Investment Registration Certificate Adjustment Service in Ben Thanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City

Pursuant to Resolution No. 1685/NQ-UBTVQH15 on the arrangement of commune-level administrative units of Ho Chi Minh City in 2025, Ben Thanh Ward has been officially organized and rearranged based on the arrangement of the entire natural area and population size of Ben Thanh Ward.  Pham Ngu Lao ward and part of the natural area, population size of Cau Ong Lanh ward, the rest of Nguyen Thai Binh ward. This adjustment of administrative place names leads to a change in information about the location of the project and the head office of the enterprise that has been recorded in the previously issued Investment Registration Certificate. In order to ensure the accuracy and consistency of legal documents and strictly comply with the provisions of the law on investment, enterprises and investors with projects in the area should carry out procedures for adjusting the content of Investment Registration Certificate. Viet An Law would like to guide customers through the above procedures through the article below.

Benefits of merging administrative boundaries of Ben Thanh Ward

Streamlining the apparatus, reducing payroll

The merger of small administrative units helps reduce management focal points, limiting overlap in functions and tasks.

When consolidated, the number of cadres, civil servants and leaders at the ward level decreased significantly, thereby streamlining the payroll and increasing professionalism in public service activities.

Improve management effectiveness and efficiency

The compact administrative apparatus helps the direction, administration and communication of policies from the city level to people and businesses be more unified, fast and effective.

Administrative processes (business registration, construction licensing, urban order management, etc.) become interconnected and transparent, avoiding the situation of “each ward understands”.

State budget savings

When reducing the number of administrative units, the State significantly saves budget expenditures on:

• Salaries and allowances for cadres and civil servants;
• Expenses for operating the headquarters, electricity and water, stationery;
• Procurement of public property and administrative equipment.
  This savings can be reinvested in local infrastructure, education, health, or digital transformation.

Creating an equal and unified business environment

After the merger, enterprises operating in the area will be under the management of a single focal point, helping to:

• Reduce duplicate administrative procedures;
• Applying tax, licensing and inspection policies synchronously;
• Increase transparency, consistency and equality in investment and business environment.
  This is especially important for central areas such as Ben Thanh – where many businesses, commercial centers, banks, hotels, and tourist resorts are concentrated.

Allocation of concentrated investment resources

Public resources (budget, infrastructure, human resources) will be concentrated on key projects, avoiding spreading investment.
As a result, the newly formed locality after the merger can:

• Synchronous infrastructure replanning (traffic, drainage, fire protection, lighting, etc.);
• Developing large urban, tourism and commercial projects in a methodical manner;
• Increase the efficiency of land use and public assets.

Increase economic scale and investment attractiveness

A larger administrative unit, with a higher population, area, and economic scale, will have a stronger appeal to investors.

• Easy to attract real estate projects, commercial centers, high-class service areas;
• Increase the position and competitiveness of the central area in the development planning of Ho Chi Minh City;
• Contributing to building the image of a “modern administrative-commercial-tourism center” of the city.

Guiding the implementation of procedures for adjusting Investment Registration Certificate in Ben Thanh Ward

Document preparation

• A written request for adjustment of investment Registration Certificate;
• Report on the implementation of investment project up to the time of adjustment;
• The investor’s decision on the adjustment of investment project for the institutional investor or the equivalent document for the individual investor;
• Current investment registration certificate;
• The company’s financial statements are audited in the preceding year at the time of adjustment of investment Registration Certificate;
• Proposal of investment project (if using land), including: investor, objectives, scale, investment capital, capital mobilization plan, location, duration, progress, information on the current status of land, labor demand, investment incentives, socio-economic efficiency, preliminary assessment of environmental impacts;
• In case investment project does not request the State to allocate or lease land or permit the change of land use purpose, it shall submit copies of papers on land use rights or other documents determining the right to use the location for the implementation of investment project;
• Explanation of technologies used in investment projects for projects subject to appraisal and consultation on technology in accordance with the law on technology transfer;
• BCC contracts for investment projects in the form of BCC contracts;
• Other documents related to investment project, requirements on conditions and capacity of the investor as prescribed by law (if any).

