Vietnam Drafts Land Certificates for Procedural Violations Before August 1, 2024

Vietnam’s draft amended Land Law proposes a more flexible route to land-use certificates for properties affected by procedural violations before August 1, 2024. The proposal excludes cases involving land encroachment or occupation from July 1, 2014 onward, and would apply only when other conditions are met.

The land must have been used stably, face no dispute and conform to planning. It must not affect national defense, security, the environment or the safety of works. Land users must also have fulfilled, or committed to fulfill, their financial obligations to the state.

The draft would not retrospectively change the land-use term for properties already granted certificates with long-term use rights in line with the law in force when the certificates were issued. The Justice Ministry has published its appraisal dossier for the bill, prepared under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, which includes several changes on land registration and ownership of assets attached to land.

Some agencies have asked why August 1, 2024, was chosen and have sought clearer definitions of “procedural violations” and the requirement that land cause no impact to defense or security. They warn that vague wording could make the rules too broad and difficult to apply consistently.

The drafting ministry said the detailed procedures would appear in a government decree. Procedural violations could include transferring land through handwritten documents without completing the required official procedures, or changing agricultural land-use purposes without authorization in residential areas. It said land databases and transaction updates remained incomplete before the cutoff, limiting oversight. The central government is now working to complete the land database in 2026, while violations from August 1, 2024 onward would face firm action and serious penalties.