Question: Dear Sir,
Hope this email finds you well. I found your contact details on the internet when I was looking for assistance in the setting up of a company here in HCMC, Vietnam. So just wondering if you are able to render your services in this matter.
My wife is Vietnamese so the company will be under her name, and me as a foreigner will not be mentioned at all in the company’s registration documents. I will just be “working” for this company. We tried to register a company ourselves but because my wife has not done this before, and neither have I, she asked some of her relatives and friends to advice on the process in the registering of the company.
However, we are getting very different responses from my wife’s contacts, probably due to the nature of our business. We plan to open an Education Consultancy firm (like an agency), to bring students to study in Singapore (where I am from).
I have many years of experience in the Education industry in Singapore and have contacts to many schools there where the Vietnamese students can go to for the furthering of their studies. However, we were told that for such a company, dealing with Education, we will need to obtain a permit from the Ministry of Education and Training before we can register a company of this nature.
But then there are some who also said this is not necessary. So we are confused now as to what is the exact process is like. And we think the best way to approach this is to consult the experts in this area, which is why I am coming to you.
Anwser:
Thank you for your email below. I am Corporate Lawyer of SB Law. I was entrusted to provide you legal advice regarding to your question about setting up company for education consultation.
From your email, we noted that you would like to set up a pure local company under the name of your wife. The company shall connect students in Vietnam with universties in abroad for oversea study. Such service is classified to Education Consulting Service.
In order to operate in such field, you must follow two steps below:
– Registration of local company with the Department of Planning and Investment in Ho Chi Minh City. It shall take about 10 working days from submission of application dossier for completing registration of the company and obtaining corporate seal sample for the company.
– After completion of the registration of the company, you shall need to obtain sub-license for providing Oversea Study Consultation Service. The Department of Education and Training Of Ho Chi Minh City shall have competence to grant you such sub-license. It shall take you about 30 working days to complete the obtainment of sub-license for oversea study consultation service.
We would like to note that in order to obtain sub-license for oversea study consultation, your company must satisfy following conditions:
– Requirement for deposit of 500,000,000VND is applied for oversea study consultation services only. You must deposit such ammount of money upon submission of application for sub-license for supplying oversea study consultation services.
– According to the Circular No. 8310/NHNN-TT dated 07 November 2014 of the State Bank of Vietnam, you can only withdraw such amount of 500,000,000VND if the licensing authority who grant you the sub-license for oversea study consultation services authorize you to withdraw. Vietnam Law is now silient on what condition that you must satisfy to get such authorization. However, according to our practice, you can only get such authorization upon:
(i) The Sub-license for oversea study consultation is withdrawn and you have no outstanding debt arising from such operations.
(ii) Your company is liquidated.
– Head of the Center and staffs of the center for oversea study consultation must have completed courses held by the Ministry of Education and Training for rendering Oversea Study Consultation Service.
We do hope that the above information is helpful for you. If you have any further inquiry, please feel free to contact us.
