Can a Foreigner Inherit Real Estates in Vietnam?

In any country and society in the world, real estates or real properties are often the most important type of assets that are fervently pursued by people.

Vietnam is no exception. Rapid economic development recent years has driven up value of land, apartments and houses across the country.

I. What  Real Estates are there in Vietnam?

Just like the legal framework of real estate in China, Vietnam, also as a socialist country, has a similar landscape regarding the real estate ownership, land use right but also has its own characteristics in certain aspects.

First of all, land ownership is owned by the people as a whole (“toàn dân” in Vietnamese）so neither individuals nor organizations can have ownership over land. Instead, individuals and organizations can have right to use land in Vietnam, in other words, the land use right. These are the same regime as in the People's Republic of China.

With regard to land use right, it is further classified according to the nature of usage of the land, for example, agricultural, industrial, commercial and residential. This classification of land use right is important in understanding the administration regime of land in Vietnam, in particular, when it comes to foreigners using land in Vietnam.

Except for the land use right, the other type of most important real estates is the structures above land, such as houses, villas, apartments, condominiums. These properties more relavant to our discussion on foreigners' right to real estates in Vietnam.

Based on the recent Vietnam Land Law, a diagram of classification of real estates/properties in Vietnam is as follows:

BẤT ĐỘNG SẢN VIỆT NAM
├── ĐẤT
│ ├── Đất nông nghiệp
│ │ ├── Đất trồng lúa
│ │ ├── Đất trồng cây lâu năm
│ │ ├── Đất rừng
│ │ ├── Đất nuôi trồng thủy sản
│ │ └── Đất làm muối
│ │
│ └── Đất phi nông nghiệp
│ ├── Đất ở
│ ├── Đất thương mại, dịch vụ
│ ├── Đất sản xuất, kinh doanh
│ ├── Đất cơ sở tôn giáo
│ ├── Đất nghĩa trang
│ └── Đất công cộng
│
└── TÀI SẢN GẮN LIỀN VỚI ĐẤT
├── Nhà ở
│ ├── Căn hộ chung cư
│ ├── Nhà ở riêng lẻ
│ ├── Biệt thự
│ └── Nhà liền kề
│
├── Công trình xây dựng khác
│ ├── Văn phòng
│ ├── Nhà xưởng
│ └── Công trình công cộng
│
└── Cây lâu năm, hoa màu

II. Can a Foreigner Inherit Real Properties in Vietnam?

Now back to the gist of this post, can a foreigner inherit real estates in Vietnam? The answer is not an outright "yes" or "no", but it depends. It depends on what type of real estate is involved in the inheritance by the foreign heirs or beneficiaries.