Setting up a company in Vietnam: the 6 steps foreign founders always ask about

Vietnam welcomes foreign investment, but the paperwork has an order — skip a step and everything behind it stalls.

The sequence

1. Investment Registration Certificate (IRC) — your project's legal foundation.
2. Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC) — the company itself.
3. Seal, tax registration and e-invoice setup.
4. Capital account & charter capital contribution within the committed window.
5. Sub-licenses where your sector needs them (education, F&B, logistics…).
6. Compliance calendar: accounting, tax filings, labor registration.

Typical timeline: 4–8 weeks when documents are right the first time.

Or skip the entity entirely

Testing the market first? Our Employer of Record service lets you hire in Vietnam without a legal entity. Either way, talk to BusinessPartner.vn before you sign anything.