Qualification degree to start a company in Vietnam

Before establishing a business, in addition to the requirements for capital and facilities, many people wonder about the subject’s conditions: Is a degree required to establish a company in Vietnam? This is one of the professional requirements that requires in-depth legal advice when preparing to establish. Below, Viet An Law will present the current regulations on qualification degree to start a company in Vietnam.

Subjects are not entitled to establish a business in Vietnam

According to the provisions of Vietnamese law, according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 17 of the Enterprise Law 2020, the following cases are specific cases in which individuals and organizations are not allowed to establish enterprises:

• State agencies and units of the people’s armed forces use state assets to establish businesses to make profits for their agencies and units;
• Cadres, civil servants, and public employees as prescribed by the Law on Cadres, Civil Servants, and the Law on Public Employees;
• Officers, non-commissioned officers, professional soldiers, workers, and defense officials in agencies and units of the Vietnam People’s Army; officers, professional non-commissioned officers, police workers in agencies and units of the Vietnam People’s Public Security, except for those appointed as authorized representatives to manage the State’s capital contribution in enterprises or to manage state-owned enterprises;
• Executive officers and professional managers in enterprises in which the State holds 100% of the charter capital, except for those appointed as authorized representatives to manage the State’s capital contribution in other enterprises;
• Minors; persons with limited civil act capacity; persons who have lost civil act capacity; persons with difficulty in cognition and behavior control; organizations without legal status;
• People who are being prosecuted for criminal liability, detained, serving a prison sentence, serving an administrative measure at a compulsory drug rehabilitation facility, a compulsory education facility, or are prohibited by the Court from holding a position, practicing a profession, or doing certain work; other cases as prescribed by the Bankruptcy Law and the Law on Anti-Corruption.

In case the Business Registration Authority requests, the person registering to establish a business must submit a Criminal Record to the Business Registration Authority;

• An organization is a commercial legal entity prohibited from doing business or operating in certain fields according to the provisions of the Vietnamese Penal Code.

Accordingly, there is no case where a person without a degree cannot establish a business, therefore, a company can still be established without a degree.

Qualification degree to start a company in Vietnam for some professions

Business lines in our country are currently divided into conditional business lines and unconditional business lines. Regarding conditional business lines, some businesses require certain qualification degrees on capital and qualifications, for example:

• For security service business: business managers and business owners must have a college degree or higher (Basis: Clause 2, Article 11 of Decree 96/2016/ND-CP stipulating security and order conditions for several conditional business investment sectors).
• The person in charge of the domestic travel business must have a college degree or higher in tourism. In case of a college degree or higher in another major, a certificate of domestic service operation must be obtained (Basis: Article 31 of the Law on Tourism 2017).

Professions that require degrees and certificates to start a company  in Vietnam

However, some professions require a degree or certificate to establish a company, including the following professions:

Establishment of law firm, law office

The person establishing a law firm or law office must have a lawyer’s practice certificate/lawyer’s card.

Auditing services

The requirement for degrees and certificates when doing auditing services business is to have at least 05 practicing auditors, including:

• 02 people are general partners (for a partnership);
• 01 person is the business owner (for private enterprises);
• 02 people are members contributing capital to establish the company (for multiple-member LLCs).

Securities trading

Requirements for establishing a securities company are as follows:

• The Director (General Director) must have a financial analysis certificate or a fund management certificate;
• At least 3 employees in the company have securities practice certificates corresponding to each securities business.

Property Auction

Private business owners and general Directors/Directors of partnerships must have an auction practice certificate when establishing a business operating in the property auction business.

Accounting services

There must be at least 2 people who are practicing accountants and have been granted a Certificate of registration to practice accounting services, including:

• 02 members contributing capital (LLC);
• 02 partners (partnership);
• Private business owner.

The legal representative of the enterprise must also be a practicing accountant.

Credit rating services

Director/General Director; at least 05 members of the Credit Rating Council and at least 10 analysts: with a university degree or higher, majoring in economics, finance, banking, accounting, auditing, statistics, or business administration.

In addition, for the above subjects, it is also necessary to meet the requirements on the number of years of working experience in the fields of economics, finance, banking, accounting, auditing, statistics, or business administration.

Valuation services

Enterprises providing valuation services must meet the following requirements for qualifications and practice certificates:

• Single-member LLC: Has at least 3 appraisers with valuation practice certificates, including the company owner.
• Multiple-member LLC: Have at least 3 appraisers with valuation practice certificates, including at least 2 capital contributing members.
• Partnership: Have at least 3 appraisers with valuation practice certificates, including at least 2 general partners.
• Private enterprise: Have at least 3 appraisers with valuation practice certificates, of which 1 appraiser is the owner of a private enterprise.
• Joint stock company: Must have at least 3 appraisers with valuation practice certificates, of which there must be at least 2 founding shareholders.

Appraisal services on copyright and related rights

The head of the organization or the person authorized by the head of the organization to provide appraisal services on copyright and related rights must have an Intellectual Property Appraiser Card. It must have at least 1 IP appraiser.

Industrial property representation services

The head of the organization or the person authorized by the head of the organization must have a certificate of practice in industrial property representation services.

In conclusion, whether or not a degree is required to establish a company will depend on the industry in which the company owner operates. Each industry has different conditions and will have different requirements, which may or may not require a degree, or require legal capital, or other requirements.

To quickly search about legal regulations on qualification degree to start a company in Vietnam, please contact Viet An Law directly for more specific advice.