In addition, depending on other cases, additional dossiers and documents will be required as follows:

• In case of change of investor information: The company needs to provide documents on the legal status of the investor related to the change: Certificate of operation of the parent company for institutional investors or Passport of investors if the investor is an individual. These documents all require notarized translation and consular legalization.
• In case of change of the representative managing the investor’s contributed capital: A valid certified copy: Passport, confirmation of residence/temporary residence card of the new representative managing the contributed capital.
• In case of change of the location of investment project, the head office of the company, the land area used: The land lease contract, the lease of the office for registration of the location of the project; Land use right certificate of the lessor or investor or other alternative legal documents; In case of leasing land or renting offices of other enterprises, it is necessary to provide an enterprise registration certificate of the lessor with the function of real estate business.
• In case of change of charter capital or investment capital of the project: The enterprise needs to provide documents proving the financial capacity of the investor, including one of the following documents: Financial statements for the last 2 years; Commitment to financial support of the parent company/financial institution; Guarantee the financial capacity of the investor; Other documents proving the investor’s financial capacity;

Submission and processing of dossiers to adjust Investment Registration Certificate in Ben Thanh Ward

• Submission of dossiers: Submission at the Department of Finance of Ho Chi Minh City (for projects outside industrial parks) or Ho Chi Minh City Industrial Park Management Board (for projects in industrial parks).
• Appraisal of dossiers: Investment registration agency checks the validity within 07 working days from the date of receipt of the dossier. In case of adjustment of an investment project related to the change of the name of investment project or the name of the investor in investment registration certificate, in case of adjustment of the implementation schedule and operation duration of investment project or the investor wishing to update information on the location of investment project on the basis of arranging the application administrative departments and local government organizations at two levels, the time to process the dossier will be 03 working days.
• Amendment and supplementation (if necessary): If the dossier is invalid, investment registration agency shall notify the enterprise to supplement it.
• Issuance of adjustment certificate: If the dossier is valid, investment registration agency shall issue an adjusted investment registration certificate.

Some questions related to the adjustment of investment Registration Certificate in Ben Thanh Ward

Is it mandatory to adjust investment Registration Certificate due to changes in administrative boundaries?

Answer:

Optional.

Pursuant to Official Letter No. 4370/BTC-DNTN dated August 15, 2025 of the Ministry of Finance, guiding business registration in case of change of administrative boundaries, it is clearly stipulated:

“Enterprises, business households, cooperatives… continue to use the issued Enterprise Registration Certificate or Operation Registration Certificate.
The business registration authority must not request the enterprise to register a change of address information just for the reason of change of administrative boundaries.”

Accordingly:

• If the enterprise or investment project in Ben Thanh Ward only changes the name of the administrative boundary (e.g. from “Ben Thanh Ward, District 1” to “Ben Thanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City”), there is no need to mandatory adjustment of investment Registration Certificate (IRC).
• Businesses can:
  • Continue to use existing certificate; or
  • Proactively update the new administrative address when there is a need, or combine it in the registration of other content changes (such as capital, representatives, head office, project scale, etc.).

✅  In short: The adjustment is optional (voluntary), not a mandatory procedure under the law.

Can I submit an application for adjustment of investment Registration Certificate online?

Answer:

Can be submitted online.

According to Article 39 of Decree 31/2021/ND-CP, which is guided in detail at the National Foreign Investment Portal (https://fdi.gov.vn), it is stipulated:

For investment projects not subject to investment policy approval, investors may choose:

• Submit the paper dossier directly at investment registration agency; or
• Submission of electronic dossiers (online) on the National Investment Information System in one of two forms:
  1. Use digital signatures;
  2. Do not use digital signatures (submit electronic copies and then supplement paper documents for comparison).

🧾 Conditions for online submission to be considered valid:

• The dossier has all the papers such as the paper dossier, converted to electronic format (PDF, DOC, JPG…);
• The name of the attached file must be identical with the name of the type of paper in the list of dossiers;
• The declared information is complete and accurate according to the contents in the paper version;
• The dossier is authenticated with a valid digital signature or can be consistently compared with the paper dossier later.

🕓 Benefits of Filing Online:

• Save time and travel costs;
• It is possible to track the progress of online application processing;
• In line with the policy of digital transformation in foreign investment management of the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Where to submit an adjustment dossier when the business is in Ben Thanh Ward?

Answer:

Investors submit their applications at:

🏢 Department of Finance of Ho Chi Minh City – Investment
📍 Registration Office Address: 32 Le Thanh Ton, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City
🌐 Or via the online system: https://fdi.gov.vn

If the project is located in an export processing zone, industrial park or hi-tech park, the dossier shall be submitted to the HEPZA Management Board or the Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Park Management Board respectively.

When to make adjustments to Investment Registration Certificate

• When businesses want to synchronize information on licenses (IRC – ERC – Sub-licenses – land lease contracts – tax reports…);
• When businesses are preparing to change location, capital, representatives or new investors, it is recommended to combine the implementation at the same time to save time and fees.

All difficulties and problems related to the adjustment of Investment Registration Certificate in Ben Thanh Ward after the merger, please contact the legal consultancy department of Viet An Law Firm for detailed advice and the most effective support!