Capital conditions to allow the establishment of a foreign-invested educational institution?

1. What are the capital conditions to allow the establishment of foreign-invested educational institutions in 2024?
Pursuant to Article 35 of Decree 86/2018/ND-CP, foreign-invested educational institutions to be allowed to establish must meet the following investment capital conditions:

(i) Investment projects to establish preschool education facilities must have an investment rate of at least 30 million VND/child (excluding land use costs). The minimum total investment capital is calculated based on the time of highest expected scale. The investment capital plan must be consistent with the expected scale of each stage.

(ii) The investment project to establish a general education facility must have an investment rate of at least 50 million VND/student (excluding land use costs). The minimum total investment capital is calculated based on the time of highest expected scale, but not less than 50 billion VND.

(iii) Investment projects to establish short-term training facilities must have an investment of at least 20 million VND/student (excluding land use costs). The minimum total investment capital is calculated based on the time of highest expected scale.

(iv) Investment projects to establish higher education institutions must have a total investment capital of at least 1,000 billion VND (excluding land use costs). Foreign-invested economic organizations that are project investors must demonstrate financial capacity according to the provisions of the Law on Investment 2020. By the time of appraisal to allow the establishment of a university, the investment value must be over 500 billion VND.

(v) Investment projects applying to establish branch campuses of foreign-invested higher education institutions in Vietnam must have a minimum investment capital of 250 billion VND (excluding land use costs). By the time of appraisal to allow the establishment of a university branch, the investment value must be over 150 billion VND.

(vi) For foreign-invested educational institutions that do not build new facilities but only lease or have the Vietnamese party contribute capital with existing facilities to implement operations, the investment level must reach at least 70% of the levels specified in clauses (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) above.

2. What types of foreign-invested educational institutions can operate?
Pursuant to Article 28 of Decree 86/2018/ND-CP, foreign-invested educational institutions can operate under 05 types, including:

(i) Short-term training and refresher facility.

(ii) Preschool education establishments.

(iii) General education establishments (elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, high schools with many levels).

(iv) Higher education establishments.

(v) Branches of foreign-invested higher education institutions in Vietnam.

3. What is the procedure for allowing the establishment of foreign-invested educational institutions?
Pursuant to Article 31 of Decree 86/2018/ND-CP, the procedure for permitting the establishment of foreign-invested educational institutions is as follows:

(i) Permission to establish short-term training and retraining establishments with foreign investment is carried out in the following order:

– Issuance of investment registration certificate.

– Issue a decision to allow educational activities and notify on the licensing agency’s website.

(ii) Permitting foreign diplomatic missions and intergovernmental international organizations licensed to operate in Vietnam to establish preschool education establishments and general education establishments shall be carried out in the following order:

– Issue a decision permitting establishment.

– Issue a decision to allow educational activities and notify on the licensing agency’s website.

(iii) Permission to establish preschool education institutions, general education institutions, and higher education institutions with foreign investment is carried out in the following order:

– Issuance of investment registration certificate.

– Issue a decision permitting establishment.

– Issue a decision to allow educational activities and notify on the licensing agency’s website.

(iv) Permission to open a branch of a foreign-invested higher education institution is carried out in the following order:

– Issuance of investment registration certificate.

– Issue a decision permitting the establishment of a branch of a higher education institution.

– Issue a decision to permit operations and notify on the website of the licensing agency.