Colleges are an educational level within the national education system, aiming to provide tertiary education to workers, and meeting the demands in production, business and services. Currently, college education is attracting many investors, especially foreign investors. Thus, How are colleges with foreign investment (foreign invested colleges) regulated? NPLaw will analyze some regulations regarding foreign-invested colleges in the following article.
I. Current status of foreign-invested colleges in Vietnam
With the Government's investment attraction policies, a large number of foreign investors are looking for opportunities to invest in Vietnam, including in the education sector. This investment helps train professional-skilled human resources to meet the domestic and international labor market demand. Therefore, legal regulations on foreign-invested colleges are also one of interest problems for many foreign investors.
II. Definition of foreign-invested colleges
Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 5 of the Law on Vocational Education 2014, a college is one of the vocational education institutions. It is a level of education in the national education system that aims to train professional knowledge and skills within college education for workers, meeting the direct human resource needs in production, business and services.
Therefore, a foreign-invested college is understood to be a vocational education institution with investment capital from foreign organizations and individuals established and operated in Vietnam.
III. Legal regulations on foreign-invested colleges
1. Conditions for establishing foreign-invested colleges in Vietnam
Pursuant to Article 9 of Decree No. 15/2019/ND-CP, the conditions for establishing Foreign-Invested Vocational Education Institutions in Vietnam include the following elements:
- Having establishment projects in accordance with the network planning of vocational education institutions in Vietnam.
- Having been issued the Investment Registration Certificate (for cases where foreign investors have to implement application procedures for the Investment Registration Certificate in accordance with the Law on Investment).
- Having construction sites that ensure the minimum land use area of the college is 20,000m2 for urban areas and 40,000 m2 for non-urban areas.
- Investment capital for the college establishment from legitimate sources is at least 100 (one hundred) billion Vietnamese dong, excluding the value of land.
- The training programs meet the requirements of Law.
Thus, there are currently 05 (five) conditions that investors need to meet to be allowed the establishment of Foreign-Invested Colleges.
2. Procedures for establishing foreign-invested colleges
Step 1: Receiving and reviewing the application dossiers for establishing foreign-invested colleges;
- Organizations or individuals requesting permission to establish foreign-invested colleges submit the dossiers to the General Department of Vocational Education;
- The General Department of Vocational Education receives and preliminarily reviews the dossiers;
If the dossiers are not valid, within 05 working days from the date of receiving the dossiers, the General Department of Vocational Education shall issue written responses and clearly state the reasons.
- Within 03 working days from the date of receiving complete and valid dossiers, the General Department of Vocational Education shall send dossiers to the Appraisal Council for appraisal.
Step 2: Appraising dossiers for permission to establish foreign-invested colleges;
- Within 05 working days from the date of receiving dossiers sent by the General Department of Vocational Education, the Appraisal Council shall appraise dossiers;
- Within 03 working days from the date of appraisal, the General Department of Vocational Education shall issue notices of the appraisal results to organizations or individuals.
Step 3: Decision to permit the establishment of foreign-invested colleges;
If the dossiers meet the conditions according to the conclusion of the Appraisal Council, the General Department of Vocational Education shall submit them to the Minister of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs for permitting the establishment of foreign-invested colleges.
3. Application dossiers for establishing foreign-invested colleges
The application dossiers for establishing Foreign-Invested Colleges include the following documents:
1. Proposal for establishing Foreign-Invested Colleges.
2. Copy of the Investment Registration Certificate (for cases where foreign investors must implement the application procedures for the Investment Registration Certificate).
3. Projects for establishment.
4. Copy of the Land Use Certificate or Decision on land allocation or land lease for vocational education institution establishment by the provincial People's Committee, accompanied by a copy of receipts (payment of land use fees or land rental fees) or proof of fulfilling financial obligations on land according to regulations. Copy of the lease contract for facilities attached to land with a remaining term of at least 05 years from the date of submitting the dossier, and documents proving the use right or ownership of the lessor.
5. Documents proving financial capacity for legitimate investment capital sources of at least 100 billion VND.
6. Drafting overall ground planning of architectural works, ensuring that it is suitable for the industry, scale, training level and standards of use area and construction area for teaching and learning activities.
* In case there are from 02 foreign organizations or individuals contributing capital or more than or joint ventures between domestic and foreign investors, the dossiers needs to be supplemented with:
- Copy of documents proving ownership of assets attached to the asset valuation documents as the contributed capital of foreign organizations and individuals, or documents proving joint ventures proposing to establish Foreign-Invested Colleges;
- Minutes to appoint legal representatives to establish Foreign-Invested Colleges;
- Lists, forms and minutes of capital contribution of the joint venture members who commit to contribute capital to establish.
IV. Questions about foreign-invested colleges in Vietnam
1. Do foreign-invested colleges teach international or Vietnamese programs?
Point b, Clause 5, Article 9 of Decree No. 15/2019/ND-CP stipulates on the training program for foreign-invested vocational education institutions as follows:
"Foreign-invested vocational education institutions are allowed to organize and teach Vietnamese training programs or foreign training programs within the framework of international training linkage programs according to regulations";
Therefore, Foreign-Invested Colleges are allowed to organize and teach Vietnamese training programs and foreign training programs within the framework of international training linkage programs according to the above regulations.
2. What is the minimum investment capital to establish a Foreign-Invested College?
Pursuant to Point c, Clause 4, Article 9 of Decree No. 15/2019/ND-CP:
Investment capital to establish is from legitimate sources, excluding land value, specifically as follows:
a) The Vocational Education Center’s investment capital is at least 05 (five) billion Vietnamese dong;
b) The Intermediate School’s investment capital is at least 50 (fifty) billion Vietnamese dong;
c) The College’s investment capital is at least 100 (one hundred) billion Vietnamese dong.
Therefore, the minimum investment capital to establish a foreign-invested college is 100 billion VND.
3. Can foreign-invested colleges change their names? Is it difficult to do?
Point b, Clause 1, Article 1 of Decree No. 15/2019/ND-CP stipulates that the establishment, division, separation, merger, dissolution, and name change of foreign-invested vocational education institutions are allowed.
Accordingly, foreign-invested vocational education institutions are allowed to change their names when they comply with the regulations on dossiers and procedures specified in Article 20 of Decree No. 15/2019/ND-CP (amended by Clause 8, Article 2 of Decree No. 24/2022/ND-CP).
4. Is a foreign-invested college allowed to merge with another foreign-invested college?
According to the applicable law, it allows the merger of foreign-invested vocational education institutions and there is no prohibition on the merger of two foreign-invested vocational education institutions. Therefore, a foreign-invested college is allowed to merge with another college, whether foreign-invested or not. The merger must ensure the principles prescribed in Clause 1 of Article 17 of Decree No. 15/2019/ND-CP.
V. Consulting service and implementation of procedures for Foreign-Invested Colleges
The above is the article by NPLaw analyzing some of the regulations on foreign-invested colleges. With a team of experienced lawyers and legal experts, NPLaw provides reputable and professional legal services to ensure the rights and legitimate interests of customers.
