on list of conditional business lines take effect.

This matters because many foreign investors enter Vietnam in phases. They may start with steps to set up a legal entity, rent an office, hire a small team, and begin testing the market, then expand once the business model proves itself.

With the above timeline of regulation coming into effect, it means you can set up early in the year and use that period to validate your scope to answer questions if you are truly operating in an unconditional business area and are you clear on market access rules for foreign investors.   

How Entering Vietnam is Easier?

A more workable entry sequence for foreign investors

The Vietnam investment Law 2025 supports a more flexible sequence where a foreign investor may establish an entity and apply for ERC in connection with implementing a project before completing certain IRC issuance or adjustment procedures while still meeting market access conditions at establishment.

This helps because it can reduce early dead time when the business needs to lease, hire, and set up operations.

Special investment procedures in designated zones

The Vietnam investment Law 2025 provides for special investment procedures for projects located in certain zones for instance industrial parks, high-tech parks, digital tech zones, Free Trade Zones, international financial centers, etc.

This depends on location and project characteristics, not for every project.

Why Compliance in Vietnam Investment Law 2025 Matters More?

At the start of the setting up of company in Vietnam, the investors need to be specific about its business activities. Even if the list of conditional business lines becomes more streamlined, investors still need to verify their real activities are being properly categorized into:

1. Not prohibited or banned business lines
2. Not conditional or if conditional, you need to comply with the conditions and apply for licenses.
3. Not restricted under foreign investor market access conditions for instance ownership limits, scope limits, licensing requirements.

With the Vietnam investment Law 2025, a trend across is going focusing on:

• fewer permission steps upfront in some areas,
• stronger expectation that you can show records and consistency later.

That means, contracts, invoices, staffing, and actual operations must align with what you registered and what you claimed.

That pushes companies to set up internal compliance basics earlier.

Minimal Capital Mindset Not Suitable in Vietnam

We come across investors with a very positive mindset and wish to incorporate companies with minimal capital, because in developed markets they can start lean, prove the model, then raise funds and increase capital later.

Not in Vietnam.

That approach often creates friction. Vietnam has relied heavily on FDI, and regulators and counterparties frequently expect capital that matches the project plan. When the capital looks too small for the stated scope, the project may face extra questions, slower processing, and practical limits, especially if the investor expects a longer stay plan.

Is VND 3 billion still a meaningful threshold for investor to apply for TRC for two to three years?

Yes.  VND 3 billion remains the key threshold in the investor classification framework.

• DT3 commonly applies where investment capital is VND 3 billion to under VND 50 billion. 
• DT3 is commonly associated with temporary residence card (TRC) validity up to 3 years. 
• DT4 (under VND 3 billion) is typically shorter term and often does not support the same TRC profile. 

In our practical opinion, if the investor wants the government and the market to consider the project as quality, and if investor residence planning is part of the roadmap, VND 3 billion is often the planning baseline, unless there are clear sector reasons to justify a lower figure.

With the transformation and transition of policy of Vietnam to encourage AI, chip making, automation, digital assets, international financial center, free trade zones, the expectation of capital is much more.

Step-by-Step Entry Plan and Comply in Vietnam

Step-by-Step Entry Plan and Comply in Vietnam

Step 1: Define the Vietnam scope

You should be able to explain the business activities in simple terms.  This single sentence define market access conditions, licensing, contracts, staffing, and capital logic.

Step 2: Check the business lines against conditions

This will help ensure if the business activities belong to:

• prohibited lines
• conditional lines
• market access conditions for foreign investors

Step 3: Choose the right company structure

Most foreign investors use one of these:

• Single-member LLC
• Two-or-more-member LLC
• Joint Stock Company (JSC), which is useful for multi-shareholder governance and future fundraising.

Step 4: Check the registration procedures

Check the procedures to start entity establishment and apply for ERC and whether IRC related steps is needed.

Step 5: Set capital that matches the plan

Most of the time, there is no requirement on minimum capital for every business line.  But the immigration and credibility ecosystem make certain thresholds practically important. DT3 starts at VND 3 billion and is commonly linked to TRC validity up to 3 years. 

Step 6: Remember to comply strictly to avoid fine

Remember to ensure compliance post setting up, and during the operation in Vietnam on regular basis.  The compliance will be needed on various aspects including but not limited to taxes, regular reporting, labour.

About ANT Lawyers, a Law Firm in Vietnam

We help clients overcome cultural barriers and achieve their strategic and financial outcomes, while ensuring the best interest protection, risk mitigation and regulatory compliance. ANT lawyers has lawyers in Ho Chi Minh city, Hanoi, and Danang, and will help customers in doing business in Vietnam.

Source: https://antlawyers.vn/update/vietnam-investment-law-2025-smoother.html

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9 Things Marine Insurance Lawyers Do Differently in Cargo Insurance Disputes

  After you bought marine insurance from insurance agent, you felt relieved. And most of the time, no thing happened.  The shipment went smoothly.  Eveyone got used to the routine and did not pay attention on the logisics of signing, paying the insurance fee, or reading the small letters in the insurance contracts. 

When a cargo insurance claim is denied, most businesses feel the same frustration.

As marine insurance lawyers, we know that feeling after a number cases when we talke to the clients.

The goods were damaged. The policy exists. Now the the insurer says no.

At this point, many cargo owners focus on what went wrong. Marine insurance lawyers focus on how the contract, its appendixes, and the evidence work together.

That difference often decides whether a dispute goes nowhere or moves forward.

