Changing Representative Office Address to a New Authority in Vietnam

From July 01, 2025, the adjustment of administrative boundaries in many provinces and cities will officially take effect, leading to changes in the administrative addresses of numerous entities. To ensure consistency in tax declaration, invoice issuance, and other administrative transactions, enterprises should update and use appropriate address information according to the new administrative directory. Viet An Law Firm would like to provide our clients with legal consultation on changing the representative office address to a new authority in Vietnam to facilitate the smooth completion of related procedures.

What is a representative office?

According to Clause 2, Article 44 of the Law on Enterprises 2020, a representative office is a dependent unit without legal personality, established to perform the authorized representative functions to protect and promote the interests of the enterprise in a specific locality or market.

Enterprises are entitled to establish one or more representative offices in any locality in Vietnam or abroad, provided that the relevant legal regulations are observed. However, each representative office must be duly registered for operation and notify its business location in accordance with the legal process.

Therefore, during the period of administrative boundary adjustments, the addresses of representative offices must be updated accordingly under the new managing authorities to ensure compliance and the smooth continuation of business activities.

Procedures for changing the representative office address to a new authority in Vietnam

Pursuant to Section 19, Part II of Decision No. 2354/QD-BTC (2025), the procedures for registering changes to branch, representative office, or business location information of enterprises are as follows:

Process for changing the representative office address to a new authority in Vietnam

• The applicant shall use a digital identification account to log in to the National Business Registration Portal, fill in the required information, upload electronic documents, digitally sign or authenticate the electronic business registration dossier, and pay the business registration state fees in accordance with the procedures on the Portal.
• Both the authorizing party and the authorized party must perform electronic authentication to be granted the enterprise registration certificate. In case of interruption in electronic authentication, the authorizing party shall perform authentication after the enterprise registration certificate has been granted.

After completing the submission of the enterprise registration dossier, the applicant will receive an acknowledgment of receipt and a scheduled date for electronic result delivery via the applicant’s account:

• If the dossier meets all conditions for enterprise registration, the provincial-level Business Registration Authority shall issue the enterprise registration certificate and notify the enterprise of such issuance.
• If the dossier does not meet the conditions, the provincial-level Business Registration Authority shall send an electronic notice requesting the enterprise to amend or supplement the dossier.

The applicant shall log in to the National Business Registration Information System to receive feedback on the dossier processing results.

Dossier for changing the representative office address to a new authority in Vietnam

Pursuant to Section 19, Part II of Decision No. 2354/QD-BTC (2025), the dossier for changing the address of a branch, representative office, or business location includes: Application for registration of change in branch, representative office, or business location registration information.

In cases where authorization is granted to carry out the procedure, the authorized person signing the enterprise registration application may delegate the procedure to another organization or individual under the following conditions:

• If authorization is granted to an individual to carry out the enterprise registration procedure, the dossier must include a Letter of Authorization for the individual to perform procedures related to enterprise registration. This authorization letter is not required to be notarized or certified.
• If authorization is granted to an organization to carry out the enterprise registration procedure, the dossier must include:
  • A copy of the authorization contract for the organization to perform procedures related to enterprise registration;
  • A letter of introduction or assignment document from that organization to the individual directly performing the enterprise registration procedure.
• If authorization is granted to a public postal service provider, the postal employee must submit:
  • A copy of the mailing receipt according to the form issued by the public postal service provider, with signatures from both the postal employee and the authorized signatory of the enterprise registration application.
• If authorization is granted to a non-public postal service provider, the authorization shall comply with Clause 2, Article 12 of Decree No. 168/2025/ND-CP, specifically including:
  • A copy of the authorization contract for the organization performing procedures related to enterprise registration;
  • A letter of introduction or assignment document from that organization to the individual directly performing the registration procedure.

The authorizing party and the authorized party are legally responsible for the legitimacy, accuracy, and truthfulness of the authorization. Both parties must perform electronic authentication to obtain the enterprise registration certificate.

• In case of interruption in electronic authentication, the authorizing party shall complete the electronic authentication after the enterprise registration certificate has been issued.
• If the authorizing party either fails to confirm or confirms that no authorization was granted, the provincial-level Business Registration Authority shall request the enterprise to report in accordance with Clause 5, Article 21 of Decree No. 168/2025/ND-CP. Specifically, the enterprise must report on its compliance with the provisions of the Law on Enterprises 2020, pursuant to Point c, Clause 1, Article 216 of the Law on Enterprises 2020: “Request enterprises to report on compliance with the provisions of the Law on Enterprises 2020 where necessary; urge enterprises to fulfill their reporting obligations.”
• If the authorizing party has no electronic identification account for authentication, the enterprise registration dossier must include a copy of the Citizen Identity Card, Identity Card, passport, or valid foreign passport or equivalent document of the authorizing party.

Methods of applying to changing the representative office address to a new authority in Vietnam

Methods of applying to changing the representative office address to a new authority in Vietnam

The enterprise founder or the authorized person may submit the registration dossier for changing the representative office address to the Business Registration Office under the Department of Finance, where the enterprise’s head office is located, online via the National Business Registration Portal, in accordance with Decision No. 2354/QD-BTC (2025).

Fee for changing the representative office address

According to Clause 3, Article 57 of Decree No. 168/2025/ND-CP, enterprises are exempt from paying business registration fees and publication fees in the following cases:

• Adding contact information such as phone number, fax, email address, or enterprise website;
• Adjusting the head office, branch, representative office, or business location address due to administrative boundary changes;
• Updating or supplementing information in the enterprise registration dossier that does not alter the contents of the Enterprise Registration Certificate, Branch, Representative Office, or Business Location Registration Certificate, and does not fall under the notification cases stipulated in Articles 49 to 54 of Decree No. 168/2025/ND-CP.

Clients who require consultation and assistance with changing the representative office address to a new authority in Vietnam are kindly requested to contact Viet An Law for the best support.