Immigration consulting company establishment business lines in Vietnam

In recent years, along with the trend of globalization and international integration, the demand for studying, working, settling, and investing abroad among Vietnamese people has increased strongly. According to data from the Ministry of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese workers go abroad to work every year, while the demand for consulting on studying abroad and settling in countries such as Australia, Canada, the US, Japan, etc., is increasingly large. This development has promoted many domestic enterprises and organizations to establish immigration consulting companies to provide services supporting customers in preparing dossiers, seeking opportunities for study, labor, or legal settlement investment. However, to be granted an enterprise registration certificate and operate lawfully, investors need to determine the exact business line suitable for immigration consulting activities.

What is immigration consulting?

Immigration consulting is the activity of providing information, guidance, and support to individuals or organizations in preparing dossiers and procedures related to moving, residing, studying, or working abroad.

Immigration consulting services usually include:

• Consulting on selecting suitable study abroad, settlement, investment, and foreign labor programs;
• Guiding the preparation of personal dossiers, finances, and proof of capacity;
• Supporting dossier registration with foreign agencies and organizations (within the permitted scope);
• Providing information on legal regulations, culture, and settlement requirements of the receiving country.

Note: Immigration consulting is not a legal service (unless licensed to practice as a lawyer or a legal immigration representative in that country). Therefore, enterprises in Vietnam are only allowed to provide administrative advice, information, and dossier support, and are not allowed to commit to or perform legal procedures abroad on behalf of customers.

Immigration consulting company establishment conditions

For an immigration consulting company to operate legally, it needs to meet a number of basic conditions as follows:

General conditions on the enterprise

• Have a valid company name, headquarters address, charter capital, and legal representative.
• The registered business line must comply with legal regulations and not belong to prohibited business lines.
• Perform enterprise registration at the Department of Planning and Investment where the headquarters is located.

Specific conditions (depending on the type of consultation)

• Study abroad consulting: Must have a certificate of study abroad consulting activities.
• Introduction of labor abroad: Must have a license to send Vietnamese workers to work abroad.
• Settlement and investment consulting: Only performed within the scope of administrative consulting, dossier guidance, and information provision; not allowed to provide in-depth legal advice or represent legal procedures abroad, unless licensed according to the regulations of the receiving country.

Immigration consulting company establishment business lines in Vietnam

Currently, the Vietnam economic industry system is regulated in Decision No. 36/2025/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister. In this decision, there is no separate code for “immigration consulting”, because this activity usually includes many aspects related to legal consulting, administrative procedure support, and international education and employment support services.

Depending on the specific scope of activity of the enterprise, one or several of the following business lines can be selected:

Business lines related to immigration consulting

Business line 7810 – 78100: Activities of employment placement agencies

This group includes: Activities of listing employment vacancies and referring or placing applicants for employment, where the individuals referred or placed are not employees of the employment agencies.

This group also includes:

• Searching, selecting, referring, and placing applicants for employment, including executive placement and search;
• Activities of casting agencies and bureaus, such as theatrical casting agencies;
• Activities of on-line employment placement agencies.

This group also includes: Activities of searching, detecting, and recruiting talents.

Excludes:

• Activities of personal theatrical or artistic agents or agencies are classified in group 74990 (Other professional, scientific and technical activities not elsewhere classified);
• Activities of companies providing babysitters and maids for households are classified in group 782 (Temporary employment agency activities and other human resources provision).

Business line 7822 – 78222: Other human resources provision for working abroad

This group includes: Activities of supplying long-term, stable labor, managing labor working abroad, representing workers in cases related to wages, taxes, and financial or labor issues, but they are not responsible for directing and supervising workers.

Business line 7911 – 79110: Travel agency activities

This group includes:

• Activities of agencies primarily engaged in selling travel, tour, transportation, and accommodation services to the general public and commercial clients:
  • Booking services for package tours, domestic or international;
  • Booking services for tours self-designed according to customer requirements, domestic or international.
• Intermediary activities in signing contracts for providing tourism services from tour operators.

This group also includes: Intermediary activities for package tourism services at destinations.

Excludes:

• Intermediary service activities solely for passenger transport are classified in group 52320 (Passenger transport agency activities);
• Intermediary service activities solely for accommodation are classified in group 55300 (Intermediary service activities for accommodation services);
• Selling travel combos/package tours: a form of distributing tourism-related services but on a commission basis, which can be of any type such as hotels, restaurants, care services, entertainment activities… are classified in group 82990 (Other business support service activities not elsewhere classified);
• Legal and practical activities related to signing contracts for providing tourism services, at the request of customers, are classified in group 69 (Legal and accounting activities).