In here, from our experience, we explain nine things marine insurance lawyers do differently in cargo insurance disputes, in plain language, so you understand the process even if you never hire one.

9 Things Marine Insurance Lawyers Do Differently in Cargo Insurance Disputes

What Usually Happens in Denied Cargo Claims

Across many cargo insurance disputes, the pattern is familiar:

• Damage is clear and documented
• The insurer does not dispute that loss happened
• The disagreement shifts to coverage, not damage
• The insurer relies on exclusions, conditions, or attached documents
• Key records are controlled by third parties, not the cargo owner

The dispute is rarely about fairness.

It is about contracts, appendixes, and evidence.

The 9 Things Done Differently

1. They read the entire contract, not just the policy summary

Many cargo owners read the first few pages and stop.

Marine insurance lawyers read:

• The main policy
• All attached appendixes
• Referenced documents
• Schedules, certificates, and endorsements

Because in practice, disputes are often decided outside the main policy text.

2. They treat appendixes as active rules

Appendixes are not background information.

They can:

• Limit coverage
• Change how risks are defined
• Impose conditions
• Introduce exclusions

Marine insurance lawyers treat appendixes as equal in force to the main contract.

3. They separate damage exists from damage is covered

These are two different legal questions.

• Damage exists: factual question
• Damage is covered: contractual question

Many claims fail because businesses argue the first point repeatedly, while the insurer argues the second.

Marine insurance lawyers focus on coverage logic, not just damage descriptions.

4. They control the burden-of-proof story

In most cargo disputes, the critical question becomes:

Who must prove what?

Marine insurance lawyers frame the case so:

• The insured shows loss during the covered period
• The insurer must justify any exclusion or limitation

If this framing is lost early, the insured may end up trying to prove things they legally do not need to.

5. They identify which party controls the key records

Many important records are not held by the cargo owner.

They maybe available with:

• Carriers
• Shipping agents
• Terminals
• Surveyors
• Insurers or their representatives

Marine insurance lawyers check who controls what, early, before arguments begin.

6. They treat missing records as evidence, not inconvenience

When records are missing or not shared, many businesses feel stuck.

Marine insurance lawyers ask:

• Who had access to the records?
• Were they requested properly?
• Was there a refusal or delay?

In disputes, non-production can matter as much as production, if handled correctly.

7. They build arguments around process

Process helps the cases.

Marine insurance lawyers focus on:

• How decisions were made
• How claims were assessed
• Whether procedures were followed
• Whether requests were reasonable

This approach speaks to arbitrators and decision-makers more than accusations.

8. They choose forums (arbitration or litigation) that match document heavy disputes

Cargo insurance disputes rely on:

• Contracts
• Appendixes
• Correspondence
• Operational records

Some dispute forums handle document heavy cases better than others.

Marine insurance lawyers consider:

• How evidence is treated
• Whether document production is possible
• How experts are used

Forum choice of arbitration or court litigation shapes the entire dispute.

9. They keep settlement realistic and evidence based

Settlement is not about pressure alone.

It is about:

• Clear loss numbers
• Documented expenses
• Credible exposure for both sides

Marine insurance lawyers prepare cases so settlement discussions are grounded in facts, not frustration.

What Cargo Owners Can Do Now Step By Step

                           What Cargo Owners Can Do Now (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: List every contract document

Include:

• Policy
• Certificate
• Appendixes
• Referenced documents
• Emails confirming terms

Step 2: Build a simple timeline

• Shipment
• Discovery of damage
• Notice to insurer
• Surveys
• Responses and requests

Step 3: Identify third-party record holders

Ask:

• Who holds operational records?
• Who produced surveys?
• Who assessed the claim internally?

Step 4: Request records in writing

Keep requests:

• Specific
• Dated
• Reasonable

Track responses and non-responses.

Step 5: Focus on structure, not emotion

Frame your position around:

• Obligations
• Procedures
• Evidence flow
• Contract logic

This prepares the ground for escalation or settlement.

Questions Readers Often Ask (FAQ)

FAQ 1: Why do insurers deny claims when damage is obvious?

Because insurance disputes are about coverage, not sympathy. Insurers rely on contracts and appendixes, not just outcomes.

FAQ 2: Are appendixes legally binding?

Yes. If incorporated into the contract, appendixes usually carry the same legal weight as the main policy.

FAQ 3: What if I don’t control the key documents?

That is common. The issue is whether you requested them properly and how non-production is handled.

FAQ 4: Is technical proof always required?

Not always. Many disputes turn on contractual interpretation and burden of proof rather than technical perfection.

FAQ 5: Why does process matter more than arguments?

Because disputes are decided on how evidence and obligations are managed, not on who sounds more reasonable.

Final Thought

Cargo insurance disputes are rarely lost because damage did not happen.

They are lost because:

• Contracts were not read as a system
• Appendixes were ignored
• Evidence was not controlled
• Process was underestimated

Understanding how marine insurance lawyers approach these cases helps you protect your position, whether you negotiate, arbitrate, or reassess your risk strategy going forward.

About ANT Lawyers, a Law Firm in Vietnam

We help clients overcome cultural barriers and achieve their strategic and financial outcomes, while ensuring the best interest protection, risk mitigation and regulatory compliance. ANT lawyers has lawyers in Ho Chi Minh city, Hanoi, and Danang, and will help customers in doing business in Vietnam.

Source: https://antlawyers.vn/update/marine-insurance-lawyers-in-disputes-9.html

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