When to update your business registration information in Vietnam?

Key takeaways

• iIn Vietnam, companies must update their business registration within 10 days when changing their name, registered address, legal representative, or charter capital
• Some changes only require notification rather than certificate reissue, such as business line modifications and tax registration updates
• Businesses are not required to change their business registration certificates due to Vietnam’s administrative restructuring from July 1, 2025
• Not following regulations can lead to legal complications and hurt business

The Enterprise Registration Certificate is a crucial document with initial legal information issued by the Business Registration Authority to enterprises. This document works as a “birth certificate” confirming a company’s legal existence. Updating corporate information when changes happen is not only a legal requirement but also keeps business operations running smoothly.

Mandatory changes to enterprise registration certificates

To ensure transparency and legal compliance, businesses must understand situations that require mandatory corporate information updates. According to the Enterprise Law 2020, companies must register changes within 10 days from the date of change, with business registration authorities reviewing and issuing new certificates within 3 business days.

1. Company name and enterprise identification code

Any changes to company names require business registration updates, including:

• Changes to Vietnamese names
• Changes to foreign language names
• Changes to abbreviated names

Company names must follow regulations under Articles 37-41 of the Enterprise Law 2020. Name changes typically happen during corporate restructuring, expansion into new fields, or mergers with other entities.

2. Registered office address

When companies move their primary operating location, updating the registered office address is required. This information helps government agencies, partners, and customers communicate and conduct legal transactions. The registered office address also directly affects tax authority assignments and corporate tax obligations.

3. Legal representative information

This is one of the most common scenarios for legal representative changes, covering two main situations:

Complete legal representative replacement: When senior leadership personnel changes happen, companies must register new representatives with complete personal information.

Updates to current legal representative information: Including changes to names, contact addresses, nationality, legal document numbers (ID/citizen ID/passport numbers), or title changes. This is especially important since legal representatives have authority to sign contracts and conduct transactions on behalf of enterprises.

4. Charter capital and capital structure

Charter capital changes are required in the following cases:

1. Increasing charter capital – typically happens when companies need operational expansion
2. Decreasing charter capital – may happen during financial restructuring processes
3. Changing capital structure of contributing members

For joint stock companies, this also relates to share types, par values, and total shares authorized for offering. Selecting appropriate enterprise types from the beginning helps businesses avoid complex charter capital changes in the future.

Changes requiring only notification, not certificate reissue

Laws also outline certain situations where businesses only need to provide change notifications rather than directly modifying Enterprise Registration Certificates. This clear distinction helps companies save time and costs significantly on administrative procedures.

1. Business lines and activities

When companies add or remove business activities, only notification procedures are required. This is especially important for businesses diversifying their activities or focusing on core areas. Timely notification helps avoid legal risks when operating in unregistered business lines.

2. Tax registration information

Changes in this category include:

• Changes to accounting personnel
• Changes to tax notification addresses
• Changes to bank accounts
• Changes to tax calculation methods

These changes happen frequently during operations, and timely notification ensures continuity in tax obligation fulfillment.

3. Shareholder and member information

Unlisted joint stock companies: Only notification is required when changing information of founding shareholders and foreign shareholders.

Limited liability companies: Member changes or ownership changes in special cases such as selling, gifting to enterprises, or business owner death also fall under the notification-only category.

When to Update Business Registration Information 2025

Address changes due to administrative restructuring in Vietnam

From July 1, 2025, many provinces and districts nationwide will implement administrative unit arrangements and mergers according to National Assembly and Government decisions. According to Official Letter No. 4370/BTC-DNTN dated April 5, 2025, the Ministry of Finance has provided clear guidance: No required business registration updates solely due to administrative boundary changes.

Specifically:

• Continue using: Businesses may continue using all types of Registration Certificates previously issued
• No requirements: Business registration authorities may not require businesses to update address information solely due to administrative boundary changes
• Optional updates: Corporate information updates for new addresses are only implemented when businesses have needs or combine with other change procedures

Although certificate changes are not required, businesses should note invoice issuance requirements:

• Current regulations: Invoices must display seller addresses matching addresses registered in Enterprise Registration Certificates.
• Tax authority support: Tax authorities will automatically update address information in database systems according to new administrative area catalogs.

Required actions:

1. Check addresses on taxpayer lookup pages from July 1, 2025
2. Issue invoices according to new addresses updated by tax authorities
3. Keep tax authority notifications regarding address updates as basis for explanations

When necessary to update your business license in vietnam after provincial merger, businesses follow these 5 steps:

1. Board meetings and decisions on registration content changes
2. Prepare documentation for business registration change notifications
3. Submit documentation to the right Business Registration Departments
4. Pay fees for new business registration information reports
5. Receive new enterprise registration certificates

Businesses must notify registration content changes within 10 days from change dates.

After registration changes, businesses must publicly notify on the National Business Registration Information Portal within 30 days from change dates.

Registration changes based on court or arbitration decisions must be completed within 15 days from when judgments or decisions take legal effect.

Not following business registration update regulations can cause serious consequences. Businesses may face difficulties in contract signing, bank account opening, or conducting important legal transactions. Challenges when doing business in Vietnam regarding regulations require thorough business preparation.

Especially in the context of administrative restructuring, understanding regulations helps businesses avoid unnecessary concerns and focus on core business activities. To ensure continuous compliance operations, many businesses have chosen professional compliance consulting services.

In the context of administrative boundary changes, many businesses still want to proactively update corporate information to ensure accuracy. Business license information update services based on administrative boundary change decisions help businesses ensure timely and accurate updates to corporate licenses according to regulations.

The support process includes 6 professional steps:

1. Prepare and submit required document lists
2. Draft license adjustment applications
3. Submit applications to the right licensing authorities
4. Contact for explanations and receive requests from licensing authorities (if any)
5. Closely monitor application processing progress with licensing authorities and update progress
6. Receive results and handover to enterprises

Note: Document lists depend on actual situations and government authority requirements at the time of document receipt and processing.