Business line 7990 – 79900: Other reservation service and related activities

This group includes:

• Visitor assistance services:
  • Provision of travel information to visitors;
  • Activities of independent tourist guides.
• Tourism promotion activities.

Excludes:

• Activities of travel agencies and tour operators are classified in groups 79110 (Travel agency activities) and 79120 (Tour operator activities);
• Organization and management of events such as meetings, conventions, and conferences including transport, accommodation, and ticket sales if managed by the organizer are classified in group 82300 (Organization of conventions and trade shows);
• Ticket reservation and sale activities for entertainment, sports, and other events are classified in group 82400 (Other business support service activities not elsewhere classified (excluding financial intermediation));
• Reservation activities for passenger transport for a fee are classified in group 52320 (Passenger transport agency activities);
• “Timeshare” services are classified in group 55300 (Intermediary service activities for accommodation services);
• Reservation activities for food and beverage services for a fee are classified in group 56400 (Intermediary service activities for food and beverage services);
• Reservation activities for accommodation services for a fee are classified in group 55300 (Intermediary service activities for accommodation services).

Business line 8554 – 85540: Pre-tertiary education

This group includes: Activities of providing educational programs, supplementary courses, providing knowledge to prepare learners before entering university-level training programs, for example: pre-university programs for ethnic minority students or preparation programs for students before studying international university programs domestically and abroad…

Excludes: College education is classified in group 853 (Vocational education), university and post-graduate education are classified in group 854 (Higher education).

Business line 8569 – 85690: Other educational support activities

This group includes: Provision of non-instructional activities that support educational processes or systems:

• Educational consulting;
• Activities of educational guidance counseling;
• Activities of giving opinions and guidance on education;
• Activities of evaluating educational testing;
• Educational testing activities;
• Organization of student exchange programs;
• Testing and trialing for regulated professions, e.g., pilots;
• Curriculum development;
• Professional activities and recovery of learning assessment ability.

Excludes: Research and experimental development on social sciences and humanities is classified in group 722 (Research and experimental development on natural sciences and engineering).

Note on how to record the business line

Record according to the business line prescribed in specialized documents.

For business lines belonging to the list of conditional business lines (regarding legal capital, certificates…), the list of prohibited or restricted business lines, in addition to the level 4 business line, it must be recorded according to the business line prescribed in legal documents or record the level 5 business line.

Example:

Immigration consulting company establishment dossier

Enterprise registration dossier

• Application for enterprise registration (depending on the type, see form in Appendix I of Circular 68/2025/TT-BTC).
• Company charter (except for private enterprises).
• List of members/founding shareholders/beneficial owners of the enterprise (if any).
• Copies of legal papers of individuals for private enterprise owners, members, founding shareholders, shareholders being foreign investors who are individuals, legal representatives (only in case there is no identification number).
• Legal papers of the organization for members being organizations and document appointing the authorized representative; legal papers of the individual for the authorized representative of the member being an organization (only in case there is no identification number).
• Power of attorney (if authorizing someone to submit the dossier).

For companies with foreign elements, additional documents proving the legal status of the investor, consular legalization (if any), written approval of the investment registration authority… are required.

Implementation Sequence

Company establishment procedure

• Prepare dossier according to prescribed forms;
• Submit dossier online at the National Business Registration Portal (https://dangkykinhdoanh.gov.vn);
• Receive the Enterprise Registration Certificate within 03 working days (if the dossier is valid);

Note: Currently, Enterprise Registration Certificate results are returned 100% electronically in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and some provinces like Bac Ninh.

• Open a bank account
• Register additional sub-licenses (if any) such as:
  • Study abroad consulting license (if operating in this field);
  • License to send workers to work abroad;
  • Advertising and media license if there are services promoting brands abroad.

Some legal notes when trading immigration consulting services

• Do not provide legal services related to immigration and settlement if not a law-practicing organization or validly licensed by a foreign agency.
• Do not collect fees or accept deposits contrary to regulations when introducing jobs, study abroad, or settlement.
• Do not use the title “immigration representative” or “immigration agent” if not recognized by the functional agency of the receiving country (e.g., MARA – Australia, ICCRC – Canada…).
• Confidentiality of customer information, complying with the Law on Protection of Personal Data 2023.
• Sign clear service contracts, specifying the scope of consulting, responsibilities, service fees, and refunds in case the service cannot be performed.

Services supporting business line registration and establishment of immigration consulting companies

• Consulting on selecting suitable business lines;
• Drafting enterprise registration dossiers;
• Representing to submit dossiers and receive Enterprise Registration Certificates;
• Supporting application for sub-licenses (study abroad consulting, sending labor abroad);
• Consulting on service contracts, protecting customer rights when providing immigration services.

Customers interested in business lines for establishing an immigration consulting company, please contact Viet An Law Firm directly for detailed advice.